Sr. Staff Writer Olaf Wolff visits where entertainment and refreshments are the best in the west

Olaf G. Wolff
AllAboutBikes.com Sr. Staff Writer

When describing an all-the-rage motorcycle destination the word “romantic” hardly ever makes the cut. Show up on a weekend when Cold Spring Tavern is packed with a dozen, or a hundred motorcycles of all heritage, and you’ll hear no mention of romantic - anywhere. But, visit at dusk, just before the sun creeps behind the Santa Ynez Mountains, and a touch of hocus-pocus prevails over the tavern.
 
Cold Spring Tavern is located on Highway 154, the San Marcos Pass, a fast, winding mountain road, 20 minutes from Santa Barbara, Calif. Visitors often joke that the Tavern has been frozen in time – 142 years ago. Which, by-the-way, was considered a very romantic period in California history – often hazardous, but romantic. It was the era of the stagecoach travel and the Cold Spring Tavern was definitely a player.

The Tavern was built in 1865 as a way station serving travelers on the new “turnpike” over the San Marcos Pass, constructed to ease transportation over the mountains, and the most direct north/south route. Passengers boarded stagecoaches and endured treacherous roads and the inevitable highwayman, just to make the trip over the pass.

Dusty stagecoaches stopped at the Cold Spring Tavern relay station to change horses, often adding additional horsepower, in order to get over the mountain. The stop also allowed passengers to enjoy one of the most mouthwatering meals going on in the Old West. The danger has long since passed but the romanticism has been carefully preserved and can still be found at the Tavern at night, or even on quiet weekdays. Today it’s still a “rest stop” only guests mostly arrive on iron horses, yet the food, refreshments and entertainment are still among the best in the west.

In 1941 the Tavern was purchased by Adelaide Ovington for $2,000 who, along with her daughter Audrey, operated the Tavern for over sixty years. It was their life’s work to preserve the Tavern so that future generations would be able to experience it as it was. “If anyone wants to celebrate a special event and has plans to celebrate an anniversary of that event in later years and expects to remember it as it was, they would be well advised to have it here because we never change,” avowed Ovington. Ovington was a business woman leaps ahead of her time, tempering occasional adversity with humor. When asked why she bought the Tavern, she replied “I didn’t buy the Tavern, I bought the door and the Tavern came with it.”

The current owners are Joy Ovington Wilson and her husband, Wayne. They’ve stated they will carry on the traditions of the Tavern and will endeavor to protect the Tavern for the enjoyment of future generations. “It's a tremendous responsibility but we will do our best.”

“We consider our employees to be a family who all understand the Tavern is a very special place. It’s our continuing desire that everyone who comes to the Tavern should be treated to a dining experience that they’ll always remember.” Memories do indeed endure here.