Taste of the Central Coast

Driving from Cambria to Paso Robles, with a view of Morro Rock and Central Coast hills

     I'm beginning to feel like Groupon is the great Chess Master, determining the fate of Jordi and I. (If you've never heard of Groupon, it's basically a daily deal sent to your email.) Most of the time, Groupon determines where we go out to eat, where we see a movie, or what gifts I buy people. It even determined this last little adventure - a two night stay in Cambria on the Central Coast, which I bought months ago knowing that we always love an excuse to visit the area.
     The excuse came last week - my husband's flexible work as a contractor is great sometimes, but he hadn't had any work in a couple weeks and we were both a bit stir crazy. I had a few days off work and decided that instead of barely putting up with each other, we should enjoy the time that we both unexpectedly had together - and get out of the house to do it! Although zipping off to a motel by the beach when neither of us were working feels like splurging in a time of need, I didn't doubt he would eventually get more jobs and we would be too busy to go later.
     So as soon as I got off work Wednesday afternoon, we threw our suitcases in the car and squeezed through LA before rush hour traffic (this could never work on a Friday), pulling up to the Cambria Palms Motel several hours later. After unpacking, we went for a walk around the quiet town. It was FREEZING - we had to hurry back because I was afraid my face might fall off - that's how cold it felt. Luckily our room boasted a heater, which we took full advantage of, and although the shower wasn't fancy, it was hot.

Biking along the beach in Cambria

     The next morning we used the complementary beach cruisers to go for a fun roll through town and down to Moonstone Beach, which was beautiful. From there we rode the frontage road up the coast for a ways. A nice boardwalk also parallels the ocean, but is for pedestrians only. We parked our bikes in a little parking lot with picnic benches at the end of the road and went for a short but scenic walk along the bluffs.

Walking along the bluffs in Cambria

After biking back to the motel, we quickly changed and headed out for some wine tasting in Paso Robles. We've both been to Paso numerous times, but haven't been back in years. Luckily we had some good tips on where to go from Jordi's uncle and wine connoisseur. We headed out through the hills, Ryan Adams blaring (The Hardest Part - classic wine-tasting song from college. I have absolutely no idea why.) The views from Highway 46 heading east are absolutely gorgeous. For much of the way you can see to the ocean, and at some spots you can even get glimpses of Morro Rock. It was one of the most beautiful drives I've been on, and a fantastic way to be whisked into wine country.

Cork Tree

Vineyards in the wintertime

   
 


         

   
     Our first stop was at a vineyard called L'Aventure, owned by a Frenchman who only recently became aware of the American custom to casually wine taste (Lucky for us!) He brought over his Rhone blends from back home and successfully grows the varietals in Paso, which apparently is primo property for grapes hailing from the Rhone region in France. A very knowledgeable attendant, not much older than us, kept us rapt for at least an hour explaining all kinds of history and methods. But of course the most fun part was actually tasting these wines, which were explosions of color and taste in every sniff and sip - if you've ever seen Ratatouille, you know what I mean. This is NOT your average Trader Joe's wine. I love that although we would never be able to spend that much on a bottle, we had the opportunity to taste and talk for quite some time - all by ourselves! (Better than Temecula? oh maybe...)

Although some vineyards weren't open (we were there on a Thursday and the biggest days are Friday -Sunday) we were able to get to Terry Hoage Vineyard, organically grown yet completely delicious wines, where we once again had the place to ourselves and another friendly attendant informatively chatted with us for a while. We also visited Opolo, and Tablas Creek - more great wines and pleasant pourers.

Santa Rosa Creek Road

      Returning to Cambria, we drove the back way on Santa Rosa Creek Road, another gorgeous drive where we didn't meet a single car the whole time! We cruised by the beautiful beaches and headed into town to find a restaurant that wasn't closed. We got a window seat at Black Cat, and although the food wasn't astounding, it was a cozy atmosphere and a nice night out.
We headed back to the motel to watch the first round of American Idol (this is the most entertaining round) but had to pick up some dessert-to-go first. We stopped by Linn's, famous for their Ollalaberry pies, which we should have bought instead of the so-so cookies.

     The next morning was rainy and drizzly. Jordi braved the cold and brought us back some coffee. We then both went for a walk through town and up to a really old cemetary, which was interesting and serenely pretty.

     We came back and hopped in the car to go see the Elephant Seals about a half hour north in San Simeon. By the time we got there the drizzle had become rain, but the baby seals were loud and they were all fun to watch! Seeing the 700 pound lugs on the beach gave me some assurance that a shark would be so much happier to eat one of those than us bony surfers.

     With that in mind, we went to go find some surf - the storm that was bringing the rain was also causing some good swell.

Elephant seals lying about on the drizzly beach.

  We went back to Cambria and packed up - the surf there looked pretty stormy, so we checked out of Cambria Palms and went to Cayucos. It didn't look very good there either, but we had packed a lunch which we ate on the pier and OF COURSE got some Brown Butter Cookies - my absolute favorite!!

     It started raining in Cayucos, so we raced to Shell Beach, just south of San Luis Obispo.Meeting up with an old friend, we finally found surf that looked fun. We paddled out in the gray rain, and had it to ourselves for a while.

     Once we were sufficiently cold, we got out and said goodbye to our amigo. We headed south to Santa Barbara for a quick dinner, and with no traffic, we were home before 10. We had beat the storm!

There's a saying in Spanish called "Llena y contenta" meaning full and satisfied. Waking up in my own bed the next morning listening to the sound of rain, with memories of wine country, empty surf, and beautiful bike rides, I felt very llena y contenta - at least until the next adventure! 

We stopped to check out Harmony on the way to Cayucos.
With a population of 18, this is literally all there is...

View of Cayucos, coming from the North.