Robot Journal : Hello California

Robot Journal : Hello California - Up the coast

9/21/2005

How to do Big Sur
You can just skip the rest of this post if you only read this one sentence: When traveling on the coast of California, bring some warm clothes.

Super Ricky
We left LA on that Labor Day Monday and toodled north. Had lunch at La Super-Rica in Santa Barbara (which was yummy).
In regards to La Super-Rica, which has gotten a ton of great reviews and fancy write-ups recently AND was Julia Child's favorite place when she was retired there, we later spoke to a couple who said that the popularity of this place is lost on the locals there. Apparently they think there is better.

We stopped for gas somewhere (3.89/gallon) and then got lost and then found ourselves driving through "Sideways" country as we sped past The Hitching Post and then a winery with a sign out front declaring "As seen in Sideways!".
(that became a vacation running joke)
Soon after we came across a farm that raised uber-cute miniature horses (as not seen in Sideways, but should of been).

Hello Cambria
The first night we stayed in Cambria/Moonstone Beach at a Best Western hotel that was right on the water. For a Best Western (a hotel chain that I didn't even realize existed anymore) it was a very nice place. Cambria is a sleepy, quiet little town who's claim to fame (it seemed to me) is that it is near some of the loveliest scenery on the west coast.
Before dinner, we donned sweaters and walked along the beach. There were lazy seals on rocks making seal noises.
The sunset. It was nice.

Imagined Seal Dialogue
Seal #1: You know what I like? Fish!
Seal #2: You like fish, too? That's my favorite food!
Seal #1: I could eat fish all day!
Seal #2: Me, too! I enjoy eating fish!
Seal #3: Did someone say fish?

Lovers
I had a really awesome lobster pot-pie at a place called The Sow's Ear for dinner that night. There were a couple of funny and/or interesting things about this place...
1. Their wine list was a small book with a wine label on each page and a brief description - neat idea.
2. They baked their bread in flowerpots (tasty as well).
3. It was all couples eating dinner - and everyone single one of them appeared to be celebrating their anniversary. This would elicit a free piece of anniveary-esque cake and a Polaroid taken of them. Even though technically this was somewhat of anniversary trip for us, we didn't say anything.

First vineyard

The next day, after leaving Cambria we headed east to check out some wineries. Our first and only stop that day was at Bonny Doon. We picked them because I had a glass of one of their dessert wines earlier that week... and it's Bonny Doon.

Their whole tasting area place used to be in a barn, but the barn burned down so tastings were done in a temporary trailer thing where I bought a cool three pack of their "2002 Le Cigare Volant" that included the 1999, 2000, and 2001 vintages.
Bonny Doon has a whole design theme for their french Rhone-style wines based around that UFO-banning story from France...

In 1954 the village council of Chateauneuf-du-Pape was quite perturbed and apprehensive that flying saucers or "flying cigars" might do damage to their vineyards were they to land within. So, right-thinking men all, they adopted an ordinance prohibiting the landing of flying saucers or flying cigars in their vineyards. (This ordinance has worked well in discouraging such landings.) the ordinance states further that any flying saucers or flying cigars that did land would be taken immediately to the pound.

After a yum lunch at a little Mexican place that was recommended by the Bonny Doon guy, we got back on Highway 1 and headed north.

Set your eyes to stun
Needless to say... the whole area on the way to Big Sur is spectacular.
We drove for a couple of hours (going "oooooo" and "ahhhhhh") up the coast until we got to the Treebones Resort - the place with the yurts.

Yurt!
Yurt!
Yurt!

A Yurt is a traditional home of the nomads who live on the cold, barren steppes of Central Asia.

The yurt was fun. Ours was somehow a larger one that I think was meant for a family of four. We had a little porch with red Adirondack chairs and view of the Pacific ocean where we watched the sun set. Kristy had given us a bottle of Lambrusco and the lodge fixed up a dinner of barbequed lamb.
It was really chilly.
But there was a big ol' comforter on the bed and you could hear seals barking off in the distance.
It was all pretty and stuff.
As seen by the photos I took...

Yurts on Flickr!

comments[7] | 9/21/2005 | perma-link

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