Back in the Groove – Morro Bay, Wine tasting in Los Olivos, and Solvang

The beautiful sunset at Hearst Castle set us back on a positive track. It was only aided by a fantastic late-night taco stop in San Luis Obispo to help get my strength back.

It might have been that I was starving after walking around with an empty stomach all day,
but Pancho Villa's tacos tasted like heaven to me.

By the next morning, we definitely had our groove back and we covered a lot of ground that day. We started off in Morro Bay with a great cup of coffee a very tasty breakfast at the Top Dog Coffee Bar.

Filled with a substantive breakfast, I’d hoped to carry out my desire to kayak here, as the volcanic plug in the middle of the bay, Morro Rock, is supposed to provide some lovely on-water sight seeing. Sadly, the fog did away with this plan once again.

The dense fog did not, however, diminish the beauty of the bay and we had a great morning just walking along the pier.

After this lovely start to the day, we headed out to Los Olivos in the Santa Ynez Valley to give wine tasting another try. Los Olivos is, of course, famous from the movie Sideways and it really is a great place to go tasting. It’s an adorable little town made up of just a few blocks. You can spend all day hopping from one tasting room the next – or as many as your tolerance will allow – and never get in your car.

You might argue that you’re missing out on the vineyard experience, but you absolutely feel that you’re in wine country since the town is surrounded by vineyards. Plus, because there’s diversity in temperatures across this region, there is also good variety in grape varietals that do well here, so there is a good chance of finding something you like.

It was a really hot day and given that I was still wary from my lack of tolerance the day before, we limited ourselves and shared most of the tastings. We hit three tasting rooms, and they were all very different.

Our first stop was Carhartt Vineyards’ tiny tasting room. Their production is equally small, but it reflects an earthy connection to the land. As I read the literature, that impression seems correct, as the owners were ranchers before becoming winemakers. We liked a lot of their offerings, but we settled on the 2008 Pinot and the 2006 Syrah. Despite all the hype around Pinot in recent years, I’m not the biggest fan; however, I liked this one a lot for it’s toasty earthiness and hits of pepper and spice. The Syrah was the kind of wine that made me want a steak (a reaction I usually have more with big Cabs) and in a way it’s kind of like of the Marlborough man, with hints of spice, smoke, and leather.

Next it was onto Saarloos and Sons, another family operations, but of a very different sort. This is a winery with style and panache. The tasting room looks like the Viceroy went to wine country. There is a little romance to the place as well. The labels features family photos and include stories of what inspired the wine rather than tasting notes. I didn’t love everything I tried and here Greg and I tended to be more split on what we liked, however, we did agree on the 194six moon. It is inspired by the love story of the family’s grandfather and grandmother, and thus is a blend of two varietals, cab and syrah, demonstrating feminine and masculine characteristics. It is fruit forward but balanced and rounded out by hints of leather and tobacco.

A quick side note, on the weekends, they also have cupcake and wine pairings.

Tre Anelli was our last tasting of the day. The focus here is on Spanish and Italian varietals. They have a nice selection and quite a few that seemed like they’d pair with well with foods. We both liked most of the reds and we took home two. The first pick was the 2006 Sangiovese, which was fruity up front, but finished dry with a little acid at the end. Selection number two was the 2007 Dolcetto for it’s strong tannic structure and black cherry flavors.

I definitely made sure to get food in the middle of all of the wine tasting. We stopped into the Los Olivos Café & Wine Merchant. Now in my mental wheel of “someday” dreams there is restaurant/wine shop, and this is the closest real world example I’ve seen. It brings together food, wine, and art. There is a small wine store section on one side, and a casual but elegant café on the other. On the walls the day we stopped by were beautiful photographs taken by a local photographer of many of the local winemakers.

Greg and I shared a simple pizza and salad lunch, but it was a very tasty pizza and salad lunch. Our pizza was full of mushroomy, ricotta goodness.

