Slice of Life- SLO (Day 2)

Day two took us to Morro Bay.

The cold wind that blew through Farmers Market the night before brought chilly, grey, cloud-filled skies on Friday morning. It was cold in SLO, but even colder in Morro Bay. In my experience, it's always cold in Morro Bay. My husband had never been there and to be honest when I lived up in SLO, I didn't go to Morro Bay all that often because it's too friggin cold. The few times I'd gone, I went for dinner because the seafood restaurants were amazing, or I went antiquing, because there are a lot of consignment and antique shops there. So when my husband and I went, we followed my track record of eating and antiquing when in Morro Bay. We spent the morning sightseeing, then grabbed a bite to eat and then hit up an antique shop. 

My shopping trip resulted in this Italian rectangular serving bowl and some pretty towels. You'll see both of these buys in future blogs.
I got a pretty good deal on the towels, 3 for 4 dollars and the Italian serving dish, cost me $15. I love my rectangular bowl!

Here are some of the random sights from our morning...

 Here's our selfie at Morro Bay...

Just off the main street where you find all types gift shops, surf shops, galleries and restaurants, right smack in the center of it all you can watch a rousing game of chess on this life-sized chess board. The local chess club meets every Saturday. I think this is a pretty neat community feature. My kids love to play chess, so I took a few shots to show them. Unfortunatley, they weren't as impressed with the pictures as I had hoped. Their response, "Umm." :(

This was a really cool metal sculpture of an old bench seat from an old Ford truck. It doubles as a park bench.  Everything was metal. It's a very cool illusion especially the torn seat with the pocked foam...it's all metal. I had to touch it to believe it was not a real bench seat. Pretty neat-o.

Here's a picture of a Fish Market sign that I thought was so funny...Look at how unhappy the Crab looks?? ..."I'm delicious!"    Cracks me up. 

Some pretty flowers near the ocean.

After we walked around a bit we stopped for a bite to eat...and for me to thaw out, I was freezing! My haven of warmth and awesome seafood...The Galley Seafood Grill & Bar.

Of course, there's the famous Morro Rock in the background. It was also in the background shots of the old movie, The Goonies" and another movie, which I can't think of the name of with Steve Martin. I'm terrible with remembering movies... (random thought alert)

On to lunch...We started with some calamari strips. Not at all like the deep fried rubbery rings and tentacles most of us are used to at sports bars. These are fantastic because they are tender, light and strangely meaty but without any muscle fiber feel. It's hard to describe but they have such a cool texture and they are delicious. Anyway, they're cut from the calamari steak. The steaks come from larger squid where the bodies are split and laid flat and cut into strips. Much different than the tiny ones used to make the traditional calamari. It's the only way I want calamari from now on, it is so delicious. In fact, I'm going to look for some calamari steaks and experiment here at home. Next course...

My husband had the Catch of the day lunch with veggies and I had the Catch of the day salad. I didn't get a shot of my husband's dish, his looked alot like mine but on a bed of mixed veggies. Anyway, the catch of the day was Swordfish which I had blackened and it was served over mixed greens and romaine with tomatoes, cucumbers, and almonds with the most delicious Mango Vinaigrette. I'm going to have to try and reproduce this dressing at home, it was amazing!The whole salad was delcious.

Heading back toward San Luis, we took our time and took the scenic route. I took my husband past my old school and showed him the back roads I took home everyday. One of the things I miss about living there is the utter solitude I felt everyday when I drove on a country road. I was alone with amazing beauty all around me. Here's a few shots of the hills, green with spring. The grey skies actually enhance the beauty I think. Makes me smile and tear up just by looking at it.  Anyway, it was one of the best times of my life, living up there. 

I drove past this red barn every day going to and from school, I love this bright red barn. It was a little too far away to get a good shot with my camera, but you can still see how beautiful it is. I love barns! I feel safe and at home, at peace when I look at them. :) I know, kinda weird...but that's okay.  We're all weird in our own ways.

Now onward to wine tasting...we had some serious wine to drink in Edna Valley. Last time we wine tasted in Paso Robles which has over a hundred wineries, but this time we kept it local and easy by staying near SLO and Arroyo Grande. 

Our first stop was this cute converted School House which housed 6 wineries: Baileyana, Tangent, True Myth, Trenza, Zocker, and Cadre. Beautiful!

Second Stop was Talley Winery. They specialize in white wine, particularly Chardonnay. I was a happy camper for this one, so happy in fact, that I forgot to take any photos here, except this one as we were leaving...and yes we bought two bottles of Chardonnay from here. Yay!

 
The dark, high hanging clouds hinted at rain all day and by our last stop, Kynsi Winery, the sky opened up. The heavy, dark clouds transformed into sheets of pale grey that blurred the countryside as rain fell in soft gentle drops. Beautiful, light country drizzle came down around us as we sipped wine. It was so lovely. 

But if you were to ask me what the best part of Kynsi Winery was, I would have to say, it was the barn that sat next to the tasting room.  
Check out this incredible barn.  Isn't it gorgeous?  I love it. The picture doesn't give you enough though. A light dusting of rain coated the ground and the smell of wet earth and green grass permeated the damp air. The gentle breeze blew through the large tree behind the barn, causing its boughs to wave back and forth against the barn, like it was waving at me. It was a feast for the senses with the sights, sounds and smells of the weather acting on the aged grey wood. It was so picturesque and peaceful, despite the near closing time crowd of wine tasting revelers behind me... I could have sat in the rain all day looking at that barn.

I just loved the shockingly vivid colors of these flowers against the grey rain filled sky. It's like they are on fire. Beautiful.

By the time we got back to the hotel to get ready for dinner, the soft drizzle became a luscious rain.  We got dressed for dinner knowing we would have to hurry through the rain to get to the restaurant because we left our umbrellas at home. I didn't mind at all because walking through puddles and rain reminded me of those old romantic movies where the couple darts into a cafe to escape the rain and then they would sit smiling at each other, thankful for the reprieve. Some might have thought rain would ruin a trip like this when we've planned everything outdoors, but for me the rain acted as theme music, a perfect end to a beautiful, calm, relaxing day; as if the raindrops were the notes that flowed and soothed, and resonated the ease of the day.


Day 3 takes us on an early morning hike and breakfast in Avila Beach.