The Lakes at Thousand Oaks

The Lakes at Thousand Oaks is a 7 1/2 acre, 48,000 square foot development next to the Bank of America Performing Arts Center Thousand Oaks where you can relax and enjoy park-like landscaping, two lakes, fountains, waterfalls and a children's play area, while grabbing a bite and do some shopping. The Lakes opened in 2005.

Restaurants include P.F. Changs, California Pizza Kitchen and Sunlife Organics. Rounding out the offerings are a Lassen's Health Foods and Kalologie Skincare.

The Lakes at Thousand Oaks is really a beautiful, peaceful place, daytime and nighttime.

There is a kids club that meets every Wednesday morning from Spring through Fall. The Lakes hosts a very popular outdoor ice skating rink.  Younger ones enjoy it here because there is a lot of room to run around, run across the bridge, around the lake, etc.

We like the koi at The Lakes. They're cool to watch. But we don't feed them as cute as they are as they are obviously well fed!

The Lakes is located at 2200 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard.  Visit www.shoplakes.com or call 805.497.9861 for more information.

The Lakes Memory Lane: Former tenants at The Lakes include Claim Jumper (closed 2/23/14; now Lassen's), Nate 'n Al Deli (closed 1/4/12), Sushi Ko (2005 to August 2009 in Nate ‘n Al Deli space), Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (closed 7/18/11), Blizz Frozen Yogurt (closed early Spring 2011), Ben & Jerry's and 9021Pho (July 2016). Others: Tommy Bahama. Umami Burger closed 1/4/20, nearly eight years after opening on 5/3/12. Sabor Cocina Mexicana closed in March 2020.

Channel Islands Sportfishing Center

Channel Islands Sportfishing Center (aka Cisco's) is located at the Channel Islands Harbor at 4151 S. Victoria Avenue, Oxnard. Cisco’s has a fleet of 11 boats (as of February 2020) and operates 7 days a week.

Enjoy 1/2 day, 3/4 day, full day, overnight and two day trips. The Speed Twin is a nice foray into sportfishing for newbies - a half day trip on a boat with a capacity of 75 people. it departs at 8 am and returns at 4pm. You can bring your own fishing rods or rent them for $15 at the landing. You’ll also need a one day fishing license that you can buy there.

Visit www.channelislandssportfishing.com or call 805.382.1612 to learn more and to book your next fishing trip.

El Pescador Beach in Malibu

El Pescador Beach ("The Fisherman") has the distinction of being the closest beach in terms of auto mileage from central Thousand Oaks, located at 32900 Pacific Coast Highway, just east of the intersection of Decker Canyon Road and PCH. Along with La Piedra Beach and El Matador Beach, El Pescador is part of the Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach. 

El Pescador Beach is located about 2 1/2 miles east of Leo Carrillo State Beach and 5 miles west of Zuma Beach. Along with the other two beaches, El Pescador has a parking area (for a fee) and a porta-john. Dogs are not allowed on state beaches. There is also limited parking on PCH available, but be sure to look at the signs to make sure you don't park in a "no parking" zone.

Steep, uneven stairs lead you to the beach. Not particularly stroller friendly as a result, but it's not that far to go. This beach never seems to be crowded, which is a good thing.

You can explore trek over to La Piedra Beach from here, at least when the tide is not too high.

Bottom half of the steps from the parking lot to El Pescador Beach.

More information at www.lamountains.com/parks.asp?parkid=146 and at www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=633. 

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

Founded in 1916, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History makes for a great excursion to Santa Barbara with the kids.  There are eight exhibit halls with permanent exhibits featuring birds, mammals, insects, ocean life, a planetarium and more. Many of the exhibits are "hands on" with buttons and interactive features that kids particularly enjoy. There are an additional two halls for changing exhibits.

You and your kids can roam the nature paths and visit the well stocked gift shop, full of educational items. I can vouch for the fascination kids (and adults) have at this Museum. It is a very comfortable museum that in my experience is rarely is crowded. The "Museum Backyard" area and gardens has a picnic area, stream and other enjoyable features. The pond and stream often have tadpoles that captivate the kids.

The museum is open 7 days a week and is closed certain holidays. As of July 2019, admission is $15 for adults, $12 for 65+ seniors and teens (13-17) and $9 for children 2 to 12 years of age. Become a Museum member and you don't have to pay for admission. The Museum also offers birthday parties for members. Tax-deductible family memberships are currently $99/year.

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is located at 2559 Puesta del Sol Road, Santa Barbara. More information at www.sbnature.org or 805.682.4711.

