The wide, sprawling Santa Maria Valley has been home my entire life. Growing up on the Central Coast has always been a great experience, but for me, the wonder of the area really opened up when I started exploring the magnificent ecology and historical destinations in the area, both in school field trips and family outings.
There are great places to visit up and down the coast to get an idea of the depth of history in the area, but one town in Northern Santa Barbara County that seems to have an especially high amount of it is Lompoc. About half the size of Santa Maria—geographically and in terms of population—Lompoc can qualify as a small, sleepy town, but that makes it no less interesting to visit.
If approaching Lompoc from Buellton on Highway 246, as I did on a recent sunny afternoon, it would behoove travelers to make a stop by the La Purisima Mission State Historic Park. The park, which boasts more than 2,000 acres of preserved land, is of course home to the brilliantly restored La Purisima Mission. The park often has special days when docents dress in period attire and re-enact the lives of peoples past, with the mission providing a perfect backdrop—almost like a portal into the late 18th century.
The park includes miles of hiking trails, with one such trail beginning right by the visitors’ center that takes hikers up the cross-adorned hill for a stunning view of the Lompoc Valley and surrounding area. Ancient oaks weeping with lichen stand silent by the trails, surrounded by brush of many varieties. The sand, sometimes firm, sometimes loose, provides a record of the creatures that have recently traversed it. The obvious tracks of hiking shoes and sneakers are crisscrossed with the indentations of hooves, paws, and even beetle legs. Thankfully, the winding patterns of rattlesnake tracks were nowhere to be seen on the trail.
Hiking is tiring, so the ride into old town Lompoc is thankfully a short one from the mission. Highway 246 and Highway 1 converge to become H Street, the heart of Lompoc’s historic downtown. Towering storefronts in the 1940s to ’50s style sandwich together, leaving large gaps between buildings. It’s between these gaps that you find great examples of Lompoc’s rich cultural history in the efforts of the Lompoc Mural Society. With small gardens and a few places to sit, these areas take advantage of the towering structures and turn them into canvases for magnificent pieces of artwork. Almost every mural is somehow tied to Lompoc, whether it celebrates the agricultural community or a historical event that happened in the valley. All of the murals are very beautiful and offer plenty to look at.
South Side Coffee Company was a welcome place to rest the legs after a hike around La Purisima, and an iced espresso was made fresh for me there. Connected to the coffee shop is Howlin’ Byroon’s Music Exchange, a great place for musicians to peruse music, books, and instruments while awaiting their lattes. South Side also has a quaint loft, which several patrons were taking advantage of the day I wandered in. There was a small library, but what attracted my attention was the chessboard and pieces—I only needed someone to play with!
As the sun started setting on downtown Lompoc, a neon sign caught my eye on Ocean Avenue. I walked down the street, passing the D’Vine Wine Bar, which serves local wine, bistro food, and is host to great live music. I wasn’t in the mood for wine, and couldn’t help but be enticed into the Rice Bowl restaurant, whose neon sign attracted me in the first place. My eyes were met by a blast of colors. The Rice Bowl is definitely of a bygone era, with deep crimson, diner-style booths and chairs, and a paint job that was obviously inspired by the neon lights.
The server who took my order was nice enough to regale me with much of the long history of the business, which moved into its current location in the 1960s, having existed for several decades before that. The wood lettering of the original store adorns the long wall, surrounding a glowing red neon clock. The server explained that the clock itself is one of the original pink neon clocks from LAX that were built in the late 1920s. The Rice Bowl sign was built around the clock in the ’40s, and the sign hasn’t been turned off since.
Tripping around Lompoc’s Old Town for the smaller part of an afternoon gave me a sense of generations worth of time. The iconic Carnegie Library—now the Lompoc Museum—was an example of classic architecture, and the stretch of Ocean Avenue that the library is on has the kind of charm you don’t see in urban planning much these days. After several hours walking around and enjoying the sights, businesses, and open spaces, I felt I was just barely scratching the surface of Lompoc, and what its rich history has to offer.
Arts Editor Joe Payne needs to spend more time in Lompoc. Send him sightseeing tips at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 27 – Mar 6, 2014.