I said we packed this day in, so it did not end with wine and lunch in Los Olivos. From here we moved onto Solvang-- California’s own Danish village.

It kind of feels like this town ran away from Epcot’s World Showcase. It’s hyper-cute and it made me feel like eating pastries. (I was still full of pizza, so I resisted, but the temptation was strong.) There are also statues of Hans Christian Andersen everywhere, and even a little museum in his honor.

Ok, I admit it. I really liked the museum. Because I’m a nerdy bibliophile with a particular penchant for ornate children’s books, I was probably a little overexcited by so many beautiful editions of “Thumbelina”, “The Little Mermaid”, and “The Snow Queen.”

I think, perhaps, that Greg was not as enthralled by all the pretty kid's book as I was.

When we’d had enough of Solvang’s sugary cuteness, we headed to our campsite at Gaviota State Beach. By now we’d camped on a couple of beaches, and while this sounds beautiful and romantic, up until now they’d all been engulfed by fog and pounded by strong winds. We still got a good bit of wind, but this time we also got a gorgeous sunset and clear skies, indicating that we're nearing Southern California once again.

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Hearst Castle and Wine tasting in Paso Robles – One Roller Coaster of a Day

This was supposed to be a beautiful day of culture and wine. Instead it was a day of A LOT of ups and downs. In many ways, it was our roughest day on the road.

The plan was to start at Hearst Castle, then head to Paso Robles for wine tasting. A couple of nights before, I checked in on the tour situation online. It was wide open, so I decided to wait on buying tickets. I figured I might as well allow us the wiggle room in time. However, when we arrived at the Visitor Center, everything was sold out. The only thing available was a sunset tour, but it didn’t include a tour of the inside of the house. I really wanted to see the house.

The view from the visitor center: So close and yet so far.

I don’t know what happened to me exactly. Maybe it was too early in the day. Maybe being on the road for so long was starting to wear me and I hadn’t noticed. Maybe I was possessed by some hyperemotional, irrational demon. I don’t know. Whatever the explanation, suddenly the fact that I wasn’t going to see the inside of the house was completely DEVASTATING. I was mad at myself for not buying the tickets when I was online. I was mad at the internet for misleading me. I was mad at Greg for not advising me better when I was debating whether to buy the tickets or not.

We started bickering. We left and came back two or three times, debating whether or not to get the tickets for the sunset tour. Each time the argument escalated. During one of these rounds, we got a couple miles down the road. We were fighting and I was crying and it was a mess. Then we heard the sirens. Crap. There was no one else on the road and in the midst of all of the arguing, Greg had lost track of the speedometer. A few minutes later, after a very awkward conversation with the cop, we’d had ourselves a speeding ticket.

The day was off to an amazing start. We had to pull it together . . . maybe “I” more than “we.” Somewhere between all the nonsensical arguing and the speeding ticket, we decided to go back and get the damn sunset tour tickets, spend the day in Paso, and then come back to San Simeon. Yes, we’d loose some time, but we could make it up by driving a little later into the night and getting another motel room. I resolved to calm down, and make the best of the day.

As we learned a few days earlier, a little wine helps makes things better. Sure enough, once we got started wine tasting, things started looking a little rosier. There are countless wineries in Paso. We deliberately chose wineries close to each other to minimize driving.

Our first stop was Tablas Creek Vineyard, a beautiful little spot specializing in organically grown Rhone Varietals. We missed the winery tour, but the gentleman that poured our tasting showed us around a little bit and was full of information. (He also helped us select from amongst the other nearby wineries.) I really enjoyed a lot of their wines. We walked away with the 2005 Syrah, a nice big Syrah with good structure and nice spice. We also took away a 2008 Roussanne, which they described as a “white for red drinkers”, which we agreed with as it was more complex than a lot of whites, with multiple levels. We shared this bottle with Greg’s parents when we got back to San Diego.

