Ventura Pier, mermen ornaments, buildings and more

Our way down to Ventura was quite nice. No traffic and decent weather all around.

There were some foggy patches though...

but we made it to Ventura intact...

We got our stuff settled at the hotel before exploring. This was a bridge over the freeway that led to Ventura Beach and the pier.



TC wanted to visit a pier at every coastal city so this fit the bill..


The beach was nice and empty, same with the pier. No crowds (yet). This was still early summer.

TC and Bert strolling the pier...






The buildings along the shore are big name hotels hotels (don't remember the names).

It was nice to see flags decorating the pier. I'm not sure if this is there everyday or because it was summer time. The pier itself is pretty basic. No inset parts like the one at Pismo beach or walkway underneath like the Avila Beach Pier (which can no longer be accessed).




It almost kind of looks like the IB pier but without a restaurant at the far end.  At the base end of this pier, there are several seafood restaurants that seemed to be quite popular.


We strolled along the boardwalk and made our way up to Ventura's downtown shopping area. We saw these...interesting ornaments of Mermen. Yes. Mermen.  They cost a lot too! I think they were $30 or something.  Who buys these things?

This was the funniest of all...the mermen ornaments actually had names and this was named "Fifty". As in "Fifty Shades of Gray" (the book). This ornament totally does not look like what I envision Christian Grey to be.   But yeah, seriously.

There a lot of buildings with beautiful architectural details..

This one had a plaque...it commemorated the office of Erle Standley Gardner, who was a "best selling author" (Remember Perry Mason? He wrote that).



Cool signage here...

We actually shopped at this Goodwill. TC founds a Vans pullover for a good deal; Bert found something as well (a brand name jacket) while I found a pair of 7 for All Mankind jeans for $25 (normally they are $125). Not exactly a "thrift" type of price, but I liked the style.

Clever name.

City Hall:

Their downtown Theater...


Another cool building with interesting details:



This is also another coastal town that we should explore more in the future.

Ventura Pier
750 Harbor Blvd.
Ventura, CA 93001
(805) 555-1212

www.cityofventura.net/venturapier

More info:
www.cityofventura.net
downtownventura.org

Map of Downtown Ventura:
HistoricWalkingTourBrocure/a>

Since we were on the main drag, aptly named Main Street (duh), we would end up having dinner here before heading back to our hotel...