Me and my sister's

My 7 sisters and 2 nieces will be in Ventura and Oxnard in March. Any recommendations on things to do for 10 of us?

Thank you

E. Adams

Me and my sister's

nice drive north to University of California at Santa Barbara? Do the touristy thing in Santa Barbara? Never finished school there but a nice city to visit.

Me and my sister's

Depends on age, but some ideas...

Drive up to Ojai - quaint town with some good shopping and art galleries.

The strawberry season will just be starting in March - there are several pick your own fields if you want or drive around the farm land in oxnard and you can buy cheap just picked today strawberries - the oxnard strawberries are wonderful!!!

Whale Watching boat tour from Ventura Harbor.

If your nieces are younger - definately stop by the bookstore ';Adventures for Kids'; in Ventura - it is amazing and the staff there is great as well. My favorite of all bookstores.

Rent bikes or surreys on the Ventura beach and bike along the ocean (bring a sweater or light jacket though).

If you enjoy hiking, there are wonderful trails in Thousand Oaks / Newbury Park area (20 minute drive).

There is a miniature golf course and roller rink not far if you just want a break.

There is also a mall with Nordstrom Rack and other discount stores in Ventura and if you drive to Camarillo (easy drive) there are good outlets there as well.

Take the back roads around Lake Casistas through Carpenteria and into the back of Santa Barbara - beautiful flower fields / greenhouses in the area.

Santa Barbara is always great, the zoo is small but really nice.

Wine country is just north of there - some excellant wines.

Solvang isn%26#39;t too far north and whiel it is a tourist Danish town - the kids usually enjoy it and the driev up is very pretty.

Chumash Casino is also near Solvang.

Santa Monica is a little over an hour drive from Oxnard.

Hope this helps a bit - if you respond with ages and what it is you are looking to do - I can be of more help.

8 girls (women) and 2 nieces!!! No brothers or nephews? Hah!

Oxnard is kinda sparse on the entertainment. Ventura will have some nice restaurants and shopping on Main St.

March will be a great time to visit Anacapa Island. Hope for calm seas and a good wildflower season. The chance for dolphin and whale sightings will be good. Even if the boat ride is ruff, at least it%26#39;s short at 1 hour.

http://www.islandpackers.com/

http://www.nps.gov/chis/

I love to take my guests to ride the harbor hopper boats in the Channel Islands Harbor, Oxnard. It%26#39;s so cheap (like a dollar each) and they stop at all the restaurants. Go at happy hour for some half price eats and drink.

Check out the Farmers Markets on sunday at Channel Islands Harbor.

Check out www.ventura-usa.com its the ventura offical visitors %26amp; convention bureau site. lots to do. have fun

I%26#39;m one of the 7 sisters that the other sisters are going to visit! I am the one that invited them to Ventura. Since I live in Bakersfield and there isn%26#39;t tons to do here I thought Ventura would be the place to go. Does anyone know anything about the murder mystery on the train? I have heard that it is good. Any comments?

The Murder Mystery Train is out of Filmore. You can get more information on Filmore%26#39;s website. We had fun when we did it with a group of people we knew.

Their website is www.fwry.com

It always cracks me up when someone asks ';What should we do in Ventura'; and someone responds ';Go to Santa Barbara.'; Sheesh. Ventura has the same ocean, same climate and if they wanted to go to Santa Barbara they would post on that board.

Other ideas that weren%26#39;t mentioned before:

Visit the Mission and archeological dig adjacent.

Visit the museum across the street from the Mission.

Someone mentioned good shopping and eating along Main Street - lol - Main Street goes all the way across town!! Probably the best bet for strolling is the section of Main Street down near the Mission to California Street.

Stroll out on the Pier. There used to be a great funky restaurant out there, but it is now a chain place.

From the freeway, take Seaward towards the ocean, turn left on Pierpont and go to the end, there is a great little park there. Or take Seaward, turn left on Harbor and go down to the Marina and explore Harbor Town.

As a Ventura born native, and now occasional visitor, we always hit Duke%26#39;s at the bottom of Seaward.

Ooops! I hit ';post'; before I included that the headquarters for the Channel Islands National Park is in Harbor Town, and worth a look-see...

If it%26#39;s warm, we have a new Aquatic Center in East Ventura.

www.venturacommunitypark.org