Ventura

Last month I went out to the US Navy Seabee Museum in Port Hueneme, California, for work. After finishing up work a little early one afternoon, I drove up the coast to Ventura to visit the mission and walk around Main Street.

Growing up in California, missions were always an important part of our heritage. Every fourth-grader has to write a report about a specific mission and make a model of it (mine was the famous San Juan Capistrano Mission, complete with swallows circling around on wires). I've visited a handful of the missions in Southern California, but I'd never been to the one in Ventura...until now!

Built in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the missions are essentially the oldest buildings in California.

They were usually built around a central courtyard, with lots of different outbuildings.

A statue of Father Junipero Serra, founder of the mission system.

The interior of the church. It was still decorated with lilies from Easter.

The confessionals are made of this beautifully carved wood. Not sure if it's original, but it sure looks it!

And a few more pics from downtown Ventura:

If you squint, you can see the ocean off in the distance...