We took our spring break trip to Central California and had a great time. 2 parents, 2 kids aged 15 and 12. We lucked into some good weather and overall it wasn’t crowded at all.

We flew into San Jose—given flight costs, rental car costs, and time to Morro Bay, this was a slightly better option than Burbank. It was a 3 hour drive to Morro Bay but the scenery was really pretty—very green this time of year. We took 46 West from Paso Robles and then a side road from there to get closer to Morro Bay. Old Creek Road is a tight, twisty road and it was getting dark and I just thought—oh geez, this was not the best idea. It is very scenic and fun. But not at the end of a very long day.

I booked a house through URelax Vacations. https://www.urelaxvr.com/vacation-re...&DD=11/10/2018 I really liked this house—it fit our budget and space needs and I liked being practically on the beach. This house has everything you could need—sand toys, ping pong table, all the kitchen stuff, etc. It has a large living room/kitchen/dining area. It was very nice.

Food—we got groceries at the Albertsons in town which was fine. They have an impressive selection of wine, including a whole aisle that features wines from the local AVAs.

Breakfast—we tried a number of coffee shops. Our 2 favorites were the Morro Bay Coffee Company and Top Dog Coffee. The Top Dog place was packed on Friday morning—it had the best breakfast items—most varied. The Morro Bay place was great for a quick in/out experience and was well frequented by local customers.

We had some good lunches. Sebastians in San Simeon had very good burgers and a great BBQ chicken salad. Went there after Hearst Castle—much better than the food at the Hearst Castle visitors center. Dolce Galleria in Paso Robles—went there after the Warbirds Museum. That was a fantastic lunch for everybody-really good food. The Porch Café in Santa Margarita, after zip lining, had awesome burgers. Yum. The Bayside Café located next to the Natural History Museum in Morro Bay had a great salad. And very friendly service.

Dinner was take out. Taco Temple—wow, that really was good. Tognazzini’s Dockside—very fresh fish. Others were ok. Lunches were definitely our best meals.

Activities
Monday: We started with a classic half day kayak tour with Central Coast Outdoors. Great guide who really knew all of her natural history. We saw seals and pups, a quick tour of the Oyster Farm, and a stroll along the sand dunes. And lots of birds! Then we had lunch at the Bayside Café. Next, we went to the Natural History Museum to learn more about the things we had seen. This is a great museum for young kids—not so much for teens and adults, but we liked it. For young ones, you could really spend some time here. Great for a rainy day. By 3:00, it was back to the house to relax, get groceries etc.

Tuesday
Hearst Castle: We started with the 9:40 tour of the Grand Rooms and then went on the 11:15 tour of the upstairs. We did not do the cottages and the kitchen. The tours were superb—we all loved seeing the architecture, the collections, and hearing stories about the Hearst family—especially William Hearst. This is truly a must see.

Then we had lunch at Sebastians. Then we drove north to see the elephant seals. They are all hanging out in April—only some weaner pups still waiting to leave and other adults who had come to molt. But the docents are great—you learn a ton from them. Just find one and start asking questions! We were done around 3 ish today as well.

Wednesday
Well, this was a bit of a bust. First we went to Estero Bluffs to see the Tide Pools. It would have been better if we had gotten there a little earlier, I think. No sea stars. But plenty of crabs, snails, etc. Then we went to Montana de Oro Park. We should have just gone to the tide pools there! They were closer and it would have cut down on driving. We toured the ranch house and then did the Bluffs Trail. It was foggy and cold. Not much to see that day. Oh well. We probably should have stopped at the Elfin Forest, but everybody was done and ready to go home…

Thursday
We started in San Luis Obispo to see the Mission. Very small, but interesting. Had many more of the Chamush artifacts than other missions we have seen, which was interesting. We had to see Bubblegum Alley. It is as gross as it sounds. J SLO is really a neat small town. I wish we had gone to the Art Museum or looked around a little more there.

Then we went to Paso Robles to see the Estrella Warbirds Museum. It was nice—not so huge that it is overwhelming. They need to do some works with their exhibits so that there is a more cohesive story line vs a display of artifacts, but we all liked it. The cars were interesting as well—especially for DH!

Next, we went to lunch at Dolce Galleria, just down the road on 46—really good meal there.

Then, we went wine tasting at Tobin James, which is only a few minutes down 46. It isn’t a “rural” experience but the wines were quite good and the kids had a blast playing on the old school arcade games while DH and I tasted. We bought several very good wines there.

For the last activity of the day, we went olive oil tasting at Pasolivo. That was fun and the kids could taste too!! We bought 2 bottles of great oil and some spices. That was a really nice experience.

Friday
We started with a 10:30 zip line tour at Santa Margarita Adventures. We had a great time! The zip lining is fun. The vineyards and the ranch are beautiful. It was nice to get a short tour of the ranch, learn about it, and to see the wildlife—a large flock of wild turkey, a golden eagle, pretty wild flowers and the gorgeous oaks. The staff were super friendly. That was really worth the money!!!

Then we had lunch at the Porch Café—good stuff. And next, we tasted wines at Ancient Peaks. Don’t pay in advance as part of your tour—just pay when you go. Plus you get your money back if you buy wine, which is the way to go!! I had picked up a bottle of their Sauv Blanc at Albertsons—it was fantastic!! So we bought more of that. And the Renegade wine was excellent.

We took 41 back to Morro Bay and then drove up to Cambria to walk around the art galleries and get ice cream.

Saturday was get up and go to the airport.

There was pretty much something for everybody on this vacation. We lucked out with the weather. The final verdict is that everybody said they liked it—yay!

Thank you. A wonderful report as always!

Excellent trip report! I live here so I'm biased, but the Central Coast is just the best place.

Nice report and so great that you all had a great time. Sounds like you had a nice mix of activities.

Thanks.

Thanks for reading it! I will say that I really liked this area because it is more of "old California"--agriculture, fishing, small beach towns. I think you would need to eat in SLO or Paso for fine dining dinners/e.g. a couple's trip vs. a family trip. And I really, really liked SLO--fun quirky town! This was a lower key vacation for us. I had some really stressful months at work November-February, so I needed a vacation--and I needed SLEEP. This vacation was a nice mix of activity and rest.