The Airport and Museum alone are worth the drive. Make sure you go on the first Sunday of the month because that’s the only day they’re open. Confused about where the museum is? Well, the museum IS the airport. On that first Sunday of the month the whole place is opened up and the public can walk from hangar to hangar. Not all the hangars are open but the ones that are are full of treasure and some of them are done up nice enough you could live in them! You’ll find new planes, old planes, stunt planes, exotic planes, and some helicopters. You won’t just see planes either as many of the hangar owners store antique cars and other collectibles there. One of our favorites was the Donalson Hangar where Mr. Donalson has a Radio Museum. Traipse past the 1948 DeSoto convertible to where Donalson has radios of all kinds dating back to 1922. Some he’s restored himself and he’s a wealth of knowledge about everything from radios to stunt flying to dog agility training. Hang out for a bit and his adorable yellow Labrador Retriever Nugget will show you some of her tricks.
Model A's at the Airport Museum.
Donalson's '48 DeSoto.
While touring the hangars don’t forget to stop by the main museum hangar. Here the staff will playfully narrate for you a video of the airport’s opening day festivities in 1930. There are exhibits and pictures of the exciting and sometimes amusing history of flight. My favorite was a photo of Pancho Barnes and her Chihuahua who had his very own very small parachute.
Stop for lunch at the airport’s restaurant Logsdon’s. It’s your average diner but I will recommend the tuna salad sandwich which comes on a toasted croissant. Bonus: you can watch planes take off and land while you eat.
The Clocktower in downtown Santa Paula.
Downtown Santa Paula is cute, but I hate to say it could use a little influx of hip. The architecture is great though if you’re like me and you love old buildings. Downtown is where the Oil Museum is. There they have a full scale replica of an old oil drilling rig. It’s actually really neat because the building it’s in has motion sensors and as soon as you walk in the rig starts creaking and grinding to life. A life size dummy named “Derrick” (haha, oil drilling humor) narrates the exhibit.
On the way back to Santa Clarita stop by the Rancho Camulos Museum on the site of an old ranch dating from the mid-1800’s. A beautiful adobe house from the 1920’s will soon be restored as the museum’s Visitor’s Center. There is also a produce stand here where you can pick up some local oranges for the drive home.
This adobe built in the 1920's will soon be the museum's Visitor's Center.
I loved this courtyard.
For more information follow the links below:
Santa Paula Airport
http://www.amszp.org/
What a great museum...I would love to see all the planes and Nugget demonstrating tricks. Add the old cars and you get the best of many worlds.
ReplyDeleteYup. Love the adobe and the clock tower...it looks like something from a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western!
Wow looks like a fun trip. It's raining here and that sky looked inviting.
ReplyDelete