I realized we hadn't recapped our Valentine's weekend in Ojai. After our Christmas getaway was cancelled due to illness (boo!), Brack and I had planned a quick weekend trip to Ojai for a weekend. Bonus points for it being Valentine's Day too. Traffic was a little brutal, but we made it there in time for a late lunch. We ate at the Ojai Beverage Company and tried a beer flight and burgers. I had the 50/50 burger, which was super spicy and delicious. We went to Bart's Books, a really cool used bookstore in town and picked up a few for the kids.
We then checked into our hotel, the Ojai Valley Inn. It is beautiful and exactly the time of place to relax this weekend. We went straight to the pool for the rest of the afternoon and enjoyed laying in the sun and being in the pool. We especially enjoyed the frozen berries they brought around to us.
We ate dinner in town at Suzanne's Cuisine. It was Italian and had such a cute atmosphere. We sat in the enclosed patio and looked out on a garden with lights. We tried the tomato puree soup, the scallops and jumbo shrimp with goat cheese shells, as well as the flourless chocolate cake with ice cream. Everything was really good and well prepared. It was a great meal for our first night in Ojai.
We had a fabulous second day in Ojai and never even left the resort. The Ojai Valley Inn is amazing and we would definitely recommend it. We started with room service, a luxury we rarely do, especially with kids. It was so lovely not to have to get ready to go eat. Then we played tennis for a hour, my favorite sport. The courts were in great shape and we had a nice workout.
After tennis, we went to the pool for a few hours. We had fun swimming, laying in the sun some more and ordering lunch poolside. I had a salmon salad and my husband decided on the turkey burger, both of which were really good. We had massage appointments in the afternoon and so we walked over to the spa and used the sauna, steam room (eucalyptus, yum!) and had relaxing massages.
After the spa, Brack hit a bag of balls at the driving range and then we got ready for dinner. We ate at Olivella and opted for their four course menu. I tried the yellowtail appetizer, the crab and lobster pasta and the short ribs. I ended up trading my short ribs for Brack's lamb because the lamb was too rare for his liking, but everything was excellent. I ended with the chocolate mousse dessert, which was fantastic too. I also tried a fun drink that had champagne, lemon sorbet, honey syrup and rosemary in it.
On our last morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast at Jimmy's Pub at the resort and then headed out on a walk on the trails around the property. We walked over to the family pool, which was not nearly as nice as the adult one, and through the herb garden. We walked down past the tennis courts and around to the road leading back into town. Then it was back to the road to pack and watch a little news before checking out. We had lunch at Jimmy's Pub again and split the tortilla soup, a salad and a pizza. Traffic back home wasn't horrendous and we made decent time. The kids were excited to see us and had a fun time with Nana and Papa. Hopefully we can make time to do these short trips every so often.
