Road Trip – Ojai Rotie Revisited (Ojai)

We just got back from a short two night road trip with JJ. It was actually going to be longer, but then the wildfires that have ravaged SoCal happened, and with me monitoring things (Watch Duty is a awesome app), we cut two nights out of the trip (donated the funds to fire relief) and just decided to do Morro Bay and one of our favorite towns in SLO County, Cambria.

We always regretted not taking Sammy and Frankie on Road Trips and we wanted to make sure to have no such regrets with the "J". JJ also seemed to do really well during car rides though he barks and whines like a banshee when waiting for the ride to begin and once the car permanently stops. We're not sure how he knows we've reached our destination, but he strangely does. Hopefully his puppy classes will ease that. However, during the drive he is a perfect angel!

Well, we were amazed to find that JJ handles the drive quite well. In fact, we made one stop at a usual place, which I've posted on three times already in Oxnard. Traffic on the 101 seemed quite typical and while there was haze and smoke it didn't seem too bad. I was concerned about the Auto Fire, but it was fully contained before we left and we really didn't notice much smoke or ash when we stopped at The Collection and took JJ for his "break". He was such a champ.

In fact, when we were back on the 101, the Missus saw the exit to Ojai, another town we enjoy, and requested a detour for lunch. So, off we went. It was Sunday, so the Ojai Farmers Market, another favorite of ours was taking place. Man, the town was packed! I had forgotten that it was MLK weekend! Anyway, we found parking down one of the side streets. We quickly noticed, that unlike our previous visits, with the friendly locals, this was tourist heaven, many of whom were quite pushy and plain rude. The Missus did a quick walk thru the Farmers Market while I took JJ for a walk….dogs are strictly not allowed at the market, folks would be waiting for their partners at the entrance with their pooches.

And then we headed off to find a place for a dog friendly lunch.

We noticed that Ojai Rotie, which we visited before (remember that cool shirt the guy gave me?) was just opening, so that would be it for lunch. I did wish I had brought my "Ojai Psychic Friends Network" t-shirt. Folks and families were cutting in line to get in and all.

Folks didn't know that once in, unless you had reservations you needed to order at the counter. Once in, I headed right to the counter, only to have folks cut in front of me again. When I casually mentioned this to the four guys who cut in front of me they told me "we were in front of you in the other line, so f-off".  Nice, huh? The folks A really felt bad for were the locals working, who were just as nice as on our previous visit.

Anyway, I just went and ordered a Grilled Eggplant Sandwich ($19). I told them to pack it to go "just in case", though the Missus and JJ did find a two top.

As before, the sourdough bread was wonderful. It was grilled nice and crisp, slight yeastiness, mild yogurty-sourness, very pleasant.

As for the rest? Well, the pepper-bitter arugula sprouts really dominated the sandwich. We really couldn't make out the pesto. The texture of the eggplant was good, but again, the seasoning-flavor was nullified. At least the milky-nutty Manchego cheese did come thru.

Not terrible; good bread, but if we return we'll try something else next time.

Ojai Rotie
469 E Ojai Ave.
Ojai, CA 93023

We then got the heck out of town as quick as we could. We were really thinking about doing a road trip here. If we do, we'll make sure it's in the off season and also not during a holiday weekend!

The trip to Morro Bay took a bit less than 3 hours and JJ did perfect. We booked the Harbor House Inn which was described as being dog friendly, which it was indeed. They even had a little welcome bag for JJ. It was just a few blocks from the Embarcadero. After checking in, we took JJ right down to the harbor and strolled past all those familiar places.

And had a photo-op or two…..

Before taking a short pre-dinner break. JJ seemed to be enjoying things; which made us happy.

Thanks for stopping by!