Weekend Getaway: The Central Coast

When I consulted the travel sites before our trip to the Central Coast, it seemed like a pretty low key place - lots of spots of hiking, biking, enjoying the views and wildlife and, I was surprised to see, eating. Well, turns out it was an accurate summary.

With scenic highway 1 still closed in spots due to earlier mud slides, we headed down the 101 and peeled off at highway 46 which, it turns out, it chock a block full of wineries. You could easily park your car and walk to a handful right off the main road. With kids in tow we skipped this option and headed straight toward Hearst Castle, which is certainly worth a stop. As we were a bit early for our tour (you are wise to pre-book), we drove about three miles past the Castle to a beach famous for its sea lions, and were rewarded with an impressive display: hundreds of sea lions, their fur molting, flipping sand over themselves, wiggling about on the beach and making the occasional bellow.

Following out highlights tour of Hearst, we got our fix of highway 1, driving less than an hour down to Avila Beach. About five years ago a major oil spill led to a massive clean up of Avila Beach, including the rebuilding of the entire 3 block beach strip and all new sand being trucked in. The result is a charming, low key spot, perfect for hanging at the beach, walking on the pier, grabbing a bite to eat on a patio and generally relaxing. About 10 miles down the road is the larger and in our opinion not nearly as enticing town of Pismo Beach. In summer the Central Coast tends to be fogged in for a good chunk of the morning, so unless you like to sleep half your vacation day away, it may be best to visit other than in July or August. We had lovely sun and temperatures, but if the weather did not co-operate there would not have been a great deal to amuse us, as most things are centered on the outdoors.

For our final day took a short drive to Morro Bay, perhaps best known for the enormous rock that greets you. sitting just off the coast of this small fishing village. If you drive out to the rock, you may be lucky enough to find the tiny, perfect beach at the end of the road completely deserted. The Morro Bay Museum of Natural History, part of Morro Bay State Park, is also worth the detour.

As for eats, we were three generations and still managed to find choices with which everyone was happy: the Galley Seafood Grill and Bar and the Bayside Cafe both served up great food and views in Morro Bay, while Del's in Shell Beach had lovely pastas and pizzas. So the Central Coast served us up a little history, a little nature, a lot of sun and some good noshing - no complaints here!