So many people from to the Los Angeles area and are immediately overwhelmed with the traffic, noise, and general hustle of the city, but sadly few explore the surrounding areas just outside the chaos of the big city, one of my favorite places to escape is the Conejo Valley, so when they invited me to come out to visit the area I jumped at the opportunity to go back.
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| View of the 101 Freeway towards Los Angeles |
Located just north of Los Angeles it is also a retreat for a number of celebrities call the cities of Conejo Valley home. The cities of Calabasas, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, and Agoura Hills are home to entertainers such as Justin Beiber, Garry Sinise, The Kardashians, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, LeAnn Rimes, and even Ozzy Osbourne call the Conejo Valley home.
If celebrity spotting is not your idea of a good time, Conejo Valley has much more to offer including dozens of craft breweries, including the two I sampled, Ladyface Alehouse and Twisted Oak Tavern, both offering their own local brews and excellent food well beyond the scope of your average pub menu. I suggest the Garlic Fries at Ladyface and the Tacos at Twisted Oak.
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| House Belgium at Twisted Oak Tavern |
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| Paramount Movie Ranch, being prepared for filming. |
Even though the site is now part of the National Park System, it is often used for filming, while I was visiting a crew was busy setting up the historic western town at the park for a film production, they wouldn't tell me what it was for, while it has been used for film and television for years back in the golden age of Hollywood you might find Cecil B. Demille directing, or Bob Hope, Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert performing for one of their films. More recently the site was the main set for the TV series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and if you look closely in some of your favorite westerns you will start to see the same buildings over and over again, just painted different colors.
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| Replica of the Reagan Oval Office |
The next day I headed to one of the most visited sites in Conejo Valley, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Drawing visitors from around the world, the Library is also the final resting place of the 40th President of the United States and First Lady Nancy Reagan. The Library houses an impressive collection of memorabilia from the life of President Reagan, including the actual Air Force 1 plane that served the President. The library also featured a full-scale replica of the Oval Office including many original items from the office during his presidency.
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| Air Force 1 at the Ronal Reagan Library |
The Library also featured rotating exhibits, currently 'Titanic at the Reagan Library' combines real artifacts and stories of the people on board the ill-fated ship. This new exhibit tells the story of the unsinkable ship in a way no museum has done before. Artifacts from passengers, dispersed over time, will be reunited in this exhibit for the first time in over 100 years, as well as a fascinating look on how researchers were able to search the wreckage to solve the mystery of the Titanic.
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| Model of Titanic Wreckage |
I would like to thank the Sheraton Agoura Hills for the amazing accommodations and Conejo Valley for inviting me out to spend a few days revisiting some of my favorite sites and discovering new ones. There is so much to do in Conejo Valley and thankfully the team at Conejo Valley has created an amazing site to help you plan your trip, from booking hotels to finding events and restaurants, visit Conejo.com to plan your escape to Conejo Valley.
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| Sheraton Agoura Hills |
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