By Mike Nelson | Photos by Viktor Budnik Barrie Cohen spent most of her 20s working on farms and exploring America. During her West Coast travels she felt drawn to the Ojai Valley, where she chose to plant roots about...
By Nancy D. Lackey Shaffer | Photos by Chris Mortenson Sea, sand and sun are possibly the first things that come to mind when visitors think of the Central Coast. But wait for the sun to go down, come inland...
By Mike Nelson | Photos by Viktor Budnik Pregnant with her first daughter, Summer Dalton was making baby clothes when, she recalled, “One night, I had a vision.” It was, quite possibly, the first such vision in recorded history that said,...
By Nancy D. Lackey Shaffer | Photos by Viktor Budnik When the Fillmore and Western Railway closed down a few years ago, Ventura County locals…and those outside the area who loved to ride the rails…were sorry to see the demise...
Photos by Viktor Budnik An exceptionally wet winter has Ventura County bursting into full bloom this spring. Nowhere is this more evident than at Ventura Botanical Gardens (VBG), 100+ acres in the foothills directly behind Ventura City Hall that are...
By Alex Wilson | Photos by Viktor Budnik Martha Cantos has proven herself as a successful downtown Ventura business owner with her charming and colorful boutique Ecugreen since opening in 2017. Her entrepreneurial path to success included years of selling...
By Alex Wilson | Photos by Viktor Budnik Martino’s Catering has always been a family affair, which might help explain why it’s grown from humble beginnings to now serving about 80 happy couples and their families at weddings every year....
By Nancy D. Lackey Shaffer | All photos courtesy Zachari Dunes on Mandalay Beach Oxnard’s Mandalay Beach is one of the prettiest seaside spots in Ventura County. The view seems to stretch on forever, the waves crash majestically against the...
By Tim Pompey | Photos by Viktor Budnik Its manicured walls and gates sit quietly near the intersection of Thompson Boulevard and Ash Street. A former commercial motel in downtown Ventura, its history since 2009 has involved working with homeless...
By Mike Nelson | Photos by Viktor Budnik A farmer with a law degree? Sounds like Oliver Wendell Douglas, the highly successful attorney from the big city who became a highly unsuccessful rural farmer in the 1960s sitcom Green Acres. Except...