Our Vacation Diary -- Part II

I am slowly getting the hang of formatting with these pictures. As I said earlier, we trekked northward to Ventura and our destination was The Pierpont Inn.

My wife and I stayed here on our honeymoon and we enjoyed it so much that we really wanted to go back again. We tried to make reservations but each time we were turned away because they had no vacancies. I was talking to my mom one day and she asked about our trip and I told her of our problem with not being able to stay at the Pierpont. She said, "Let me see what I can do" I got a call back later that day and she was able to book a room for us and we had an ocean view! We had a great time enjoying Ventura, Santa Barbara and we also celebrated our one year wedding anniversary while at the Pierpont as well. Thanks to Mom and the Pierpont Inn for a wonderful time and a memorable first anniversary.




I wanted to make our anniversary special, so I came up with a surprise and took my wife to dinner at a really unique and elegant place in Ventura called the Sidecar Restaurant
It was only about a five minute drive from our hotel and my wife was pleasantly surprised. We enjoyed our dinner and the staff was extremely friendly and the food was good. They knew it was our anniversary and offered us dessert on the house, but we declined because we were so full from our dinner. If you are ever in Ventura, stop by and dine at the Sidecar. You will enjoy your dining experience! Here is another picture of the inside of the restaurant.

We were not seated in this area, but enjoyed the view so
much, that I wanted to take a picture to capture the authenticity of the rail car. As we were leaving, the chef was in the back tending his herb garden. I thought about getting our picture with him, but he looked pretty intent on what he was doing, but not so intent that he thanked us for coming and waved as we left.

Monday morning and we were scheduled to drive to Morro Bay and spend the next three days in Morro Bay and the San Luis Obispo area. I had never been to this area, but heard wonderful things about the area and was looking forward to it. We left Ventura after a lunch at In N Out Burger (A Southern California Favorite) and headed up the 101 to Morro Bay. The drive was pretty uneventful, not much traffic on the roads, my wife slept most of the way there, missing some of the scenery. I enjoyed the drive and listening to my favorite news station KNX 1070. It also helped me stay awake after eating those burgers! I grew up listening to KNX as a kid and also as an adult. I always listen when I am in So Cal. After much persistence, they now stream over the Internet which allows me to compose my blogs and emails and listen to the news from home!

When we arrived in Morro Bay, the scene was a bit surreal because we left balmy 80 degrees in Ventura and arrived in Morro Bay to fog and 59 degrees. I did not mind the change, but my wife was a little on the uneasy side. She asked me when it would warm up, I said hopefully by tomorrow. Unfortunately I was wrong, the fog was there to stay for THREE DAYS and it got cold enough we had to have the heater on in the motel room! While my family was roasting in 100 degree heat, we were cold in Morro Bay! Once we got checked in at our motel, a Best Western, not far from the waterfront, we decided to drive northward to locate Hearst Castle so we knew exactly how long to allow for travel time the next day. The drive northward took us through Cayucos, a nice beachfront community, Harmony, a town of only 18 people which at one time was for sale on Ebay, and Cambria, which seems to be more of an artist community. We found the visitors center and figured to allow 30 minutes for driving time. Unfortunately, I cannot post any of my pictures from the Hearst Castle on my blog because I would need written permission from the State of California to do so. You can go to the website of Hearst Castle and see some of the same things that we saw. There are four tours available and we took two of them, and will take the other two on another trip. There are so many things I could say about the Hearst Castle, but I may save them for another entry.

Tuesday evening, we went to dinner at a great restaurant recommended by my dad, who also paid for our dinner as an anniversary present for us (Thanks Dad!) We drove to Shell Beach, near Pismo Beach and ate dinner at FW McLintocks. They have their own butcher shop and general store/gift shop there. All I can say is that the food is outstanding and well worth the wait. Best advice, call ahead and make reservations!

Wednesday we took our second tour of Hearst Castle and went and explored a bit around San Luis Obispo, making our contributions along with many others at Bubble-Gum Alley. I do not know much about the history or origin of this place, but found it to be a very unique tourist attraction in San Luis Obispo, just off Higuera Street in Downtown San Luis Obispo. Maybe some of our readers might know about the place than we did. I had a tough time finding it, but was glad that we were able to contribute!














Thursday, we woke up early and wanted to get an early start headed back south to Santa Barbara for one night and then on to visit family in Santa Clarita. We figured we wanted to spend as much time as possible in Santa Barbara and enjoy the area and most of all, get back to the sunshine and warmer temperatures. We had the opportunity to stay at the Hotel MarMonte located across the street from the beach on Cabrillo Blvd. This was probably one of the nicest hotels that we had ever stayed in. (Thanks again Dad!) We arrived very early, check-in was not until 4 pm, but the hotel staff allowed us to park inside their secured parking lot and we walked up to State Street. We had an excellent lunch at El Torito and walked State Street and did as most tourists did, shopped, sightseeing, and people watching! State Street is an interesting combination of extremes.

Stay tuned.... the end of our vacation :(