Gaviota Store Traditional Cache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Located along the well-travelled US Highway 101 at the site of the now gone Gaviota Restaurant/Inn/Store/Gas Station. Terrain is mostly flat and will be a quick P&G for the experienced cacher. Cache is just off the northbound side but can be reached from either northbound or southbound lanes. I would strongly recommend braking early to make sure you don't overshoot your destination. CONGRATS TO B&BW ON THE FTF
History Lesson: If the remnants of walls could talk, the empty rock foundation off northbound Highway 101 just west of the Gaviota & city limits sign could speak volumes. The rocks, set amid pine trees, are all that is left of the Gaviota Store, once the thriving heart of the Gaviota community. According to the book Hollister Ranch 7 Its History, Preservation and People, published by the ranch conservancy and edited by Nancy Ward, the first store was built by the Hollister Estate Company about 1916 on nearby coastal bluffs. When the highway was moved a new store was built, and it quickly became a community center. It was a combination grocery and clothing store, gas station, dance hall, telephone exchange and post office, with mail arriving daily from the Gaviota depot. A restaurant offered a view of the channel and offshore islands. An auto court accommodated travelers. With a new owner and visions of a large tourist complex complete with museum and lighthouse, the old store was torn down in 1970 and a new restaurant-store and service station were built. Except for the restaurant, the grandiose plans never materialized. The restaurant went though several owners, including Sunburst Farms, an organic farming commune popular in the 1970s. Known for its breakfasts, the restaurant drew people from Santa Barbara 30 miles away. Other owners eventually took over the restaurant but it never prospered and subsequently closed. A local ranger who visited the building in the late 1990s found it eerie and rat-infested. Reportedly, in its later days, a transient lived there. The store burned to the ground in 2002, leaving only the foundation, a few small charred trees, two dozen other pine trees, a cracked, weedy asphalt driveway and a spectacular view as far as San Miguel Island. Above history taken from The Santa Maria Times article provided by Chris Owens
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Arne YU tngr cbfg
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures