MAKING A CASE FOR VENTURA AS THE PERFECT GETAWAY SPOT.

Byline: Jenny Peters Correspondent

VENTURA - This was once a sleepy little town up the coast from Los Angeles, perhaps best-known as the place where Perry Mason was born, but these days Ventura is transforming itself into a perfect vacation destination - for a week or weekend - with a little something for everyone.

For those of us not in on the secret until now, there's lots to see and do in Ventura, which many motorists speed past on their way to Santa Barbara or other coastal cities farther north. It's a bit more affordable than its high-profile cousin up the road (with less-expensive hotel rooms), but it's plenty scenic and relaxing.

To see Perry Mason's origins, start on Main Street, where lawyer- turned-author Erle Stanley Gardner invented the famous detective back in the 1930s.

There's a plaque on the side of the building at 494 E. Main St., where Gardner practiced law and first wrote his tales of Perry, Della Street and Paul Drake.

This area of downtown also has countless antique, art and second-hand shops where bargains are just waiting to be snapped up. Sophisticated newer shops rub shoulders with old and dusty places that have obviously been conducting business for decades; these are definitely the best options for finding something strange and different.

You can easily spend the whole day meandering in and out of the Main Street shops, perhaps stopping along the way for a latte at Zoey's Cafe, a wonderful little coffee bar tucked back in a European-flavored courtyard just off the main drag.

Also strange and different is the Victorian Rose Bed and Breakfast, the wacky brainchild of Richard and Nona Bogatch. A six-room inn created out of an old Victorian church at 896 E. Main St., it is chockablock with antiques, cherubs and assorted Victorian stuff.

Guests can even climb up into the steeple - the Emperor's Bedroom - and sleep where the angels live. If massive bric-a-brac and English High Tea are your idea of heaven, you can find it in this church-turned- weekend-retreat.

If a different kind of retro experience is more in keeping with your Rat Pack style, check out the Fifties Suite at the Pierpont Inn, a swingin' pad right out of a Sinatra-Martin-Davis flick. Every detail is still in place, from the albums to the martini shakers; this is the place to rent if you're planning a party weekend.

For some culture, Ventura is home to a variety of interesting historical sites, including Mission San Buenaventura, founded in 1782, and the historical adobe homes - the Olivas and the Ortega - built in the mid- 1800s.

Another fun outing is to head out to Channel Islands National Park on an Island Packers boat. (You'll likely see gray whales in winter.)

The islands offer hiking, kayaking, camping and ranger programs, plus scuba diving and snorkeling in the warmer summer months. Bird watchers will find a myriad of species all year round. The national park's Visitors Center is at Ventura Harbor, at 1901 Spinnaker Drive.

You certainly don't have to take a boat ride to a national park to experience the beachfront beauty of Ventura. Along the sunny expanses of the beach, wind surfers and kite boarders dot the water, volleyball players fling themselves into the sand, and bicyclists pedal along the waterfront promenade.

VENTURA

Victorian Rose B&B: 896 E. Main St.; [phone].

Pierpont Inn: 550 Sanjon Road; [phone].

Channel Islands National Park: Visitors Center at 1901 Spinnaker Drive; [phone]; www.nps.gov/chis. Island Packers: [phone]; www.islandpackers.com.

Information: [phone]; www.ventura-usa.com.

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A quick boat ride from Ventura will take you to the Channel Islands, where Ranger Bill Faulkner leads visitors on a hike.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer