We've been in Fresno for almost four months now and although we are really loving the Central Valley, we decided it was time to get out of the Valley and see the ocean. So we hit the road for Pismo Beach. The drive was less than three hours from our front door and it was much, much easier than the drive from Redding to Eureka. The hills above were the only "mountains" we had to pass over to make it to our destination, the Pacific Ocean.
On the recommendation of one of my co-workers we made a couple of stops before making it all the way to the ocean. The first was at the
Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.
The Inn was eccentric to say the least. The sprawling compound on the side of Highway 101 is decorated with an abdunance of pink and flowers. We decided to stop for brunch, which turned into lunch. We found the food to be tasty and decently priced but, honestly, we were more interested in exploring the grounds than we were in eating. Once we finished our food we started exploring...
After wandering through the upper floor we made our way downstairs to the wine cellar (you can see it above in the bottom left photo). The cellar had a selection of wine and souvenirs along with some incredible architecture which mostly consisted of rock. It was amazing just to see the construction of the place. But the real reason we came downstairs was to see the men's bathroom. Weird. I know. But the men's room is the reason we were told to stop here. It has a urinal that is a waterfall. It is a functioning bathroom but the entire time we were there people were waiting with their families outside to get a peek at the urinal. I'll save you the trouble of waiting and just show you a picture.
It is much more impressive in person. The entire bathroom is like a cave and when you step into the urinal area the water literally begins to pour out of the wall. I have to say this is one of the most interesting bathrooms I have ever seen and the women's room was just as amazing.
After the bathroom break we poked around the rest of the 110 room hotel. The room are spread across the grounds in different buildings. The most impressive part is that every single room is decorated differently (you can see pictures of all the rooms,
here).
Now back on the road. Our next stop would be San Luis Obispo. I had heard there was a great downtown area so we drove around until we found it. Boy, it didn't disappoint. We found a public parking lot, paid the meter and headed out. Our first stop was a free art
museum, then we discovered a creek that ran through downtown. It was complete with a walking trail and artwork.
There were also plenty of cute shops to look at, including this one:
Habitat Home & Garden was amazing. I don't think there was one thing in that store that we didn't like! What made it even cooler is that almost all the pieces are custom made from reclaimed wood. The owner even told us that if we saw a piece we liked but it wasn't the right size we could it special made to fit our space.
After wandering around for a while we decided it was time to finish the drive to
Pismo Beach and finally see the ocean. Pismo is about 15 minutes from downtown SLO and the drive is beautiful. The weather on the coast wasn't exactly as we expected it. For most of the day it stayed overcast and partly foggy. But we didn't care because we made it to the ocean!
We actually ended up visiting a few beaches as we explored Pismo. A few had cliffs overlooking the ocean with steep stairs.
Others had access so close to the road you barely stepped out of your car before your toes were touching the sand. Pismo Beach proper was the best of them all with white sand and a board walk filled with plenty of hotels, shops and restaurants. There was even a peer that led way out into the water.
Of course a trip to the beach is not complete without fish and chips! We heard of a great place called
Splash Cafe but it had a line and we wanted to sit closer to the beach. So we ended up at a place called
Pierside. The food was delicious and we got to sit at a table outside just steps away from the beach.
After eating it was time for a little exploring in the car. By this point we had decided that we wanted to move to this amazing little beach town. So we checked out the local real estate by driving around. WOW, there were some awesome places. Then, we made a wrong turn that turned out to be the best turn of the day. Following a little winding road we ended up in the town of
Avila Beach. Little did we know this would be the hit of our whole trip! Such an adorable place to visit.
We got some coffee at the local coffee shop and then hit the pier. Relaxing on the edge of the beach sipping our java we watched the fog roll in and out. About every 20 minutes the fog would roll in and then back out. This is what it looked like from our vantage point.
You can see the difference in the distance we could see. It was pretty impressive. Finally, after having a relaxing evening on the beach we decided to head home knowing we'll definitely be making this trip again, soon.
