Our family (DH, me, boy and girl aged 15 and 12) will be staying in Morro Bay for a week in April. We are flying into San Jose on Sunday and will get in sort of late. We are staying in a rental house near the North Point Natural Area. We can walk to the beach etc. I have the following itinerary with things to do. We need to be doing things vs just hanging out but we don't necessarily want to be going from 9-5 either. My kids are also loathe to go anywhere after 5;00--so we won't be doing the San Luis Obispo Farmers Market. Last year, we went to Pacific Grove and they looooved running around the beach in the evening after dinner and watching the sun set. So I am happy to have a house that is practically on the beach this time. I am not sure what to do on Friday?? We could do zip lining. I am looking for other ideas too. We don't mind driving to an activity or to hike but we are not the "take a drive in xyz valley to see the ----" type family. If it happens on the way, great. But just sitting in the car to see the scenery-no. We are not shoppers but sometimes art gallery type places can be fun. Thanks for any ideas you may have.

Food---we will do take out for dinners. I am looking at Yelp for ideas. DH and I looooove seafood. The kids don't. So we might get take out seafood and then get Subway or something for them. I would appreciate any recommendations.

Grocery Store--I want something big with a good deli selection. Looks like there is an Albertsons in town--I am used to them from Idaho.
Wines--this will be so we are stocked for the week, not take home/winery. I see at least one wine store on Google Maps. Any recommendations for these? (parents need their wine at the end of the day!)

Monday
*9:00-12:00 Kayaking Tour of Morro Bay—have reservations
*Lunch at the Bayside Cafe
*2-3ish Natural History Museum
*Back to house, I will get groceries for the week
After Dinner—beach/North Point Natural Area

Tuesday
*Leave at 9;00 for 9:40 Tour of Hearst Castle. See Grand Rooms and Upper Rooms, done by noon
*Lunch at Sebastians—which is also the Hearst Winery Tasting Room
*Elephant Seal Rookery (not sure if there will be seals there at that time??)
*Maybe stop by Seal Rookery Visitors Center???

Wednesday—this is a looser day after 2 days of get up and go
Hiking—Montana de Oro State Park south of Morro Bay
At afternoon low tide (???) Moonstone Beach Drive in Cambria for tide pooling—is there a better place?
If low tide is later, then dinner in Cambria?? Recommendations??

Thursday
Leave at 9:30 to go to San Luis Obispo Mission—opens at 10
Mission for 1-2 hours
Warbirds Museum and Car Museum in Paso Robles
Lunch at the Museum or in Paso Robles before the Museum

Friday
Could do kayaking in Dinosaur Caves at Pismo Beach (1/2 day)
Not sure if we want to do 2 days of kayaking, but sea caves are cool—except I am not that good at steering kayaks!
My kids don’t like “shopping” or we would go to Cambria—maybe there are some interesting art shops there???

Saturday—get up and go to airport

I would definitely consider going zip-lining in Santa Margarita. Your kids will love it and you and your husband can wine taste afterwards at Ancient Peaks across the street. I think you get a free tasting with the price of the zip-line. Sea kayaking in Pismo is a lot of fun but kayaking in Morro Bay is great as well. You'll see a lot of sea life (sea otters, seals, sea lions). Moonstone Beach is nice but also consider Estero Bluffs. It's the area just north of Cayucos and there are several gravel parking lots that all have trail access.

SLO County Hike of the Week: Estero Bluffs | The Tribune

Cambria has some art galleries and a lot of shops. Not really a fun place for kids. If you end up having dinner there I recommend Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill. You and your husband can have seafood and the kids something else. I would combine Cambria with your Hearst Castle/Elephant Seal day. And yes, there will be plenty of seals in April. Be sure and look for zebra grazing just south of the Hearst Castle entrance. Also, check out San Simeon Bay after your lunch at Sebastian's. I have seen elephant seals there. Please keep your distance from any wildlife.

The mission in SLO is pretty small and won't take you long. The kids might like bubblegum alley (totally grosses me out!) which is located at 733 Higuera Street, downtown SLO. It is a very walk-able downtown and has lots of cute shops. A nice gallery is Hands (777 Higuera). My favorite gallery is in Morro Bay. Don't miss checking out Fiona Blue. It's right on the main drag (the Embarcadero) close to Giovanni Seafood, which is a good place to buy fresh fish.

Albertson's in Morro Bay is an excellent grocery store and has a great wine selection, including local wines. No need for a liquor store. They also have a good seafood section. Spencer's is a smaller store but still good. There is a Trader Joe's in Templeton which you could check out on your Paso day. If you don't have TJ's where you live, it's a great store. Very small but excellent selection of snacks, cheeses, and inexpensive wine. Lots of good frozen stuff too.

For casual dining in Morro Bay, I like Blue Sky and Taco Temple. TT is always packed so try and go off hours. For burgers, you can't beat Sylvester's in Los Osos.

I haven't been to the museums in Paso so can't comment on that. There are lots of good restaurants in Paso so I would use Yelp and see what looks good to you that day. Lots of tasting rooms downtown too if you want wine. I can recommend wineries to visit if you want, but it seems like you won't be doing that. I wouldn't worry about kids not being welcome. This is a very laid back, casual area.

You will enjoy Montana de Oro and the Bluff Trail. If you're there on Thursday or Friday, the Buchon Trail will be open. That's my favorite. You should also take the short hike up Black Hill for a great view of the rock and Morro Bay. Just take Upper State Park Road through the golf course to reach the upper trail head parking lot. Short hike from there to the top.

On your Paso day, you should take Hwy 46 West back to the coast. From Trader Joe's you continue on Vineyard Drive and it connects with 46. The road is very scenic and if you stop at the top (large gravel pull-out) you have views of the rock. Everything should be nice and green in April so lucky you! Of course, that's taking into consideration that we will actually get some rain soon (hoping!). Make sure you dress in layers and everyone has a jacket. Our micro-climates are pretty amazing. It can easily be a 20-30 degree difference 10 minutes down the road.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Austin--thanks so much for all of this great info!! I did think about Bubblegum Alley-I think they will like it and I will live That's great that Albertsons has a good wine selection. The grocery store in Pacific Grove didn't have so many "local" type wines. I love Albertsons.

We won't be going near the seals-we are big wildlife lovers and I worked in Yellowstone for a summer. My kids have environmental principles seared into their brains My son has a good telephoto lens and we bring binocs.

The drive back from Paso sounds lovely--just what we would like. Yes, we aren't really focused on wineries this trip. DH and I take a couples trip every fall and have done quite a few different winery tours. This year we are all going to Italy so the kids might be bringing wine home in their luggage!!

Thanks again!!

You're going to have a great trip and I'm certain you'll fall in love with the area!

We spent some time in this area two years ago in January and loved it.

Cambria does have some nice art galleries. This was my favorite, though most works well outside of my typical art budget!
The Vault Gallery - Artists - Category: Artists

Is the quirky SLO Madonna Inn on your radar? Could be fun for a lunch and they have horseback rides if that holds any interest.
Madonna Inn Trail Rides

As AustinTraveler notes, should be plenty of seals at the rookery in April.
Introduction to the Elephant Seal San Simeon, Cambria California



I have a video on YouTube of the birth of a pup from our visit. It was amazing!

Have a great trip.

Not too early for a college visit. Check out Cal Poly. We loved the Hummvee ride at the dunes near Pismo. So fun!