Friday, April 8, 2016

5 Fun Places to Visit on the California Central Coast

We got to spend Spring Break in Avila Beach. Avila Beach is about a 10 - 15 minute drive from downtown San Luis Obispo, and it’s one of our favorite places to relax and recharge.

Avila Beach

Avila Beach

Avila Beach is a small town, with a cute little downtown area. There are numerous unique shops as well as several wine tasting rooms. Plus, there is a nice beach. While you won’t be able to walk for miles on the beach, the unique location of Avila Beach within San Luis Bay often results in slightly warmer weather than other beaches on the Central Coast. It’s also a great place for kids to play with a couple playgrounds right by the beach.

Port San Luis

Port San Luis Walk

One of our favorite activities while in Avila Beach is walking from downtown Avila to Port San Luis. The views of the beach during the walk are always so calming. On the pier are two fish markets, and we love getting fresh, local fish and cooking it ourselves along with some veggies.

Bob Jones Trail 

Bob Jones Trail

The Bob Jones Trail leads from Ontario Road (parallel to Highway 101) to downtown Avila Beach. The 3-mile mostly paved trail is ideal for family outings as you can walk it, ride your bike, or roller blade. Part of the trail is in the shade, but do make sure to protect yourself from the sun as you’ll walk in the sun for part of it.

Morro Bay 

Morro Bay Beach 3
Morro Bay Beach 2
Morro Bay Beach 1

Morro Rock in Morro Bay is impressive and worth a visit. There are numerous restaurants with fresh, delicious seafood as well as a number of shops with unique clothes and other merchandise. Plus, the beach is amazing as you can walk up and down it for hours. It’s also the perfect place to find sand dollars, shells, and pretty rocks. You also have numerous options to go on fishing or whale watching boat trips.

Breweries on the Central Coast

Barrel House Brewing
BarrelHouse Brewing Company in Paso Robles 
Central Coast BrewingCentral Coast Brewing in San Luis Obispo 
The Libertine Brewery
The Libertine Brewing Company in Morro Bay

No trip is complete without some beer for Andy. On our recent trip, we visited three breweries. All were kid- (and it seemed pet-) friendly and had good beer. There are numerous breweries on the Central Coast, and our visits were determined by location and opening hours. But we would definitely go back to each one. On our way from the Bay Area to Avila Beach, we stopped at BarrelHouse Brewing Company in Paso Robles. It’s a fairly new brewery with a beautiful tasting room and plenty of seating outside. Andy loves sour beers, and on the day we visited there was one sour on tap. It was very enjoyable and so were all the other beers we tasted. In San Luis Obispo we visited Central Coast Brewing. I love their fun collection of beer bottles from all over the world. There is limited seating available inside as well as barstool seating outside. Central Coast Brewing has quite a varied selection of beers on tap and we enjoyed what we tasted. Finally, on our way back home we stopped at The Libertine Brewing Company in Morro Bay. It’s a funky place that specializes in sours. If you sit by the window, you have a fabulous view of Morro Rock.

It was really nice to get away for spring break, relax, enjoy nature and spend time together. It was our first family vacation since my dad suffered a major stroke right before spring break last year, and we are very grateful that he is doing much better.

In other news, the fabulous Sylvia from 40+ Style recently interviewed me for her style interview series. If you want to learn a bit more about me, you can read my style interview here.

Linking up with: Sweet Inspiration, Thursday Favorite Thing

Question: Where is your favorite place to relax? 

Be well,
Andrea