Oceanside Is Trying to Attract Older Visitors

Local innkeepers, backed by the Oceanside visitors’ bureau, are trying to attract more mature travelers, by car and senior tour groups, to this “Gateway City to Northern San Diego County.”

“Oceanside’s location allows it to be an excellent visitors’ hub for easy day trips to the many attractions appealing to mature travelers in Southern California,” says tourism director Ken Kefauver.

“Add our superb three-mile-long safe, non-polluted sandy beach, modern municipal pier--the longest open on the West Coast--and a great fun-filled harbor, with fishing fleets, shops, restaurants and camping and picnic facilities.”

Fishing is of particular appeal to mature travelers. No license is required for fishing off the 1,900-foot pier, and Helgren’s Sportfishing trips provide a $5 discount for seniors (age 65 and older) on Monday and Friday ocean trips, normally $16 to $25 for half or full day.

Senior Rates Available

Golfing is another mature traveler favorite, and Oceanside can offer 72 courses with a short drive, three of them right in the city. Many of the courses have senior rates, a listing of which is being compiled by the visitors’ bureau.

“One of the best but perhaps least-known reasons Oceanside is emerging as a tour destination for mature travelers is its ideal temperate climate,” Kefauver says.

“That’s a big plus for senior groups staying here after a day of motor-coach touring,” says Anne Bradford, marketing director for the Best Western Oceanside Inn.

As a new member of the Senior Travel and Recreation Assn. of California (STRAC), Bradford has a special group rate for senior tours as well as individual mature travel discounts.

Oceanside’s most noted attraction is Mission San Luis Rey, known as the king of the California missions. It was originally founded in 1769 by Father Juan Crespi. The mission’s fine museum tells the long history of the mission, the early glory days, then a long period of decline and decay. At one time the courtyards were even used for bullfights. One of President Abraham Lincoln’s last acts in office was to return the courtyard to the protection of the church.

Preserving Stone Work

Since 1892 the mission has been under the Franciscan Order, whose members have lovingly restored it to its former grandeur, preserving much of the stonework and paintings by Indians.

Just seven miles east of Oceanside is a lesser-known attraction, the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum, just off California 78 at Vista.

There on 35 acres more than 1,200 old-tractor enthusiasts display 150 antique tractors, harvesters and other farm gear.

For a modest donation visitors can tour the open-air museum, which also includes a large building filled with tractors and a melange of items from early farm life: children’s toys, washing machines, barbed wire and branding iron displays, plus all sorts of odd farm and household items.

A second large building houses the repair shop where members restore and repair the tractors and other equipment, using old machinery and a belt-driven power system.

A well-equipped blacksmith shop is run by the “metal mashers.” They hold special classes on the second Saturday morning each month for those who wish to learn smithing.

Because the museum is operated on a volunteer basis, on most days there is only a member or two available to guide visitors around. But senior groups planning a tour can write or call ahead to be assured of guides.

Coming up Oct. 15, 16, 22 and 23 will be the Fall Threshing Bee and Antique Engine Show, with many of the old gas and steam tractors in action or on parade, along with 30 old Ford Model As and Ts. Plus square and line dancing, vintage clothing fashion show, country kitchen and other foods, crafts, train rides for the kids and more. It’s a $3 donation; children under 15 are free. Open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Tropical Plants on Display

Senior groups coming into the area never miss Quail Botanical Gardens, just a 15-minute drive south of Oceanside off Interstate 5 at Encinitas. It’s one of the West’s premier displays of tropical plants, trees, shrubs and ferns, including the largest hibiscus collection in California. The self-guided walking tour involves some steps and climbing, but most mature travelers handle it with no problem. Admission is free, with a modest charge for auto or motor-coach parking.

Other attractions and sights within an easy drive of Oceanside, and often included on senior motor-coach tours, include Encinitas, known as the “flower capital of California,” the Lawrence Welk Village Resort and Dinner Theater in Escondido, the charming town of Fallbrook with its many antique stores, the La Costa Spa in Carlsbad and horse racing at Del Mar.

Often neglected is a free drive-yourself tour of Camp Pendleton. You only get a glimpse of Marine life on the 125,000-acre base, largest in the nation, but it does include the Marines’ Amphibian Vehicle Museum. If you drive on the base you’ll need a driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance.

In addition to the Best Western Oceanside Inn, which offers group rates for senior tours as well as a 10% regular discount for individual mature travelers, other resorts with discounts for mature travelers in Oceanside are the Oceanside TraveLodge, Comfort Inn and Marty’s Best Western Valley Inn.

The new Oceanside Visitor Information Center, staffed by members of the American Assn. of Retired Persons, will help with sightseeing information, dining and other requests. It’s at 928 Hill St., phone (619) 721-1101. The center is open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.