Francis and I took an anniversary road trip back in May, and I can’t believe I am barely sharing our experience visiting San Luis Obispo, Cambria, Paso Robles and Hearst Castle. Better late than never, so they say. We had such a great time! Only regret was not visiting these small towns before. We had always past them by when on our way to L.A, but never thought much of them. Sad, I know. Well, the time came and all we can say is GO!! Every single town was worth the visit. All I took on this trip was my film camera and three rolls of film. In case you want to make the trip yourself, I waned to share some of our favorite stops. Enjoy!
*All the way at the bottom of this post I’ve posted a few links of the places we visited in case you want some suggestions 😉
We started out drive south on our way to Hearst Castle where we took the Upstairs Suites Tour
To be honest, I would have much preferred to see the cottages. I am not a big house and dark room kinda girl, so the big house itself didn’t make an impression. All I could think of was of a man who was basically a hoarder who actually DID have the space to store his “treasures”.
My favorite was the pool. It remined me of “Patio de los leones” at the Alhanmbra in Granada, Spain.
That same day after our tour we drove to Cambria, and stayed at the cutest little B&B
It had a BEAUTIFUL garden!!
Cambria, although small, it is full of charm. Along Moonstone beach there are plenty of B&B’s, all of them looked very pretty and were just right across the beach.
We walked this trail for a bit, then went down onto the sand
We spotted this baby seal. A few minutes later it was picked up, it might have gotten hurt or separated from its mom 🙁
Loved all the moonstones! I could have taken them all .. haha
We then headed to Paso Robles for some wine tasting.. yum!
Paso Robles is SO different than Napa, we LOVED it! I personally loved the rolling hills and tight windy roads
After some wine tasting we headed to Downtown Paso where they were holding their annual Arts & Crafts fair. I was in heaven.
When in small towns I like perusing little shops with unique finds
Pedro Infante?! Seriously, looks like him.. haha
I grabbed some “scrabble” cardboard’s and came up with this … 🙂
Interesting? ….. I thought so.
On our way again ….
We stared our day in San Luis Obispo with a food tour. Here is were doing an olive oil tasting
Quite town calls for some quiet time 🙂
Had dinner next to the creek at Novo. You know it, show me a restaurant with twinkle lights and we’re there!
Brunch and Sally Loos Wholesome Cafe
I had heard about this little store which had recently opened and it had so much to see. We got ourselves a couple of air plants 🙂
SLO is FULL of vintage stores, which by the way some get their stuff from The Height in SF or the Alameda Antique fair 😉
Bottles anyone?!
The main street is Higera. So many little shops and restaurants. Everything is pretty much walking distance. Although it’s a college town, it’s not crazy at all. We felt very safe and walked mostly everywhere.
Hop Kat is a store that carried SO many vintage styled dresses. The drive to SLO would be so worth it just to visit this store.
More antique shopping! Seriously, if you like vintage/second hand stores, you will love this town.
On the road home …
But before… Morro Bay.
The ONLY reason I would stop by this town again, would be for the Fish and Chips. Otherwise drive, just drive …
May 25th and Happy Anniversary to us! 🙂
One of the best parts, coming back to our pookie and with a couple new baby plants 🙂
When in town;
Cambria
Stay: Olallieberry Inn Super clean, fresh breakfast, beautiful garden, just a few rooms and awesome service.
Eat: Linns This restaurant was recommended by the B&B and it did NOT disappoint. The specialty in this restaurant is the Olallieberry (a cross between the blackberry and the raspberry) pie and the chicken pot pie. I am NOT a fan of pot pies, but since I decided to try it. It was SOO good!!
Paso Robles
Eat and drink: Tablas Creek Winery and Opolo Winery Out of these two we really enjoyed Opolo, not only for their zinfandel’s but their pizza’s! Perfect place to relax and eat.
San Luis Obispo
Stay: airbnb This was the first time we tried this website to find a local home to stay in. We had a GREAT experience. This website is very thorough in showing not only information about the hosts, but the reviews are always very accurate.
Eat: For breakfast we went to Sally Loo’s Cafe. This cafe had a strange seating arrangement that actually worked. When you arrive there is this really long line. As you stand there, you may ask yourself if there is someone taking your name, but as it turns out, you are in line to order, and as the line starts to move, so do the people that are finished eating. Strangely enough once you get the counter to order and get your table number there is already a table available when it seemed almost impossible! I had their famous Acai bowl.. yummy and VERY filling!
Novo Restaurant We wanted something nice for dinner. This restaurant was not only had a dreamy patio, it was also delicious. If you are like me and care about at least ONE nice dinner with twinkle lights, this is your place 😉 haha
Thai Palace this place was recommended by our host where we were staying at. It’s a hole in the wall, and doesn’t look like much inside, but food was DELICIOUS!!
Things to do: Central Coast Food Tours Must do if you are a foodie like us and wouldn’t mind a little history either. We got to taste a little bit of everything, and our guide was super friendly. Francis and I are big fans of walking tours. It give us the chance to get to know the town and come back to the places we liked or called our attention.