San Luis Obispo

[Borachio 417]

I'm heading to San Luis Obispo for 10 days on a work trip next week.  It looks small and isolated but near the beach, so that has to be worth something. 

Anything I need to check out in the area? Places to eat?

I thought I would drive down to Santa Barbara for the weekend when I am there. 

[Dutchrudder 11155]

Paso Robles is not too far if you like wine country. 

[Hook1997 5404]

Hurst Castle is like an hour away and you go through Cambria which is a cool little town to tour around. 

[0xdeadbeef 1652]

I loved my time SLO, but since I haven't been back in more than 30 years, most of my old recommendations are no longer valid.

Avila Beach is the nearest costal beach, in February, not many of the co-eds from the big college campus in SLO will be making the trip. In a couple of months it will be a very scenic place to hang out?

Like Wine? There are a ton of great wineries based just north in Paso Robles.

Do you surf?  Do you want to learn?  10 miles away from SLO is the "The Rock" at Morro Bay.  On the North side there is great surfing for beginners on up.  And it has fucking awesome feature, Dude. You can take your board and walk along the Rock and then jump in and paddle parallel to the shore.  (Don't do this on a big wind/wave day or you'll get crushed against the rock.)

 

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by 0xdeadbeef

[We’reTexas 1473]

Cambria and Morro Bay have some cool spots, but yeah would check out Paso wineries or drive down to Santa Barbara on the weekend. Solvang is great as well. 

[Borachio 417]

36 minutes ago, Hook1997 said:

Hurst Castle is like an hour away and you go through Cambria which is a cool little town to tour around. 

Ahhhh, Citizen Kane. Very cool

[Borachio 417]

37 minutes ago, 0xdeadbeef said:

Do you surf?  Do you want to learn?  10 miles away from SLO is the "The Rock" at Morro Bay.  On the North side there is great surfing for beginners on up.  And it has fucking awesome feature, Dude. You can take your board and walk along the Rock and then jump in and paddle parallel to the shore. 

I've only tried surfing once.  Sounds like this might be a good spot to give it another go. 

[Dutchrudder 11155]

Firestone Walker brewery is in Paso if you like beer. I was able to buy some unique non-distrubuted beers there.  

When we went to Paso a few years ago, we stayed in at a place called Alta Cresta Olive Cottage. It's a secondary house on an Olive Farm, fully furnished with a great location ok top of a hill. The back porch looks over olive trees and points west towards the sunset. It's absolutely perfect to have dinner, wine and watch the sunset. There are at least 50 wineries within a couple miles of it, so it's a perfect spot for hopping around. 

[Chopper 17311]

I don't think anyone mentioned Pismo Beach. Try to avoid peak tourist times. Also fwiw Hearst Castle is currently closed due to repair work.

Edited February 20, 2022 by Chopper

[Carl Spackler 3505]

On 2/16/2022 at 8:14 PM, Hook1997 said:

Hurst Castle is like an hour away and you go through Cambria which is a cool little town to tour around. 

Hearst Castle has been closed to tours for quite some time while they are renovating the road that leads up to the castle as well as the drainage system.  It's a real bummer, because that is a fantastic place to visit.  Anyone looking to go to that neck of the woods should check the website first.

https://hearstcastle.org/

[luke duke 6420]

You can check out the nuclear power plant.

[Carl Spackler 3505]

On 2/16/2022 at 7:26 PM, Borachio said:

I'm heading to San Luis Obispo for 10 days on a work trip next week.  It looks small and isolated but near the beach, so that has to be worth something. 

Anything I need to check out in the area? Places to eat?

I thought I would drive down to Santa Barbara for the weekend when I am there. 

SLO is basically a college town (Cal Poly SLO is there).  The only restaurant there that has been recommended to me (I've never tried it) is Big Sky Cafe, which is kind of a farm-to-table cafe.  Friend of mine said he had a good lunch there.  

Fortunately, SLO is within a reasonable drive to lots of good stuff.

Swing over to the coast on Highway 1.  There's Morro Bay with the Morro Rock.  Worth a stop just to check it out.  You want seafood?  Tognazzini's in Morro Bay. 

Or head up the coast from Morro Bay toward Cambria.  Before you hit Cambria, you'll drive by Harmony, population 19.  Worth a stop just to get some ice cream from the Harmony Creamery.  Stroll around the town for a while.  There's a glass-blowing place and some other shops. 

Then back on the 1 up to Cambria.  Cute little town with lots of little shops and eateries.  Linn's was pretty solid for breakfast.  They got a dude there who's kind of like the Soup Nazi -- on the gruff side, but he's alright if you play along with him. 

