San Luis Obispo, CA

stepper77 · #1 Posted: **Oct 4, 2010, 7:09 AM**

Over Labor Day weekend, one of my good friends and I took our dogs and drove down to the central coast county of San Luis Obispo. While she shopped, I took photos, watched the dogs, and shopped a little myself.

We stuck pretty close to Hwy 101 so, unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit any of the beach cities near Hearst Castle such as Morro Bay or Cambria. We still managed to cover a lot. First we'll start off in the northern/interior part of the county.

Atascadero (pop 29,000)

The dome of city hall from the freeway caught my eye on the way home...I later read the building was damaged in the 2003 earthquake.

My photos don't really express how completely dead downtown Atascadero was...it was almost creepily devoid of any life whatsoever. We didn't stay long.

El Paso de Robles (pop 29,297)

In the heart of San Luis Obispo wine country, downtown Paso Robles is situated around a large plaza/park, reminding me a bit of Sonoma.

Our canine companions

San Luis Obispo (pop 42,963)

The county seat and home to Cal Poly State University. This was also our home base for the weekend and I really loved the city. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the college campus, but San Luis Obispo has a great downtown with tons of shops, restaurants, and people.

My new favorite building

I don't know the story is with this alleyway being covered in gum. Kinda interesting and gross at the same time.

This area was a lot more crowded than my photos would indicate.

San Luis Obispo County government offices

Back to the county courthouse...

...and my favorite beauty.

Living up to it's reputation for active living, there are a lot of options for walking and hiking, such Laguna Lake Park, just south of downtown. It ended up a great place to take the dogs.

Now, heading south towards the southern beach cities...

Arroyo Grande (pop 15,851)

A nice place for lunch...sorry there won't be any photos of my meal.

Avila Beach

We had planned to walk around, but, between some sort of music festival and it being Labor Day weekend, we couldn't find any parking near town. So, we just had to enjoy the view from afar.

Pismo Beach (pop 8,551)

The first set of these are actually from a trip I took two years ago and I thought I would include here.

The rest of these are from 2010

________________________________________________________________
Tour of California
1: Los Angeles, 2: Hollywood, Glendale, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, 3: Riverside, Santa Ana, Long Beach, 4: San Jose, 5: San Diego, 6: Fresno, 7: Stockton, Modesto, 8: Gold Country, 9: Eureka, Arcata, 10: Monterey, Carmel, 11: Santa Cruz, 12: Sacramento Pt One, 13: Sacramento Pt Two, 14: Roseville & Folsom, 15: Concord & Walnut Creek, 16: Tri-Valley, 17: Berkeley, Emeryville, 18: Fremont, 19: Santa Clara, Mountain View, Palo Alto, 20: Redwood City, Foster City, San Mateo, 21: Oakland, 22: Benicia, Vallejo, 23: Napa, St. Helena, 24: Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Sonoma, 25: San Rafael, 26: Larkspur, Mill Valley, 27: Sausalito, Tiburon, 28: Hollister, San Juan Bautista, 29: Long Beach 2008, 30: Venice, 31: Santa Monica, 32: Sacramento Pt 3, 33: Solvang, 34: Alameda, 35: Knights Ferry, 36: California Zephyr, 37: Colfax, 38: Davis, 39: Oakdale, 40: San Francisco Pt 1, San Francisco Pt 2, 41: Chico, Redding, 42: Kings Beach, 43: Merced, 44: Gold Country pt 2, 45: Gold Country pt 3, 46: Sonora, 47: Vacaville, Fairfield, Suisun City, 48: Orange, Fullerton, 49: Anaheim, Irvine, 50: Newport Beach, Laguna Beach,51: San Francisco, Pt 3, 52: Lodi, 53: Martinez, 54: Ft Bragg, Mendocino

Paradox21 · #2 Posted: **Oct 4, 2010, 8:04 PM**

Very enlightening tour! ....and Great photos as always! There is apparently much more to some of these central Cali coastal beach towns than I thought.

ChrisLA · #3 Posted: **Oct 4, 2010, 8:40 PM**

Yes indeed I know I wouldn't have a problem living in one of these cities. I really like San Luis Obispo, Monterey/Carmel area.

Although I know this area turns brown in late spring, I'm just use to seeing lush green hills, kind of like Ireland. I'm usually visit SLO in the winter months, so I kind of think of it as being always that way, along with cool tempertures, or damp, and drizzling.

LAsam · #4 Posted: **Oct 4, 2010, 8:59 PM**

SLO is a fantastic area... an ideal location to spend your college years I'd think.

xzmattzx · #5 Posted: **Oct 5, 2010, 3:45 AM**

Nice pictures. These places looks pretty nice. It's interesting that Cal Poly SLO has to advertise a game on the weekend with a banner over the street; our local school (and incidentally the school that I went to), Delaware, is one of the premier I-AA programs and typically has more demand than supply, even with their 22,000 person stadium.