Our next stop was Opolo Vineyards. They have bigger operation, and to be honest, I didn’t love it. However, I think I’m in the minority. If you look around online, people seem to love them. It wasn’t bad; the wines were accessible, and I could see a lot of it pairing it pretty well with food. However, nothing blew us away either. We did take home a 2007 Sangiovese because it had a decent price and we thought it would be a good dinner wine, as it wasn’t super heavy, with cherry flavors, a hint of spice, and a dry finish.

Opolo does have a wide set offerings and the nice perky blonde that poured for us, poured big. They have a grill set up outside with complimentary BBQ snacks, and I definitely had to take advantage of a couple of rounds. We took a long break here, and also pulled some snacks from the car.

Our third and final stop of the day was Chateau Margene, which is literally next door to Opolo. Printed across the top of the Tasting Notes are the words “Luxury Wines” – an accurate description both in taste and in the higher price tags. (To a lot of wine enthusiasts, the price tags wouldn’t be all that high, but Greg and I stick to a pretty moderate budget.) That said, this was our favorite stop of the day. They had some big, beautiful reds. We had a tough time deciding what take home, but ultimately we decided on the 2007 Petite Sirah – an inky, dark, extremely rich wine. We also liked the Syrahs and the Cabs.

You can also tell that this is a tight family operation. Dad Mooney started Chateau Margene, and his two sons are continuing the family business and creating their own spin with the Mooney Label. It was actually one of the sons pouring for us in the tasting room the day we went and he spoke with us for a considerable amount of time about the wines and his love of the family business.

Sadly, after this lovely morning of wine tasting, the day’s roller coaster took another plunge. I usually know my tolerance pretty well. Typically, my tasting limit is about four wineries in a day, although if the pours are big, I’ll end up tipsy. I can go up to five if the pours are smaller. Three wineries is typically a very comfortable number for me; not on this day.

Maybe, the emotional morning threw me off. Maybe my tolerance was down. Maybe, I hadn’t eaten enough – although, I thought I was being pretty vigilant. On this day, it’s clear that I did not know my body. It embarrassing to admit it, but I was a mess after our third stop. Greg was very patient and pulled over for a long break for me until I thought I felt better. Again, my body intuition was completely off, because I got sick 20 minutes later in a Jack in the Box parking lot. The Shame!!! Not Pretty!!! That was the end of wine tasting in Paso.

Addendum to the rule: Whereas a little wine makes things better, too much wine can be counterproductive.

After we pulled over for another long while and once I was finally able to stomach some food, we headed back towards San Simeon. The mornings fretting was all for not. While seeing the inside of Hearst Castle will have to wait until some future trip, we had a great time. We met a chatty Park Ranger who was full of information and opinions, both positive and negative, about the Castle, the CA Parks System, pretty much everything. She cracked me up. The grounds were gorgeous and by this time the crowds had all gone away, so you could almost imagine what it might feel like to live there. Finally, we were rewarded with an absolutely spectacular sunset. It was incredibly romantic.

While my sketch of this day does not paint the most flattering picture of me – apparently an irrational girl who can’t hold her wine – I put it in to highlight again the number one rule of the spontaneous road trip: You have to just go with the flow. When you get the chance to plan ahead, take advantage and do it. However, when things don’t work out, don’t waste time fighting against the universe. You’ll save yourself a lot of stress. The road will take you where you need to go and you’ll see what you need to see.

And here's the link to rest of my photos.

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Big Sur - Takes One and Two

Our luck at snagging campsites ran out in Big Sur. I guess we couldn’t expect to have perfect luck on a mid-summer road trip for which we had booked absolutely nothing in advance. I suppose we ran up a debt in camping karma points in Yosemite, and apparently it was time to pay up.

We spent our entire first day in Big Sur driving from campground to campground looking for a vacancy to no avail. After trying every site along the coast – literally-- we headed inland to find a small campground Greg had read about. It was 11 miles inland, which given the amount of driving we (and by we I mean he) had been doing, another 11 miles seemed like no big deal. What we forgot to factor in is that it was 11 miles of winding mountain roads. This little detour ended up eating up a couple of hours and yielded no campsite.

