Hanging in the 805 - Day 1

If you fancy a good Facebook-stalking of Chris or I, you may have noticed that we've been on vacation the past week.  For the next few blog posts, I'll be handling the day by day details of our trip to the 805 area code.

A bit of backstory first.  We always laugh at ourselves for booking vacations to cold, rainy locales, thoroughly enjoying them, of course, but then lamenting the idea of a beach vacation where all we need to pack is a towel, bathing suit, and 2-3 good books.  A few months ago, we decided we were going to have a beach vacation, gosh darn it, so we did some research into where we could drive  (flying would make things too expensive) and where we could afford to stay (this eliminated San Diego).  We ended up booking a stay for 3 nights in Pismo Beach, CA with one night to follow in nearby Paso Robles, right in the heart of the central coast's wine country.  We've visited the area before (when Chris was interning with Dreyer's Ice Cream in Bakersfield), and we were excited to head back.

Of course, as things sometimes happen, the forecasts leading up to vacation week showed the weather planning to be coldish (highs in the mid-60s), overcast, and somewhat drizzly.  Great beach weather, right?  While we still wanted to visit both places, we ended up swapping out our Wednesday night Pismo room for one in Paso at the hotel where we already possessed a reservation for Thursday night.

Okay, onto the trip!  

We hit the road early out of Phoenix, since we knew we'd have a nine hour stretch on the road before we made it to Pismo.  That route took us through the LA area, which has horrible traffic year-round, so we wanted to hit it on the earlier side of the day.  On the way, we shared the road with other early birds and a few truckers.

I had a brief thought about hijacking this truck -
I would be in fiber FOREVER - 

but I decided the Goya company probably couldn't stand the $18 loss it would cause.

We traded out driving every few hours and hit up Golden Road Brewery in Pasadena around lunchtime.  The food was excellent - I had the GRB burger and Chris had a soft shell crab sandwich, and we shared some fried artichokes - and the beer was solid with a few standouts (the Java the Hudson and the Saison Citron were both great).  Also, the brewery is a great location, and it was fun to hang out there for awhile.

Chris with our flight and his Java the Hudson

My pint of Saison Citron

Unsurprisingly (it is in LA, after all), GRB had lots of veggie/vegan options on the menu, including a vegan pulled pork sandwich made with jackfruit.  We sent this pic to our friend Matt, who's dabbling in the whole vegan business.

Hi, Matt!

This is a jackfruit, in Nashville a few years back.

We like to call them "elf goiters."

After lunch, we hopped back on the road to Pismo.  This part of the journey put us on the 101 coastal highway, and the views were gorgeous.  As you can clearly see from the pictures taken from the car, below:

"I'd like to buy the world a Coke..."

Heading north on the 101

We knew we'd need a snack stop in a few hours, so we cut inward off the coast and headed into Solvang, the most Danish town in America (or something like that).  I've visited Solvang before (with Dad, growing up), but Chris hadn't ever seen it, and it was fun to check out.

Windmills, everywhere!

In the most Danish town in America,

they know how to properly spell Olsen. 

Great pastries and kind of crappy coffee.

But seriously great pastries.

Well, maybe if Jon Snow had visited here,

he WOULD know something.

After a stop at Olsen's for pastries, we popped into the Solvang Brewing Company for a quick taste of a few of their offerings.  I just had a taster of the Odin's Stout (which was so-so) as I was up to drive next, but Chris finished a full pint of the superb Helheim Black IPA.  Once again, it was time to hop back in the car, this time with Pismo as our next stop!

After another 45 minutes in the car, we pulled off the 101 in Pismo Beach and made our way to the SeaVenture, our home for the next few evenings.  We reserved a fireplace king room (mainly because it was in our price range) that had some great skylights that allowed us to wake up to the natural beach light.  We also ate dinner in our hotel, figuring it would be easier than wandering around town after driving all day.  Dinner was good - we had a table right on the window, so we could watch the sun set over the Pismo pier, and our food was solid, if a bit underseasoned (I had a ribeye and Chris had a sea bass dish).

After dinner, we decided we'd head out on the town in search of later evening shenanigans.  While there was a brewery in Pismo, it was closed for renovations (I think?) during our stay, and we found ourselves at the Boardroom Surf Pub, a local taproom with an EXCELLENT tap and bottle selection list and a friendly staff, to boot.  Since American Craft Beer Week just ended, a few fantastic offerings were still on tap, and we indulged in pours of Deschutes' Abyss (2014) and Hangar 24's Slow Roll 5th Anniversary Ale.  We decided to cap off the night with one of their most interesting bottle options, a Clown Shoes Blaecorn Unidragon.  As you can probably tell by the name, it was rather mythical.

I mean, check that business out.

It was certainly time for bed after all of this, so we stumbled home along the boardwalk and hit the hay.

Coming up in the next few days: I buy a squid hat and eat ice cream, Chris prances around in the ocean, we wine taste (kind of a lot), and we visit Firestone Walker, holy mecca of all that is amazing in CA craft beer.

Later!

Amy