OJAI'S MOMENT: We pause and demure before saying any one city should be associated with a particular time of year, because most places tend to make it work regardless of season. But a few special places do seem to come into their own when the weather heats or cools down or all the leaves go gold. Ojai, we feel, is one of the places where spring resides, or at least owns a vacation home. Look to its famous tangerines and citrus; if you're trying to picture, via your nose, how good some of those groves smell in the springtime are, you're doing it right. And its lavender, too, is a sunnier favorite (such a favorite that it comes complete with its own local festival in June). With that in mind, it is kind that the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, one of the area's historic gems, kicked off its 90th birthday deal just ahead of springtime. Sweet. And even sweeter are the asterisks on this package.
LIKE... You'll nab a $90 resort credit in honor of the property's 90th anniversary. A complimentary upgrade on your room is in the deal, too, as well as a pair of gratis cocktails suiting the era in which the hotel began (think Sidecars and such). The price? That kicks off at $339, and there's a two-night minimum. The package is available through the end of 2013.
BUT... Even if you can't get there during Ojai's springtime moment, the town is famous for another moment that pretty much arrives day in and day out, all year long. It's The Pink Moment, that sweet twilight-y time, and, weather permitting, it is a free nightly show specific to the Ojai area. Lucky.