By the time we were half way through the journey back to the coast, we were hungry and kind of cranky. Just at the point that bickering was about to take over the afternoon, my sometimes genius husband made a brilliant move. He found a lookout with a turnoff and pulled over. He popped open the trunk and got out all the treats we had leftover from Point Reyes the day before, and we had a made a picnic and enjoyed the view. After some cheese, salumi, bread and a little wine (only half a glass each, the remnants of the previous day’s bottle – we still had to drive down another half a mountain after all) we felt a lot better.

Lesson learned – a food and wine break will make a lot of situations a whole lot better. I think it’s a similar to why the British want tea whenever there’s a problem – with the added benefit of a hint of alcohol lubrication to smooth the kinks out. A breather and a little sustenance provide a good deal of clarity. (A side benefit – it turns out that a little wine also goes a long way in easing a fear of heights. The rest of the curvy road back was a lot easier on me.) After we’d eaten, we felt a lot better, and decided to just enjoy the rest of the day and get a room for the night. The only motel room we could find ended up being all the way down in San Simeon and there might have been a little more bickering before the day was out, but whatever, we found a place to sleep and everything worked out. Moreover, if we hadn’t gone down this little detour we would never have seen some of the spectacular views we discovered along the way. The little spot we turned off at felt like a little perch at the top of the world and we had all to ourselves.

Which brings me to the number one rule to remember on a spontaneous, unplanned trip. You’ll end where you’re supposed to end up, and you’ll see whatever your supposed to see. The road will take you where you’re supposed to be. The blips and inconveniences are fodder for stories to be laughed at later.

Purple sunset in San Simeon

The next day, we retraced our steps and did a Big Sur retake. We hiked some beautiful trails at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and at McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and took a billion pictures.

Then we had a wonderful lunch at Nepenthe Restaurant – another little perch at the top of the world, but with table service.

We never did get to camp in Big Sur. For our second night in the area, we found a room at a shockingly adorable YHA in Cambria. I was sad to not get to stay in Big Sur, but by now we’d spent the majority of our nights camping, and the hot, indoor showers with no time limit felt AMAZING.

Here's my slideshow:

And for more, here's a link to Greg's.

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Tasty Treats Around Santa Cruz

The hippy in me has always been attracted to Santa Cruz and it’s laidback, eccentric reputation. Our stop there during this road trip only wet the appetite, because we were there for only a blip. Just enough time to get some eats.

I’d took down notes from a friend of friend before we left LA, stored them in my iPhone, and now I put them to good use. When we arrived in town, we were exhausted from a long day of driving. We didn’t want to deal with anything fancy, so we headed to El Palomar Restaurant. El Palomar has a nicer sit down restaurant in front, but we bypassed that and went straight to the bar way in the back where they also have a taco bar.

To be honest, the tacos were ok, but nothing special. What they do have is a happy hour with good prices. We had dinner and beers for very little cash - I think about $20 altogether. However, with cheap prices come big crowds, so beware that this place gets packed leading to long lines and curt, overwhelmed bartenders. The flip side to this, though, is that this place has fantastic people watching. There was a fantastic cross-section of Santa Cruzans; students, bikers, hippies, punks, and professor-ly intellectuals were all congregated at this bar.

One note we learned from people watching over the course of one evening is that hoodies are la mode de rigueur for men of all ages in San Cruz. Be it hemp stripes, plain cotton, or sporting your favorite band logo, Men, bring your hoodies, one and all.

I borrowed this hoodie image from this site.

Before hitting the road again the next morning, we grabbed brunch at The Saturn Cafe, which bills itself as “your favorite space-age, vegetarian diner.”

This restaurant’s bathrooms dare to ask not “Men” or “Women,” but rather the all more revealing question“Alien” or “Robot?”

Image borrowed from this site.

