A Trip to California's Central Coast

I hadn't been to the Central Coast since February 2010, so this trip was a long time coming. It started with a quick wine tasting stop in Paso Robles at Halter Ranch Vineyard, then we headed to San Luis Obispo for lunch at Firestone Grill and to watch the Giants beat the Nationals in Game 1. After lunch and shopping at the Cal Poly Downtown store (I needed some things like a wine glass, trailer hitch cover and hat), we headed to our financial advisor's office and then with him to dinner at Novo Restaurant in Downtown San Luis Obispo. My mom picked the perfect wine, Anniversary Blend from Sterling Vineyards, since their wedding anniversary was the day before, and we enjoyed a fabulous dinner along the San Luis Obispo Creek.

After spending the night in Morro Bay, we did some quick picture taking at Morro Rock and got some great photos of the harbor before continuing our trip by driving through the Cal Poly Campus (a lot has changed in the 10 years since I graduated) to Pismo Beach and then stopped in Solvang to check out California's version of Denmark. Our next stop was the Embassy Suites in Lompoc, but once we figured out that our hotel didn't get the station the Giant's game was on, we headed to Applebee's ... Lompoc's only known "Sports Bar." Our plan was to stay until the end of the game, but we ended up leaving in the 9th inning ... good thing we did, the game went for another nine innings, we ended up closely monitoring our phones for play-by-play information. The decision also meant that we could enjoy Happy Hour at Embassy Suites and a few games on Pinochle.

On Sunday we were off to our final destination, Santa Barbara and the Bacara Resort & Spa. We first drove to the beach in Santa Barbara and then took a quick driving tour of the area (we were just in Santa Barbara during our last cruise, so we actually knew where things were). After our Santa Barbara sight-seeing adventure we headed north to Bacara. It was beautiful from the moment we drove up. I started with a lunch meeting and then we headed to our private cabana at, what I would say is one of the best pools in California. The rest of our trip was pretty amazing too ... wine tasting in the Foley Wine Tasting Room, two dinners on the Terrace of the Bacara Bar, lunch at the Bistro, a 7 mile run for me, and a spa treatment for my parents as a gift from my brother and I for their anniversary.
Photos for those with iPads.

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