Is anyone else thrown off by those beach pictures from Pismo Beach. I can't get any sense of distance; the birds look like they are half the size of humans, and reading the sands where the waves crash for distance is impossible.

By the way, I'm goign to find any San Francisco pictures of yours and look at them, since I'll be there in a few days.

sopas ej · #6 Posted: **Oct 5, 2010, 4:30 AM**

Great pics! I love California's central coast.

I love California, period. Hehe! What can I say.

Nightsky · #7 Posted: **Oct 6, 2010, 1:30 PM**

I stopped by San Luis Obispo very quickly when driving from LA to San Francisco in 2001. It seems to be a nice little city.

OneMetropolis · #8 Posted: **Oct 6, 2010, 4:32 PM**

very beautiful city, reminds me of santa Barabra almost.

stepper77 · #9 Posted: **Oct 6, 2010, 5:46 PM**

Thanks for the comments. San Luis Obispo is definitely worth a visit for anyone traveling up the central coast.

@xzmattzx, I don't know if perhaps the perspective seems off because most of the sunset shots at the end were taken from up on the pier. As to your trip, I hope you enjoy our city. I don't know how long you're here, but, if you have a chance to see downtown Oakland, I highly suggest it, especially if you like Art Deco architecture. If you have questions about things to see, let me know.

ColDayMan · #10 Posted: **Oct 6, 2010, 8:08 PM**

It's a great looking town.

seaJ · #11 Posted: **Oct 6, 2010, 9:45 PM**

I love SLO! It's the most idyllic California city IMO. In fact, that whole area of the south central coast with Pismo beach etc..it's like the American version of the French/Italian riviera but with a spanish accent. Just gorgeous!

peanut gallery · #12 Posted: **Oct 7, 2010, 12:17 AM**

Excellent shots, stepper! I, too, love SLO. Downtown is just overflowing with character and the whole river/walk/Mission combo is simply perfect. Did you stop in at the Apple Farm Inn? It's a bit over-the-top with the quaintness, but the gardens and potted flowers are gorgeous.

Too bad you couldn't get into Avila Beach a little more. I haven't been there since the big oil plume and reconstruction project, and would love to see how it has changed. The pier looks the same, which is great. Anyway, thanks for the photos!

Centropolis · #13 Posted: **Oct 7, 2010, 1:41 AM**

Man, I blasted through the region traveling between between Big Sur and Malibu a couple of years ago, I should have stopped and smelled the SLO roses, per say. I distinctly remember the landscape though, I've never seen anything like it before. Maybe next time I wont drive to California, I might have more time for California...

plinko · #14 Posted: **Oct 7, 2010, 1:50 AM**

Truly a great city just a quick jaunt up the coast from me. Spent many a weekend there. The restaurants that back up to the creek provide a great atmosphere.

Quote:

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

Too bad you couldn't get into Avila Beach a little more. I haven't been there since the big oil plume and reconstruction project, and would love to see how it has changed. The pier looks the same, which is great. Anyway, thanks for the photos!

I did a thread on Avila Beach in early 2009 here. A quaint little town.

peanut gallery · #15 Posted: **Oct 7, 2010, 5:36 AM**

Thanks! I just checked it out. I wish I had seen that last year.

ltsmotorsport · #16 Posted: **Oct 8, 2010, 7:29 AM**

That's my hood!

I think the reason for the banner is that school wasn't in yet and people needed a little reminder that football starts first.

stepper77 · #17 Posted: **Oct 8, 2010, 7:17 PM**

Thanks plinko for the thread on Avila Beach. We circled the neighborhoods in the middle of town for about 30 minutes before giving up. I checked out your thread and I remember a lot of the buildings. Thanks!

@peanut gallery, funny you mention Apple Farm because our hotel was right across the street and was one of the reasons my friend wanted to stay there. I took a bunch of pictures of the hotel and store/mill, also all the flowers you mentioned, I just didn't include them here. I inserted a few below. Definitely a fun, touristy place!

I bought some delicious apple-cinnamon jelly here!

rockyi · #18 Posted: **Oct 8, 2010, 9:55 PM**

Quaint.....Damn quaint!
Thanks for the pics.

khojiho · #19 Posted: **Apr 26, 2013, 4:36 AM**

I was recently in SLO for college visits and I took some pictures of interesting architecture...

-The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Christopher Cohen Performing Arts Center by Alberto Bertoli

if anyone here is going to visit cal poly slo, I highly suggest visiting poly canyon. The entire canyon is full of abandoned architectural experiments from the 80s/90s. The structures are quite interesting and it is sad to see these mysterious buildings decay

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http://orangearchitecture.blogspot.c...nd-design.html

JDRCRASH · #20 Posted: **Apr 26, 2013, 5:38 AM**

A beautiful part of the California coast, indeed.