“Nothing ever seems too bad, too hard, or too sad when you’ve got a Christmas tree in the living room.”

Nora Roberts

It has been a country minute since we have enjoyed a relaxing holiday visit to Central California. In the past we frequented Carmel, Monterey and Cambria. This year we settled on Pismo Beach since it was essentially new to us and close to areas like Morro Bay, Cambria, and San Luis Obispo.

If you want to enjoy a recreation of the Christmas Market experiences from Europe, check out the Cambria Christmas Market at the Cambria Pines Lodge. We attended it in its infancy about a decade ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.

See below for a slide show:

https://cambriachristmasmarket.com/

During this trip I will be reminded that my wife is a city girl through and through. And I am a suburbs boy who loves “visiting” the city. Since moving to south Orange County about 15 years ago I think I appreciate the city life more than I did when I was growing tired of living in Los Angeles. I miss the food, culture, diversity, architecture and excitement of LA, but not the smog, crowded conditions, traffic, filth and noise. I feel more rural where we now live having a strawberry farm about a handful of miles away and an absence of a real downtown, or city center in Orange County. I see how my wife comes alive in downtown’s, even smaller ones. And I will admit that I can now relate.

“Normalcy to me is enjoying the simple things in life.”

Atticus Shaffer

They say that we should enjoy the simpler things in life. One of those for me is a winter drive on the 101 freeway as you leave Santa Barbara and see the green rolling hills, cows, and trees during this windy stretch of roadway. It relaxes me and reminds me that I am on vacation and heading into Central California. Our first stop is to have lunch in Santa Barbara at Lure Fish House.

The charbroiled oysters with Parmesan cheese, butter, garlic and parsley equated to next level deliciousness. In the past decade we delved beyond fried oysters and have become true fans experiencing them prepared in various ways. This marks one of the best oyster experiences of our lifetime. And the photo does it justice which is not always the case.

The presentation of the seafood louie salad was significant contrasted with the white plate and featured Dungeness crab, Pacific shrimp, avocado, asparagus, tomato and seven-minute egg. It was light on dressing, big on presentation, texture, freshness, variety and healthy tastiness.

The newness and very idea of this intrigued me so I had to sniff in. It is not a mayo style nor a vinegary style. The pineapple chunks were a bit lacking and not evenly distributed. It felt more like a novelty menu addition versus a well executed side dish. Maybe adding some sour tang and a more finely chopped slaw would make it more interesting from a textural standpoint and push the palate in multiple directions. It provided me some additional vegetable and fruit which made it worthwhile in spite of its shortcomings.

Their lobby presented well with Christmas flair. The hotel offers breakfast dining and wine tasting most evenings.

There is a partial ocean view from our room. Notice the cloud formation which would be a common theme on this trip.

Our room is a nice size for an oceanside hotel with above average features.

This is an “aesthetically pleasing to the eye” above average contemporary boutique style hotel with plenty to offer. The location is close to the pier, but it is no Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk with one casual food option and no entertainment on the pier itself. The guest rooms are modern with a ocean theme and rustic elements incorporated.

They have a bar/restaurant on the roof and fortunately they shut it down at a reasonable hour for guests relaxing in their rooms below. The fitness center is not bad with a variety of cardio equipment and free weights. The cable pulley system is not well maintained and is very “herky jerky” which is not kind on the joints so I passed on that. It needs some serious lubrication and maintenance says this former certified personal trainer with ACE. The valet parking is pricey, but the valet is very efficient when you text them to pull your car. They prove to be 3 for 4 on excellent timeliness and efficiency.

The main con is the housekeeping and “quality control”. The rooms are pleasingly furnished with two high quality robes, but one has what appears to be sizable moth holes eaten through, or they are simply very old and “torn up from the floor up”. The rest of my comments I will save for Yelp because it got a little “snasty”.

“Snasty” defined:

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Snasty

The reclaimed wood look and quartz counters are nice details. Our fridge houses our canned cocktails and bottled water.

