Monday, September 1, 2008

Central Coast Weekend 2-ATV, Pismo Beach, Morro Bay

On a previous trip through central coast, H and I saw many trucks hauling ATV. H commented she wanted to try riding an ATV at some time.

Turned out, Pismo beach in Central Coast was a mecca for ATV enthusiasts, which was a short drive from SLO. We got off the Pier St from 101 and went into the first ATV store we saw: Steve ATV.

It turned out to be a great decision. Steve was the only store carrying 2 seaters. We rented a 2 seater for 1 hour. We were then directed to the beach area. A shuttle bus would drive us to the dunes, where we would get a quick video introduction and pick up our rental ATV.

The most important rule in ATV riding was we need to wear out helmets at all time. The ATV could not get wet, so we were to stay away from the water at all time. Controlling the ATV was easy. On the right handle, there was knob. By pushing the knob up or down with the right thumb, we would control the speed of the ATV. Turing the handle bar controls the direction of where the ATV went, much like a bicycle.

Both H and I were not the dare devil type, so we took it slow. It was a really powerful ATV and responded to our control immediately. We rode up and down the sand dunes, taking our time approaching the dunes to stay in control and made turns slowly. This was a new experience and we were being careful. H and I took turns doing the riding, shifting our bodies forward and backwards as we go downhill and uphill respectively.

We rented the ATV for one hour and it was more than enough time to experience this sport. We took the shuttle back to our car and drove to Pismo beach down town. Here, we enjoyed fried fish, scallops, shrimp, clams and oysters at Pismo Fish and Chip. The fried seafood was not too heavily battered and tasted very fresh.

After lunch, we walked around the beach area. Since this was Labor Day weekend, the beach area was very crowded. As we walked around the beach town tourist shops, our attention was drawn to a chocolate shoppe, selling chocolate covered worms and crickets. H and I tried a chocolate covered worm. Luckily, we could only taste the chocolate and the texture of something crispy in the center of the chocolate:)

Near the end of our walk in the downtown area, we noticed a long line of people buying chowder at Splash cafe. We were definitely in culinary exploration mode and H decided to wait in line to buy the chowder, while I went to pick up our car. The chowder was thick and creamy, with lots of clams. However, we did not find it special enough to warrant the half an hour wait for takeout.

From Pismo beach, we drove to Morro Bay. We drove by a park and there was an Art Festival going on. We took a walk around the festival, but we not impressed.

From the park, it was a short drive to Morro Rock. We drove around the rock, and enjoyed the bay view. The rock itself was quite big, and the view from afar, with the rock set in the ocean was quite good.

We then walked along the water front, looking at the various shops. There was an interesting store called the Shell Shop, selling various types of sea shells. H bought a large shell to use as soap dish, then added a sea turtle made from shells glued together to give the soap some company.

We were walking along when H saw the arching windows of Morro Bay Wine Seller. It was starting to get dark and she wanted to enjoy the sunset through the window. We stopped by for some wine tasting and had a good chat with the store owner. Turned out, he used to work in restaurant in San Jose. We talked a little bit about how life's different in Silicon valley and central coast and had a great time. Before we left, we asked for restaurant recommendations.

"The Park", he said without any hesitation. "Maegen is a talented chef, you will enjoyed your meal."

With a recommendation like that, we could not resist. We drove back to San Luis Obispo and seek out the restaurant. My review of the restaurant is on Yelp. Overall, it was one of the best meal we ever had.

Central Coast Weekend 1-Paso Robles, Sycamore Springs

H and I spent our Labor Day weekend in California's central coast. Both of us had just returned from oversea trip and wanted to take it easy.

On this Saturday, we decided to do some wine tasting. Sunset Magazine called Paso Robles "The next great wine country", so we were looking forward to our visit.

Our first stop was Wild horse winery. A family friend swore by wines from this winery and I wanted to taste them for myself.

We arrived at about 10:45am, but the tasting room was not yet opened! We went into the tasting room anyway and were greeted by a friendly wine staff, who agree to let us start tasting. We started with the $5 tasting, and added the Unbridled tasting for $10.

After Wild Horse, we stopped by downtown Paso Robles for lunch. As we were walking around, we found Vivant cheese shop. H had always wanted to do a little cheese tasting, so helped ourselves to the free samples. The indoor seating area for Vivant was quite small, but they did have a nice court yard, which in early fall, was nice out. We decided to stay for lunch and ordered a cheese platter. 4 cheese was served, with soft, medium and hard texture and a blue cheese. Fruits, jams and nuts completed the plate.

Our next stop was Eberle Winery. H started feeling sick when we arrived, so we rested in the tasting room and outside in the patio until she felt better.

Eberle Winery's cave tour had gotten very good reviews online and I was somewhat looking forward to visiting the cave. Frankly, the cave was a bit of a let down for me. First of all, it was a man made cave. This cave was used mainly to store wine and felt cold and industrial. Elberle was milking it "cave" for all it's worth. Special wine tasting events, wine dinner could be held in the cave. In an effort to make the space more soft, romantic, lots of design elements were added, including a lovely copper wine wine holder tree which I really like. But personally, I would not hold my event inside this space.

We stopped by Eos winery for a little more tasting before calling it a day. H was feeling hungry and craving Chinese food, so we had a quick/light dinner at Golden Gong.

Why a light dinner? Well, our next stop was Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort. Soaking with a full stomach could be uncomfortable.

Sycamore Mineral Spring Resort is a upscale hotel-spa that also rents their tubs by the hour to drop in visitors. We opted for a private tub, located on a small hillside. There were many private tubs on this hill side, all open aired, but surrounded with a sheet metal fence for privacy.

The tub water was very clear and had a little sulphur smell. When I first entered the tub, the temperature felt great! But at the end of an hour's soak, it felt too hot for comfort.

Rejuvenated, we drove back to SLO and checked out a louge: Native lounge. H and I were not big into night life, so it was a nice change of pace. The lounge is located next to a park. We enjoyed a ginger honey cocktail and champange with hibiscus syrup, while listening to the soft jazz played in a garden like setting. We were lucky enough to score a couch with pillow and throw. It was very relaxing.