Badass Blue Babe or Battling Blonde Bombshell, how to decide?

As for the food, well , burger-loving Greg has a tendency to turn his nose up at all veggie restaurants. There were no complaints here – especially once he got to dive into his super creamy and delicious milkshake.

I have to say, our waitress was also very nice. We went during an off-hour, so the place was pretty much empty, which gave her time to talk to us, but she took time out to tell us her favorite camping spots in Big Sur – our next stop. Sadly, as we shall see, it was to no avail.

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Down the CA 1

As much as we would have loved to continue exploring forever-- we definitely had enough supplies to keep going for another month at least—it was time to turn around and start heading south again. The rest of Northern Cali and the Pacific Northwest were going to have to wait for another trip. The northern end of the CA 1 starts just a little south of the Avenue of the Giants, so we picked it up there and for the next two days we drove down the winding, craggy roads of Cali’s foggy northern coasts.

This is an interesting section of country. There are all of these little coastal towns separated by large sections of coast. There is definitely something California about them all, and yet they vary in flavor. Some look like time is passing them by, others are deliberately quaint, and in many areas you can feel that there’s quite a bit of money floating around. At one point, the money quite literally passed us by when a pack of wild Lamborghinis wooshed by us, one right after the next. Clearly these long, curving stretches of road are the best place to really drive your luxury sports car. I will have to make a mental note of this for my future sports car driving days.

Mendocino is kind of a perfect example of this north coast flavor. It’s basically California’s answer to Cape Cod. It feels very similar in that it seems like the type of place that retirees with a lot of money go to spend their golden years and where couples go to spend a romantic weekend at a B&B. The difference is that in addition to all the antique shops and gourmet food stores, there are also a bunch of new age stores and quite a few of the homes showcase the residents’ eccentric spirits.

Even the more industrial Fort Bragg a little further up the road demonstrates that independent California-ness. We were looking for a place to get lunch and Yelp lead us to a little place called Cafe One. It was in every way a roadside diner, but a little quirkier and all the old-school greasy spoon comfort food was organic and relatively healthy.

Ok, Maybe Greg's Hawaiian waffle doesn't exactly qualify as health food.

Family friends also told us that there are some beautiful kayaking spots in Fort Bragg, but the weather kept us from the water – which turned out to be a theme for the entire trip. I really wanted to kayak, but it always seemed too cloudy to give up the time and the money. Instead, we focused our energies on chasing tasty treats along the coast.

Max and Nicole told us about an amazing spot for oysters called Hog Island Oyster Co. Basically, it’s a little shack on a cove with picnic tables. You bring your wine –although they do also have a little bar – and whatever other food you might want to eat. They have and a very basic oyster bar and they’ll tell you all about every kind on offer that day.

Once you make your selection, they hand you a lunch tray with a big pile of ice, your oysters, a shucking tool and a glove, and some lemon and hot sauce. You take your tray over to a picnic table and enjoy your oysters in this rustic setting, while the oyster fishermen are hauling in the oyster beds just a few feet away. The oysters couldn’t be fresher and the area is so beautiful – and it got even more beautiful as the fog lifted around us.

It was such a fun and different culinary experience. One note, however, for the benefit of future foodie travelers – the tiny kumamoto oysters are the most delicious, but the little suckers are also the most difficult to open. Greg learned this lesson the hard way and cut his hand while valiantly shucking one for me. In the future, we will leave the shucking of this particular variety to the professionals.

After our little oyster brunch, we jutted inland to continue the foodie scavenger hunt in Point Reyes Station, home of Cowgirl Creamery. We did a little cheese tasting and settled on their delicious Red Hawk washed-rind triple cream and some artisanal soppresatta.

We picked up bread at the Bovine Bakery around the corner and packed up our goodies to go. Later that evening, we opened a bottle of wine and spread out our treats on a picnic table in Half Moon Bay and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

Here is Greg's slideshow from this section of the trip:

And if you still want more, here a link to the rest of my flickr album.

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