We take a brief stroll near the pier before heading to dinner.

They provide fresh outstanding sourdough (thankfully mildly sour) bread with butter and olive oil at the table. Neither of us like sourdough bread (or too much sour flavor in general), but this does not slow us down from indulging.

Excuse the mediocre photo which does not do this spectacular dish justice. I am hungry and underestimate how dim the lighting is. Yum City USA! As usual, Bella wins the unofficial “Best in Show” award. I thought I looked over the menu thoroughly, but I missed this dish which is an obvious choice for my palate. It features Mexican wild white prawns and bay scallops tossed with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes over capellini pasta.

My shrimp scampi is very good in a white wine sauce which is garlicky and lemony (not oily or creamy), but it is definitely playing second fiddle to Bella’s food. Their side meatball with marinara sauce is a great add-on.

Bella adores a great affogato dessert and this is a quality rendition with bold espresso and vanilla gelato.

I hoped for a softer texture, but their mascarpone cheesecake is creamy and delicious. Lemon raspberry “tang” added to the plate.

Don Corleone (a.k.a. Marlon Brando) joins me in the can (a.k.a. restroom).

“I can’t remember the last time you invited me to your house for a cup of coffee.”

Don Vito Corleone

Back at our hotel I enjoy a local bourbon whiskey mule over ice. This is alarmingly good for a canned cocktail and the best canned mule I have consumed to date.

This old skool diner features a waiting list via a yellow paper legal pad on a podium on their patio. Unfortunately, it is raining cats and dogs so the pen to pad experiment makes it a fun game for the host to determine who is next as if they were written with disappearing ink. But I enjoy going retro and not being handed a pager or being asked to provide a cell number.

“Dave’s Mess” is not my creation, but an actual menu choice that Bella is very much into.

I love a good croissant breakfast sandie with sausage, cheddar cheese, and crispy hash browns. These browns are fairly crispy, but lack the ideal crispy crunch I achieve at home by flattening them out and getting liberal with the avocado oil (high heat point). The sandie is great with gooey eggy goodness leaking everywhere. I go through a boatload of napkins with wiping up my seriously slippery paws.

It is very picturesque behind the downtown main drag of Higuera Street.

“I feel sorry for people that don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel for the rest of the day.”

Frank Sinatra

We do a flight of various reds. Many years ago we had dropped in here to pick up a half case of my favorite zinfandel by Minassian-Young. That wine featured a pop of blackberry jam and fruit that rode well above the high alcohol content common with zins. Unfortunately, they no longer carry it. There are no winners worth purchasing, but a couple are pretty good and getting our “buzz on” did not hurt for our walk around downtown in the rain.

“Uh-oh, out of alcohol. Better call wine-one-one.”

Anonymous

My local bourbon whisky mule beverage is so popular they decorated a Christmas tree with it.

Our first stop in downtown results in our buying fresh buccatini pasta and this handcrafted bourbon barrel maple syrup. Bourbon and maple are two of my favorite combinations of all time. Whether it ends up in my coffee, yogurt, whiskey or baked goods, I am fully vested. I have been using bourbon-infused coffee beans to make my own cold brew bourbon coffee that I top off with Organic dark Canadian maple syrup.

“I happen to know everything there is to know about maple syrup. I love maple syrup! I love it on pancakes, I love it on pizza! I love to take maple syrup and put a little bit in my hair when I’ve had a rough week. What do you think holds it up, slick?”

Vince Vaughn (his character Jeremy Grey in “Wedding Crashers”)

This area is borderline stunning and reminds me of Northern California or the Pacific Northwest.

Dad is a big auto racing fan and owned a blue fiat sports car when we were kids. He would be a fan of this business in spite of it not featuring Italian sports cars.

This looks like a nice hotel for our next visit. Hotel SLO is another option that we will need to consider.

Bella orders an affogato and I go with a vanilla bean latte. The java is quality so I purchase a couple of different sacks to go.

