So, April First! Marianne, my Navigatrix For Live's Birthday. No foolin'! So, we took a little overnighter to Morro Bay, one of our favorite places on the Central Coast. We also used it to scout out the route for the Citroen Rendezvous Drive in October. Aw, you mean we HAD to drive some backroads? Awwwww.
We took the Honda, just 'cause, but the drive was great anyway. Breakfast in Ventura at the Busy Bee. I've mentioned the place before but I'll reiterate. It's a REAL '50s diner from back-in-the-day and do wonderful breakfast. We of course came across CA126 and it's beautiful green right now, so make the trip while it's California at its best!
From there, a stop in Buellton for gas and a pee, then some backroads.
Santa Rosa Road is a great one! Winds through the back country, wineries (of course) and ranches and narrow and twisty and vacant...mostly. Our kinda road. BTW, Marianne took the pix,
It connects with CA1 so you go right to Lompoc, then drop into La Purissima Mission. Interesting place! It's a State Park, so there's a fee but worth it.
Beyond there, it's over Casmalia Hill and to Santa Maria and the Santa Maria Inn. That's where the Rendezvous will be staying, but we had our sights set on Morro Bay.
We beelined it to another favorite there: Giovanni's Fish Market and THE BEST BBQ/Garlic Butter Oysters!!! Marianne of course, had her Clam Chowder.
Next it was play "Find the Little Hotel." On the Boardwalk of Morro Bay are a BUNCH of happy-crappy giftie stores and eateries. Many now sport Boutique Hotels (a term coined to mean fancy tiny places) in what were once attic space. Now, don't give me that look. They are REALLY nice. Some are also REALLY expensive. The place we booked through www.hotels.com our usual source was FANTASTIC!
A wonderfully quirky place with well thought out decor that was whimsical while not being cheesy or kitschy. We had the Octopus Room, and while not one with a view of the harbor (those cost a lot more) it was filled with nice octopus related decorations, including paintings by a local artist. Nice touch that. The gal who runs the gift shop checked us in. She's Ms. T (no, no plethora of gold chains) and was extremely helpful, pleasant, and great to talk to. She showed us up to our room and all its amenities.
After our nap, we went walkabout, cruising the shops and buying a few things for Marianne's B-Day.
Then it was off to dinner at Tognazzini's Dockside. It was highly recommended, but, sadly a bit disappointing. The food was under seasoned and only lukewarm. The good part was that THEY were celebrating THEIR B-Day and drinks were free! And when Marianne asked them about it, she coyly mentioned it was also HER birthday and the server promptly comped our dessert! So the staff was great.
Next morning we slept in a bit and had breakfast at Frankie and Lolas. Marianne had a HUGE scramble in a puff pastry and I had the much-touted cinnamon roll. Not as good as the place in Pismo, but good.From there we drove out to Morro Rock and its fantastic views, then Hit The Road...to Solvang and lunch.
Now Solvang is where the Rendezvous will meet up for lunch so NATURALLY we had to scout out the drive I was planning.
That meant two things...1) Foxen Canyon Road (my absolute favorite road in the world!) and Zaca Mesa Winery (one of our favorite wineries. REALLY good wines and REALLY friendly people who LOVE cars!). You can check out our YouTube video of Foxen Canyon Road using the link in the righthand column!
We wound around from there to Solvang and lunch at the Solvang Restaurant, home of Arnies Aebelskiver!!! What? You don't know what Aebelskiver is? Think a kind of pancake batter in a ball and cooked in a dimpled cast iron pan (oh, so THAT'S what those are for!) until golden brown and crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside then covered in raspberry jam and powdered sugar! We shared the Smorbrod Plate (4 open face Danish sandwiches--Tilset Cheese, Roast Beef, Ham, and Liverwurst) and the Aebelskiver. So, we ate, for Batter or Wurst (waited all day to drop THAT one).
From there it was a straight shot home, managed to avoid the Santa Barbara Crawl, but of course got jammed on the 210 through Pasadena.
It was a lovely couple of days. Restful, good food, great roads, beautiful scenery and my best friend at my side. What could be better?