We just returned from a great weekend trip to the California Central Coast. We spent Friday and Saturday nights in a house my parents rented just above Edna Valley, a wine producing region just south of San Luis Obispo. The area has a lot to offer–probably one of the best year-round climates around, beautiful picturesque landscapes, an excellent beach, and amazing seafood. It’s also a little hard to get to for most people (the nearest major airport is over 80 miles away), which might make it a little less touristy than other locations in California. Still, there were plenty of crowds on the beach and at the wharf in Morro Bay.
The undisputed highlight of the trip was actually the rental house. We choose the house after researching for a place to stay (a little bit last minute) on vbro.com. Renting a place can be cheaper for couples traveling together. Often times, rentals are especially attractive when the rental period is at least a week. We found a great looking place that was competitive with hotel prices for just 4 nights (my parents stayed the other two alone), even after considering the cleaning fee. The house we rented was called Casita Las Brisas, and is situated above the Edna Valley. I included a snapshot below of the view from just outside the house.
In the view from the house, you can see the Nine Sisters in the distance, a chain of volcanic peaks and hills in the area. In the foreground is a sample of the many flowers that were planted around the house to attract hummingbirds. I’ve never seen so many hummingbirds in my life!
During our short stay there, we managed to cover the area fairly well. We started our first day off with wine tasting at Wolff Vineyards in the Edna Valley below our rental. We were pleasantly surprised with their “Old Vine” Chardonnay, which is actually grown without irrigation.
We then travelled north to Morro Bay. We were very surprised by the large crowds at Morro Bay, but with the help of the local Tourist Information office, we found an excellent eatery in Tognazzini’s Dockside Restaurant. They had plenty of local fish on the menu, and the Halibut Cheeks Picatta they served as a Special when we visited was very memorable. Yum!
In our past two trips to Europe, we have taken two different approaches to train travel in Europe: buying a Eurail pass or buying tickets in person once arriving in the country. For our upcoming trip to Spain, we are taking a new approach by booking the tickets directly from the train operator (RENFE in Spain). I wanted to share our experience, because we are realizing considerable savings, in addition to the added convenience of having digital copies of our tickets that can be printed before we even depart the United States, allowing us to directly board the train before departure.