Avila Beach

This past week, Scott and I went on a much needed get-away to Avila Beach near San Luis Obispo. What a cool little place:  a hip, dinky beach town set on the water. Our hotel was a block of a walk to the sandy shore and pier. We slept in and ate breakfast for lunch, hung out on the beach and ate at the same place for dinner both nights because of the parmesan/garlic/sourdough rolls they place on your table along with a dish of garlic/basil butter. Yeah, threw carb overload to the wind.

Thanking God for the well-placed rock and the timer function on my camera...

No, not us, but wishing I knew who this couple was. They don't even know they are in a sweet shot.

Took lots of shots of the old pier... 

We started a tradition of capturing our trip locales in the reflection of his sunglasses.

(We seem to be at the beach a lot.)

We decided to drive the coastal Highway 1 all the way back home. Umm, was not planning on a six and a half hour ride back home. But we did made several stops along the way because the views were too magnificent to not stop.  

Wow. How do you get to live here?!?!? Honey, I bought a little slice of land along a desolate highway over looking the Pacific. I know you are afraid of heights but you won't be too nervous taking your tea out on the back patio...there's a few feet of clearance before our property drops off hundreds of feet down in to the rocky ocean shore.

The sun dipped early behind the bank of fog. But it did get to show off a subtle glow. Traveling along the very edge of the North American content while over looking the eternal Pacific Ocean made the long journey home worth it.

p.s. Just a little PR here for two places we visited. If you do visit Avila Beach, you must go to Blazing Blenders. This is the real first juice bar. We visited frequently and chatted with Alex, the owner.  So drive on by the mass-marketed JJ and visit the local BB instead. 

And, speaking of Alex, he recommended this place for dinner...Taco Temple, right off of Highway 1 in Morrow Bay. (See I included the Morrow Bay rock for your contextual visual marker.) He told us to eat off the special list, not the main menu. Hence, we both had our own $14 dollar fish taco. Not kidding. It was a freshly caught Sea Bass taco that covered, no mounded, our plate. We could have shared one. I am a true fish taco expert and I have to say that this was the best fish taco I have ever had. Do not let the exterior of Taco Temple cause you to drive on by. Alex was right when he told us that Taco Temple sold 5 star meals in a 1 star environment. I have been trying to figure out how long it would take to drive there for dinner and back.