ImmotionVR at The Oaks Shopping Mall in Thousand Oaks

We were just passing through The Oaks mall recently when we looked up and saw ImmotionVR on the first floor near Aveda. ImmotionVR offers up virtual reality experiences for $8 per ride (5-8 minutes), $25 for 30 minutes and $40 for 60 minutes.

VR experiences offered include Delta Zero, Jinx Thriller, Legend of Lusca Adventure and more.

Hours are 10am to 9pm Mon to Sat and 11am to 7pm Sun. immotionvr.com/us/

City of Oxnard Community Classes

The City of Oxnard Recreation and Community Services Department offers thousands of community classes year-round. Offerings include preschool classes, youth classes, adult classes, youth and adult sports, senior programs, adaptive recreation programs and much more. For more information, to download a complete recreation guide and to register, visit www.oxnardrec.org or call 805.385.7995.

Marty's Hobbies in Thousand Oaks

Marty's Hobbies is a family owned and operated hobby shop that has operated in the Conejo Valley since 1976. In 2018, the store relocated to a huge new location at 270 Conejo Ridge Avenue, Thousand Oaks. 

The new location has all the items it had at the previous location - plastic models, airplanes, slot racing cars, trains, toys and much more. 

The store has a huge RC Race Track, RC Crawler Course, Drone Course and Slot Car Track. You can access the tracks on an hourly, daily or monthly membership basis. 

Marty's also offers birthday parties now for both kids and adults. Parties include track time, expert staff time to train your attendees, party room use, karaoke machine, gaming system and more.

Visit www.martyshobbies.com or call 805.497.3664 for more information.

Store hours (subject to change) Mon-Fri 10am to 8pm, Sat 10am to 6pm, Sun 10am to 5pm.

Ventura Raceway

Ventura Raceway is a world-famous dirt track located at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.  Ventura Raceway became world famous in the early 1990s when it hosted several years of the ESPN Thunder Series on television. 

With weekly racing events held on most Saturday nights from March through October, Ventura Raceway has a worldwide following of short track racing fans.  Most Saturday nights you can find the powerful VRA 360 Sprint Cars racing at the 1/5 mile oval.  These 600+ horsepower, open wheel racers hit speeds in excess of 80 mph on the track that is smaller than a high school oval track. 

Beyond the sprint cars, there are classes for seniors (age 45 and up) down to kids as young as 5 years old in a family friendly environment. 

Located at 10 West Harbor Blvd, Ventura. Admission (as of January 2019) is $15 for adults, $11 for 60+, military and students with ID and free to 12 and under (with adult). Visit www.venturaraceway.com or call 805.648.RACE for more information.

Oak Park Campground in Simi Valley

Located at 901 Quimisa Drive in Simi Valley, the Oak Park Campground is a rustic 100.5 acre open space park that is surrounded by gentle, rolling hills and an abundance of coastal sage scrub brush. This natural environment supports a multitude of California native wildlife species, such as a raptors, roadrunners, sagebrush lizards, and alligator lizards. The park is ideal for group RV camping in a secluded setting.

Day use is $2 per day ($4 on weekends) (as of July 2018). Camping is $32 per day.

Plenty of things to explore in this 100 acre space! Learn more or make reservations at www.ventura.org/inland-parks/oak-park-simi-valley or call 805.654.3951.

The video shot below was on a Sunday night around 7 p.m. in July 2010. There was for the most part nobody there! What a great opportunity to camp with your kids locally! I guess my only concerns about the location would be that the park is sandwiched between the 118 freeway and the railroad tracks...though I did not encounter any noise issues in my brief drive-by.

Marvin Braude Coastal Bike Path - Pacific Palisades to Torrance

We love driving down to Will Rogers State Beach from time to time, bring the bikes and enjoy the Marvin Braude Coastal Bicycle Path along the Pacific Ocean. 

This fun 22 mile path takes you from Pacific Palisades as far as Torrance.  Depending on how far you want to go and if you have kids with you, there are so many spots to stop along the way. 

To get to Will Rogers State Beach from the Conejo Valley, take the 101 to Las Virgenes/Malibu Canyon Road south to PCH, then about 9 miles down PCH to Will Rogers (17000 PCH), just east of Gladstones and Sunset Boulevard. Parking at Will Rogers varies based on when you go; I last recall paying $10.

The path doesn't actually start at Will Rogers Beach as it is a walking path only at this point. Ride the bike through the parking lot to the start of the bike path at Temescal Canyon Road. And, you're off!