North of Cambria you'll hit San Simeon, which is where Hearst Castle is.  As I indicated in another post, the Castle is closed, unfortunately.  But right off the 1 on the ocean side of the road at the bottom of the hill from the Castle is the Hearst Ranch Winery, with tasting tables that are just adjacent to the beach and pretty solid wines.  Great place to take a picnic basket, do some tastings, buy a bottle of wine from the winery, and enjoy the view.  We had a great time there.  Make a reservation.

North of San Simeon is where you really get into prime elephant seal, etc. viewing areas.  Beautiful coastline to just drive.  Head as far north as you want up into Big Sur.  There's a million places to stop and enjoy the view, do a hike, etc.

 

 

Or head north from SLO toward Paso Robles.  Wife (no pics) and I stayed at a place out in the sticks halfway between Paso and the coast, right at the intersection of Hwy 46 and Old Creek Road.  The place is up on a hill looking down over a vineyard.  Was very peaceful.

There are a ton of wine tasting rooms in and around Paso.  Check out the Tin City area which is an old renovated industrial area with tasting rooms, a brewery or two, restaurants, shops, etc.  It's located just off the 101 south of Paso between Paso and Templeton.  The wife and I liked Union Sacre and Jacob Toft.  Turtle Rock was a little stuffy, but the wines were good. 

And there are a bunch of wineries/tasting rooms in Paso itself and west of the city up in the hills.  

Food in Paso:  Try Les Petites Canailles for something upscale.  Il Cortile for Italian.  Both were very good.  For a steak and cool experience, head east to the little town of Creston and try the Loading Chute.  Breakfast:  Joe's.

 

 

If you go south from SLO on the 227, you get into the Edna Valley wine region.  Lots of wineries in that area.  I prefer the Paso area wineries, but there's some solid ones in Edna Valley as well, including Baileyana and Claiborne & Churchill. 

 

You mentioned going down to Santa Barbara at some point.  Good idea.  Lots to see/do/eat/drink down there.  That's a thread unto itself.

On the way south, you'll go through Nipomo.  Jocko's Steakhouse is the spot there for dinner -- either going down or coming back.  Or hit the Far Western Tavern in Orcutt for another meat coma experience. 

 

Farther south but before you hit Santa Barbara proper, you'll be going through the Santa Barbara wine country/Santa Ynez Valley.  More great wineries all over the place.  That area is worth its own thread, frankly.  The wife and I love stopping in sleepy little Los Alamos and hitting Bell's (French cafe type place) for lunch, or Bob's Well Bread for breakfast, or Pico or Full of Life Flatbread for dinner.  There's also Babi's Beer Emporium -- grab a beer and hang out on the patio.  Los Alamos also has a few tasting rooms in town.   Los Olivos has even more.  In Los Olivos, I recommend Brewer-Clifton, Evan's Ranch, Carhartt, and Dragonette.  Walk next door from Brewer-Clifton to Figueroa Mountain Brewery when you're sick of tasting wine and need a beer.       

  

 

 

 

 

 

  

[pops 7007]

Farmers market is Thursday nights there... might be Wednesday. Close down a bunch of streets and it is great. You can get strawberries the size of your fist this time of year. 

Other recs are spot on. 

[dmtx 159]

There's an alley covered in bubble gum. It's actually pretty cool. 

And there's a great donut shop near the univ. 

[mdleast 8318]

We are going to SLO and Santa Barbara for spring break next month so subscribed to this thread.  Been through SLO once before briefly as part of a larger Monterey to Big Sur to Morro Bay/Pismo Beach and back up trip.  Looking forward to spending more time in the area.  Bubblegum Alley is a fun little odd curiousity.  Been to Firestone Walker in Paso Robles before and was impressed by how large the operation is.  Have tickets to this nighttime attraction one night while there...basically it's a huge outdoor lighting art installation:

https://sensoriopaso.com/

 

Bummer that Hearst Castle is still closed as we wanted to do the upstairs tour this time.  Will also check out Pismo and Morro Bay again and check out the elephant seals in San Simeon again.

 

[TornACL 7732]

2 hours ago, Chopper said:

I don't think anyone mentioned Pismo Beach.

I heard that as a surfer, Donny explored the beach there, among others.

Edited February 20, 2022 by TornACL

[Texzilla58 4745]

SLO is my favorite region of Cali. Just relax and enjoy it. You’ll find plenty to do.

