We finally broke quarantine and hit the road to attend a friends birthday dinner with an incredible winemaker in attendance (Nick Elliott from Nicora Wines). Just a quick note….Nicora makes some of the best Syrah, Grenache and GSM I have ever had, and I’ve had a LOT. This winery is the shit!
Doesn’t that make me sound hip? I feel 20 years younger already. “The shit” is supposed to mean something completely opposite, right? The more you denigrate something, the better it must be! In any case, if you like Syrah, click on the link and order a few bottles. You will NOT be sorry!
The wine dinner at my friend’s house (Mark Johnson) was down in Camarillo, CA, in Ventura County. We were very happy to get away as the smoke in Livermore, CA from the local fires has been abysmal.
On our way back home we decided to visit a new place (to us at least), so we booked two nights in the beautiful coastal town of Cambria, CA. The number one place on Trip Advisor is the Blue Dolphin Inn.
It’s right on the beach (Moonstone Beach), and you can hear the waves crashing at night. Love that! The only downside is the beachfront rooms are on the bottom floor. If I had to do this again I would pick a different hotel that has balconies on the 2nd floor. Nothing like a car parking right in front of your view….which happened twice. I should have taken a photo, but I was a little peeved.
There is a beautiful boardwalk right along Moonstone Beach, but we decided to drive the short few miles to Fiscalini Tanch Preserve, which was a lot quieter.
The hike along the shoreline isn’t too long, and has awesome ocean views.
They also have some interesting benches made from driftwood.
We took a short trip up the coast to check out Point Piedras Blancas, where there is an Elephant Seal Colony that numbers over 15,000! They were everywhere along the beach, many of them flipping sand up on top of themselves to stay cool.
There are some sandy beaches but there is also a lot of kelp along the beach, so it’s not the best for walking along (hence the boardwalk).
I highly recommend The Black Cat Cafe in downtown Cambria for dinner. Excellent fresh fish and a great wine list (and stemware), along with nice outdoor seating.
One last note, temps in California have been pretty hot as of late, so I didn’t bring a jacket on the trip. You will need a jacket in Cambria if you get cold easily!
Our Italy trip was of course cancelled, so we are heading to Dillon, Colorado on Sept 12. Will post more about Colorado while there!
Good to hear from you two. We love the California coastline. We were near the same spot and saw the elephant seals Several years back driving from SF to LA on Hwy 1 after our daughters wedding in Temecula.
Denise has finally turned in her retirement contract. She’s still working from home until at least Jan 2021. Finishing up July 2021. Our first long term excursion will probably be to come live in SoCal during winter months to be near Sara and Carlo.
Stay safe…nice to hear your travel bug has you out and about