From the start of the path, here are some approximate distances to destinations:

• Santa Monica Pier - 3.2 miles
• Venice Pier - 5.8 miles
• Marina del Rey - 8.7 miles
• Playa del Rey - 9.9 miles
• Dockweiler Beach - 12.5 miles
• Manhattan Beach Pier - 16.5 miles
• Hermosa Beach Pier - 18.2 miles
• Redondo Beach Pier - 20.4 miles
• Torrance Beach - 22.3 miles (endpoint)

With younger kids, the Santa Monica Pier makes a perfect 6 1/2 mile round trip destination as you can stop, eat lunch and have some fun at Pacific Park, then ride back. Or kick it a few notches and ride to/through Venice Beach for all the action. 

Pacific Park up ahead

There are plenty of restrooms water stops and of course non-stop BEACH to enjoy here, making this one of my favorite destination for bicycling with the family. And of course, you don't have to park at Will Rogers...you can park anywhere on PCH in and around the bike path to enjoy it.

Of course you do have to be careful of sand on the path, pedestrians/beach goers crossing and walking on the path, other cyclists, runners, roller bladers and crowds.  

Detailed map at file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/dbh/docs/189949_2013-BIKEMAP85x11Web-Ready(highres).pdf

CLICK HERE FOR DOZENS OF FAMILY-FRIENDLY BIKE PATHS BACK UP IN THE VENTURA COUNTY AREA!

The Commons at Calabasas

The Commons at Calabasas is an open-air, Mediterranean style shopping center located at 4799 Commons Way. It is an attractive center with nice landscaping and fountains. There are about 35 businesses, including a Ralph's supermarket, the Edwards Grand Palace Stadium movie theater, Barnes and Noble, lululemon athletics, LOFT, Siany, White House Black Market, Williams-Sonoma, Rite Aid, Chico's, Kate Spade and other stores.

Dining options at The Commons includes Marmalade Cafe, Corner Bakery, King's Fish House, Fresh Brothers, Starbucks, Sugarfish by Sushi Nogawa, Toscanova, Menchie's Frozen Yogurt, Pick Up Stix, Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop, Le Pain Quotidien and SunLife Organics. And soon, Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop.

The Commons also hosts a weekly Kids Club and numerous other events and entertainment. There's also a nice pond/fountain area on the west end of the center, featuring koi and turtles.

Visit www.shopcommons.com or call 818.637.8922 for more information.

Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament in Buena Park

Medieval Times is a family-friendly dinner attraction inspired by an 11th century feast and tournament. Guests are served a four-course banquet meal (without utensils, of course) and then cheer for one of six knights competing in the joust and other tests of skill.

You may feel like this is goofy and you're only going for the kids.....but try it out, it's actually a lot of fun and some great entertainment! The tickets aren't "cheap" but when you factor in both the dinner and the great entertainment, it is definitely worth it. We also upgraded our tickets to the VIP/Kings Feast section to get front row seating and it was great!

My 6 year old and I loved the food. Pretty basic but quite tasty menu included tomato bisque, foccacia bread, massive quantity of roasted chicken and ribs that were also quite good, potato, apple strudel and a drink. Really was good. And they do have vegetarian options too.

Gotta love this place. And both the animals and the actors did an amazing job! I captured some scenes from our 2012 visit below.

The Buena Park location is located at 7662 Beach Boulevard, about 60 miles from the Conejo Valley, a mile from Knotts Berry Farm and 5 miles from Disneyland. Visit www.medievaltimes.com for more information.

We are lucky to have one of only 9 Medieval Times locations in North America, with others located in Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Baltimore, Lyndhurst, NJ and Toronto, Canada.

Train Rides at Griffith Park

The Griffith Park & Southern Railroad has operated almost continuously since 1948.  GP&S Railroad, 4400 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles (near Los Feliz and Riverside) and Travel Town Railroad, 5200 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles, Forest Lawn exit from the 134 Fwy.) are open 364 days a year, closing only on Christmas Day.

If your kids are Thomas the Tank Engine fans, then this is a no-brainer half day excursion.  We visited GP&S over a Memorial Day weekend and the kids could not get enough of the 1 mile mini-train ride, traveling over 2 bridges, a tunnel and a mini-Western town.

Travel Town is a 3/8ths of a mile track that does 2 loops, so you do get 1/4 of a mile more ride for your money on the GP&S track.  Both rides are $2.75 per person as of March 2018 ($2.25 for seniors over age 65). GP&S also has a simulator ride, pony rides and concession stands.  Travel Town also has a railroad equipment history museum as well as dozens of old-time railroad locomotive and cars.

For more information, visit www.gprah.com or call 323.664.6903 (GP&S) or 323.662.9678.

Pics and vid from a trip to Travel Town in April 2011.