[hornian 5230]

1 hour ago, Texzilla58 said:

SLO is my favorite region of Cali. Just relax and enjoy it. You’ll find plenty to do.

Didn’t realize Clayton Williams posted here. 

[luke duke 6420]

Didn’t realize Clayton Williams posted here. 

It was inevitable.

[Gil Bang 26058]

As I say on every Santa Barbara thread, go to the courthouse.  It's fantastic. 

 

 

[Rudiger 1169]

On 2/20/2022 at 2:58 PM, Chopper said:

I don't think anyone mentioned Pismo Beach. Try to avoid peak tourist times. Also fwiw Hearst Castle is currently closed due to repair work.

And all the clams you can eat. 

[Borachio 417]

This was a really great work trip,  thanks for the great tips!  I loved the small college town feel of San Luis Obispo and the surrounding area.   I didn't do any winery's but went to a few local breweries, including Firestone Walker Brewery in Paso Robles.

Palo Mesa Pizza - SLO

Big Sky Cafe - SLO - Reuben

Bubblegum Alley - SLO

I spent my Saturday in Santa Barbara. Strolled down State Street for a good bit, went to the art museum. The weather was perfect and the seafood, excellent!

Olsen's Bakery in Slovang on the way to Santa Barbara. 

Chad's Cafe in Santa Barbara - Huevos Rancheros

Unfortunately the courthouse was closed, but I got a nice pic out front. 

Santa Barbara Shellfish Company - Sea Urchin

Brophy Bros. at Stearn's Wharf - cold seafood combo 

Old Mission Santa Barbara 

Sunset on Arroyo Burro Beach

Sunday I drove up to Big Sur and Monterrey. First stop was Morro Bay. 

Elephant seals near San Simeon

Hearst Castle from a distance since it was closed. 

The drive through Big Sur country was unbelievable!  I've never been there and every turn was jaw dropping.  The pictures you see just don't do it justice. 

Ragged Point

Pfeiffer Beach 

Bixby Bridge

Stopped in Carmel by the Sea for a Triple D joint, From Scratch Restaurant. Extreme sausage biscuits and gravy.

The 17-mile drive was incredible as well.  Such a beautiful part of the country. 

Lone Cyprus

Back near San Luis Obispo - Jocko's Steakhouse in Nipomo - Ribeye

Madonna Inn - SLO

Monte Cristo

Old San Luis BBQ Co. - SLO - Tri-tip sandwich

SloDoCo Donuts - SLO

Pismo Beach Fish and Chips - fish tacos

Splash Cafe - Pismo Beach - Clam Chowder

Tognazzini’s Restaurant in Morro Bay -  Barbecued Oysters and Oysters Casino

Sunset at Montana de Oro in Los Osos

Swordfish at Custom House in Avila Beach

Gyro plate at Petra Mediterranean - SLO

Just loved this part of California.  Hope to return one day!

[mdleast 8318]

I feel like you and I just did identical trips in large part though I’m trying to decide how much to put in the SLO tread vs Santa Barbara thread but agree it’s all pretty amazing!

[Johnny Chimpo 481]

Damn man. I spent five years hanging around the central coast, you sure managed to hit a lot of highlights in your trip. Well done. 

[Foosters 17889]

Im hitting the road on Thursday for Big Sur. Gonna hit a lot of those spots!

[Gil Bang 26058]

California is such a beautiful state.  

[SizzleChest 8284]

Whenever I'm through that part of the California, I always stop to piss on the big rock at the Madonna Inn.

[mdleast 8318]

Whenever I'm through that part of the California, I always stop to piss on the big rock at the Madonna Inn.

You mean THIS Madonna Inn?

[SizzleChest 8284]

43 minutes ago, mdleast said:

You mean THIS Madonna Inn?

Yeah, one of them terlets they got on the main floor has a urinal that is basically a big rock wall.  It's fun to piss on.

[texanbychoice 354]

Loved there for nearly two years in 2012/3. Amazing place other than the whole “California” thing.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21983]

You took love you long time to extremes

[Carl Spackler 3505]

On 3/15/2022 at 7:48 PM, SizzleChest said:

Yeah, one of them terlets they got on the main floor has a urinal that is basically a big rock wall.  It's fun to piss on.

I learn something new every day.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Carl Spackler

[Carl Spackler 3505]

On 3/15/2022 at 7:03 PM, mdleast said:

You mean THIS Madonna Inn?

Been a long time since I stopped there.  Might have to take the time next time I'm up in the Central Coast area.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Carl Spackler