Within the span of four hours in the car that had carried us up and over hills and traveled beside the ocean, we had driven under a sky that had gone from a murky brown to a clear bright blue, to a cool misty gray. My sister and I had decided to visit my dad at his new place in San Luis Obispo for the weekend. We planned on leaving early that morning from Orange County and meeting up for lunch on the Central Coast.
We ended up spending the rest of the day getting a tour of the college town from our dad, sampling the local coffee, and walking along the various piers that gave beautiful views of the ocean.
Our small tourist group of three eventually stumbled upon the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa in Mission Plaza before walking along stepping-stones that were carefully placed across a small stream that wove its way through a garden next to the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. We read about the history of the structure and admired the architectural design that combined two different design styles that aren’t present in any other mission in California.
I managed to guide our group through an enclosed outdoor space lined with shops and into the Just Looking Gallery. I thought it was great being able to see the city of San Luis Obispo and the surrounding coastal towns before viewing the Central Coast through the eyes of local artists.
We walked by Bubblegum Alley very quickly. It was crowded and it seemed like the same gross experience that we had received from The Alley in Seattle, Washington that was filled with used chewing gum.
The three of us visited a favorite local breakfast spot of my dad’s the next morning before heading back to Southern California. We enjoyed the light rain from the view of the restaurant and waited until it subsided before we took a walk along the shore near Monterey Bay Rock.
We left that morning naively wearing sweatshirts and had to change out of our coastal weather clothes before heading back to the warmer weather in Orange County. Our journey to the center of California’s coast had turned into a nice break from the heat and often smog-filled skies of Southern California.
Check out the video from the weekend below.
Jazzed About Stuff 