Bella cannot turn down an affogato unless the ingredients are a miss.

While here I enjoy the small town talk of two local employees of Scout. One girl had just finished her shift as cashier while the other had just begun her shift as barista and was serving and engaging with the girl while she sat at the counter consuming her tasty beverage. It was a temporary flashback to the university years and similar moments I had in Northern California.

Snasty (see definition cited earlier) may be the understatement of the century for this wall of no longer pliable “Avant Garde tooth jam art”. I apply three masks, latex gloves and a pair of safety glasses as I pretend I am an adventurous Tony Shalhoub in an episode of “Monk” as I cross through the mouthy bacteria alley. Just kidding. I pass on the offer altogether.

Since I was a film journalism major in university I feel inclined to include an extreme close-up for artistic reasons.

Here is the history of Bubblegum Alley:

https://californiathroughmylens.com/bubblegum-alley-gum-wall-san-luis-obispo/

They do not make them like this anymore. And with brick and mortar retail going mostly the way of the Dodo bird, we may not see too many retail stores (excluding grocery) in general much longer.

This hotel looks trendy and hip and might subtract a couple of decades off of our true ages just being in its elements. It is located just off of downtown. Sadly we act our age and attempt to sneak in for an “early bird” dinner in their small dining room. With an over two hour wait time we bow out falling back on our true ages. Hopefully we can “get our youth on” and stay here and dine here next time.

IMHO, Higuera Street and downtown San Luis Obispo is like a junior version of State Street in Santa Barbara with less chain stores.

They are closed, but the signage has me very curious as to what the heck they put in those shakes. I have created about a dozen delicious morning breakfast shakes with almond butter, chia seeds, whey protein, maple syrup, oat bran being some of the consistent ingredients. Stay tuned as I will be posting these recipes on my blog in the near future.

This is located near the mission and even has a separate guest house (red structure on the left) on the property.

“It’s a little bit embarrassing to say but… I wanted to be a penguin.”

Kei Nishikori

It makes me think of the movie “Mannequin” and the idea of spending the night in penguin paradise.

“Penguins, it turns out, are pretty fucking delightful.”

Kira Jane Buxton, Hollow Kingdom

For dinner we eat at the Thai Palace Restaurant in downtown. We sniff in on some of our usual suspects such as Tom Kha soup, Larb and Chicken Panang curry. It is standard tasty Thai cuisine so I will veto including the photos.

I applied to attend California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, but was unable to attend in my desired major of journalism due to it being impacted. Since I was transferring from a junior college, hanging around and waiting it out while working on undergraduate courses was no longer an option. It is unfortunate as I really did like the academic reputation, area, and campus.

It is more reasonably priced than the nearby ocean front Sandpiper Golf Course so we play here.

Nice looking cloud formations with vineyards on the hillsides. The greens are in excellent shape, but I would expect the carts to have GPS for a course of this quality level.

Numerous tee boxes are chewed up or patchy and some fairways are in better shape than others. I anticipated a greener course since the rolling hills off the 101 Freeway in Goleta are super green, but this is still better looking than many courses in our area. There is nothing boring here with lots of variety from hole-to-hole and plenty of hilly ups and downs.

We are losing daylight but enjoying the course and visuals.

Going full circle this course is not ugly at sunset.

The grilled artichoke with spicy mayo and another sauce is fantastic and has been a favorite appetizer of ours over the years. Our holiday trips on the Central coast gave us access to excellent artichoke appetizers almost everywhere we went due to it being a prime growing region.

They even have a large wood burning river rock fireplace going. But of course I forget to capture an image.

Bella says this glistening white fish tastes as good as it looks. I have the Timbers burger (chuck, brisket, short rib) with tomato bacon jam, arugula, and blue cheese on a brioche bun. The photos are not great due to the dim lighting in the dining room, but the burger is money (a.k.a. yum).

My kind of old skool rustic restaurant, inside and out.

“May you never be too grown up to search the skies on Christmas Eve.”

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night…

THE END