Go back in time at one of California’s last great beach towns
CARPINTERIA, Calif. — We’re going to talk about Carpinteria’s beach, its tar, its weed, its avocados, its tallest pine tree and the herd of alpacas in its hills. But first I should admit that I’m biased.
This little beach town between Ventura and Santa Barbara is where my wife and I spent our first two years of married life, strolling the coastal bluffs, biking the back roads, eating enchiladas on Linden Avenue and reading the local weekly’s misdemeanor-filled police blotter.
Now we live in Los Angeles, where the police blotter is a different kettle of fish. So every time we find ourselves on the way back from a trip north, we do our best to wedge in a day, or half a day, or even an hour, to reconnect with the town locals know as Carp.
Despite its many obvious charms, Mary Frances said the other day that Carpinteria “is not really on everybody’s radar. I like that farmland-meeting-ocean thing too.”
After so many quick stops, it was a luxury to spend two September days and nights in town. The stay made clear how much has changed in Carpinteria (population 12,950) and how much hasn’t.
The greatest constant is Linden Avenue, the main street that takes you down to the water’s edge, serving as the heart of town and subject of elementary school history projects. Its commercial core is a stretch of eight blocks from Carpinteria Avenue to the beach that’s highly walkable — except for when an Amtrak train rolls in, pauses for a moment, then rolls out again as kids and parents wait on the sidewalk, covering their ears.
Carpinteria City Beach, where Linden ends, is a lifeguard-monitored haven of gentle waves that local boosters for decades have called the “world’s safest beach.” A couple of volleyball courts are laid out on the sand to the left. Beyond them wait the open space, campsites and mile-long shoreline of Carpinteria State Beach, a dominant presence since the 1930s.
Another Carpinteria constant, at least since the 1980s, is the biggest event of the year: the California Avocado Festival, created to capitalize on one of the many fruits that thrive in the local climate. This year’s festival is
