Over the past week there have been several posters wishing to include Morro Bay for an overnight stay during what could only be called an otherwise "extremely tight itinerary." What am I missing? Is it the big rock? A hotel or restaurant?

I've lived here on the Central Coast for 20 years and just cannot consider that a destination place and find myself wondering why people would choose it over another night in Yosemite, Big Sur or Carmel, especially when they are on their one and only trip to California!

It is often very cold and foggy... some nice restuarants there but nothing that really screams, " Drive an extra four hours!" and I haven't seen any hotels that are "must stays." Perhaps their Chamber of Commerce is doing a great job on marketing. Im starting to feel guilty gerntly sugggesting their time may be better spent elsewhere but so often their schedules are so tight and I'm worried they'll be greatly disappointed.

If I'm missing something... please let me know!

I just love that nursery there that sells all those incredible succulents. Makes me want a great big huge succulent garden.

Hmmm...okay! Now we're getting somewhere! lol That's what I was hoping for... specifics!


Placename, if you make it down to Grover Beach, you might want to stop into Ron's Nursery... it's wonderful! They did a whole party (arrangements for about 40 tables... people purchased them afterwards) for me a few year ago and people still comment on the succulents!

I suppose it depends on where you live. When I lived in SoCal Morro Bay was a scenic place to stay when visiting my daughter at Cal Poly SLO and when doing the wineries in Paso Robles. It has a definite seaside village atmosphere and some good restaurants. That being said it is also a bit boring for any length of time and probably not a destination in itself. One thing we really enjoyed were the sea otters.

Excellent point, onemoneygirl!

Happy New Year!

I have dined at a couple of Italian restaurants - Giuseppe's and Rosa's - in Pismo Beach. Good but nothing to match the Italian restaurants in San Francisco.

'Course there's always McLintocks - they used to have a 32 oz steak...

Overnight? Best to go a few miles inland to San Luis Obispo if one must stay in that area.

When I was at Cal Poly, we used to go out to Montana de Oro to drink and make out. That area is good for that!!

I like Morro Bay - it is a laid back sort of place. I like the harbor, good easy kayaking there, Montana del Oro state park is a nice place to hike. Another thing that I think attracts people to Morro Bay over other central coast towns is that you can find more budget lodging options.

Morro Bay is pretty but we prefer Shell Beach, Cambria or Avila to Morro Bay. I did love the Inn @ Morro Bay when we stayed there, it is a very nice property with a great restaurant, feather beds, complimentary bikes, etc. We will back in the Pismo area in a couple of weeks, I cannot wait to see the ocean! ***kim***

I love the golf course inside the State Park, man does it have some great views..and the place that sells fresh fish at the end of the pier, is that Tognazzini's? I bought some spectacular fresh King Salmon there once.

http://www.bonniemarietta.com/fish-sales.htm

and the Motel 6 there has a pretty good location.

I'm not a kayaker but apparently that is something people do in the bay.

I'm a Rock junkie. I remember having breakfast on the Embarcadero, and having that view out the window.

There're several Morro Bay pix at the end of an album at http://tinyurl.com/4ysvvh . One of those (along the coast) was taken from the old natural history museum. I don't know what, if anything, is at that vantage point now.

Morro Bay is a convenient stopping point when coming down the coast on rte. 1, and when heading north for those planning a visit to Hearst Castle on their trip north on rte. 1. I've been there many times over the years, mostly to run the Morro Bay to Cayucas 6 miler on the beach. I've had my fill of Morro rock, which was where the race started. On one other occasion, my wife and I stayed overnight someplace in Morro Bay, with, I think, a view of the ocean. I remember that it was chilly, windy, and sandy. We ate somewhere. (We generally don't "dine"). The best thing we did was visit Morro Bay State Park and the museum there.

IMO, nothing wrong with making suggestions for alternative locales, itineraries, etc. provided that the poster opens the door for such suggestions.

We had a lot of fun kayaking there this summer, and it was a great little place to wander around.

Hi Onemoneygirl!

I had to laugh when I read your post, too true! I can only see it as a rest stop if you are driving south on the 1 or a pit-stop if you’re a local.

We sometimes combine Moro Bay with Montana de Oro on afternoon drives. It's a nice scenic stop. We have really been enjoying our walks in Montana de Oro as of late. We sometimes lunch at Giovanni’s on the patio in Moro Bay. Have met some wonderful travelers from Europe there…generally looking for something to do.

We sometimes take the short scenic drive from SLO to Los Osos then to Moro or Montana de Oro.

The nursery in Moro Bay is called The Garden Gallery. They have done a good job with it. I was at Ron’s in Grover in Sept for some trees and it was almost gutted due to the economy. Sad to see.

We had time to kill with family just about every weekend last month. A typical driving afternoon for us started in SLO for lunch at Blue Sky, High Street Deli, or New Frontier’s Deli.

We then mixed various drives to Leaning Pines arboretum at Cal Poly, Templeton wine trail starting at the Vineyard exit in Templeton, Morro Bay, Montanya de Oro, or walking downtown SLO. Sunsets at Shell Beach have been spectacular lately.

Bought some great Mountain Zinfandel at Opolo’s on the trail and enjoyed it with steak and lobster last weekend. It was a killer barbequing in these 70 degree days!

"It is often very cold and foggy... some nice restuarants there but nothing that really screams, " Drive an extra four hours!" and I haven't seen any hotels that are "must stays."

Well, it sounds a lot like Maine!