Catch a Double Birthday Celebration in Los Olivos

LOS OLIVOS —  If you’re headed north next weekend, plan a stop in this vintage village to help the townsfolk celebrate two centennials.

On Saturday you can join a community barbecue that commemorates the arrival of the railroad and the platting of the town in 1887.

In recent years, Los Olivos has become a showplace for artists, whose works are displayed in tin-sided and other historic buildings that house 10 galleries. Just opened last month in a 1901 hardware store is The Story Collection, a labor of love for radio and TV personality Ralph Story and his wife Diana.

Los Olivos is the semiretired couple’s residence and they’ll be hosting the centennial barbecue. Special exhibits honoring cowboys and cowboy art also will be featured during the weekend.

To get there, steam north on the Southern Pacific Railroad to the end of its tracks near Santa Barbara, then board a stagecoach for the 130-mile, bone-jarring journey to where the rails began again beyond San Luis Obispo.

Imagine the happy time it was for travelers in 1887 when an alternative route cut the horse-drawn segment to 35 miles and meant only a six- to eight-hour stagecoach ride.

Railway Extended

That was the year the narrow-gauge Pacific Coast Railway extended its tracks to a brand-new town in the Santa Ynez Valley and met the daily stage arriving from Santa Barbara.

As a transportation crossroads, Los Olivos (pronounced oh-LEE-vos) soon boomed with 100 residents, false-fronted stores, livery stables and blacksmith shops, a post office, public school and even a luxury 35-room hotel. However, hard times hit at the turn of the century, when the Southern Pacific completed its tracks along the coast and travelers bypassed Los Olivos on their north-south trips.

Another blow came in 1918, when a new coast highway (now U.S. 101) also skirted the town. But being off the beaten path has become a long-term blessing, because Los Olivos remains a tranquil small town in a scenic rural valley.

Some visitors may recognize it as the quintessential country setting for last year’s “Return to Mayberry” TV special starring Andy Griffith and Don Knotts. The community flagpole in the middle of Grand Avenue is the town’s tallest landmark.

For a trip to enjoy a bit of yesteryear, head north from Los Angeles on U.S. 101 to Santa Barbara and join California 154, a state scenic highway. It follows the old stagecoach route over the mountains through 2,224-foot San Marcos Pass to Los Olivos.

In bygone times that was a $5.50 journey in 21-passenger Concord stages, which could be delayed by breakdowns, high water at the river crossings and occasional holdup men.

The teams of horses were changed at several stations, including Cold Spring Tavern, where today’s traveler can detour for drinks or a meal in the original rustic log cabins. Turn left on Stagecoach Road just before the modern Cold Spring Arch Bridge.

Continue on California 154 past recreational Lake Cachuma and descend into Santa Ynez Valley to Mattei’s Tavern, a Los Olivos landmark. Established in 1886 by Swiss-born Felix Mattei as a stage stop and inn, it was just across the street from the southern terminus of the Pacific Coast Railway.

The train depot has been torn down, but you still can enjoy a meal at Mattei’s, where pictures of the old station and stagecoaches are displayed in the bar and dining rooms. Hours are noon to 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. weekends, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays.

To see more of the country town and its art galleries, go back a block to the main street, Grand Avenue. Look for a former warehouse that’s now home to the Lizabeth Kyle and Pony Tracks galleries and a cowboy art show that runs through Aug. 30.

“California Vaqueros Revisited” opens Saturday. On hand will be artists who do rawhide braiding and horsehair hitching, in addition to Western-theme paintings, drawings and sculpture. Original works by Edward Borein will be available, too.

Another special exhibit is down the block past the flagpole in a one-time blacksmith shop that became the town’s first art gallery in 1976. A reception will be held Saturday afternoon at the Cody Gallery for Los Olivos artist Merv Corning, noted for his watercolors, oils, posters and prints.

West from the flagpole on Alamo Pintado look for a two-story store dating to 1914, the showplace for four dozen area artists. Upstairs is the Valley Arts co-op gallery, and at street level you’ll find The Story Collection.

Ralph Story will be across the street in Los Olivos Park to host the centennial barbecue from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday and to celebrate his birthday. Join the party for $5 and enjoy a big hamburger, beans, salad, ice cream and birthday cake. Some 60 Santa Ynez Valley cowboys have been invited as honored guests.

Go into the Grange Hall next to the park to see an exhibit of cowboy memorabilia, as well as mementos from the early days of the Los Olivos School. School alumni to 1950 also will be the town’s special guests.

As you stroll around, be sure to visit the Los Olivos, Garden, Young and Glasgow House galleries. South on Grand Avenue, cowboy art from the Norby Gallery will be shown outdoors next to the Grand Hotel, a handsome hostelry that opened in 1985 but closed its doors last Jan. 1 and is awaiting new owners.

Almost all of the town and its old-time structures can be viewed on a three-square-block walking tour, guided by a $1 pamphlet written by local historian and publisher Jim Norris. Pick up a copy at the Cody Gallery or Jedlicka’s Western store.

You’ll find a wide choice of overnight accommodations a few miles away in Ballard, Buellton and Solvang. Return to Los Angeles via U.S. 101 just west of town.

Round trip from Los Angeles for a “happy hundred” celebration in Los Olivos is 295 miles.