Some things about California still amaze me; you can literally drive anywhere and in about an hour feel as if you’re in a completely different place. Here in L.A. drive east and you hit the “Inland Empire” (Nascar and big truck country), northeast (desert and UFO watchers), south (where frat guys and sorority chicks live when they have babies), north (mountains and ski resorts), southeast (real indians, casino’s, and “premium” factory outlets.)
We drove about 3 hours up the coast and spent the weekend in a small town called Cayucos. A coastal place among open rolling hills, mountains, and the ocean that has only about 3,000 people that live there (probably equal to about 3 blocks of my neighborhood.)
The main street looks like the one in that movie “Cars” – you know where the main highway bypasses the downtown, except this place wasn’t a ghost town. They have some pretty nice locally owned B&B’s, small motels, and pretty good restaurants. This one place called “Hobbe’s” had amazing food, a fancy outdoor patio with a butterfly garden (daughter loved that), and a snazzy wine bar (wife and I loved that.) Obviously the locals around the area eat and drink well.
For anybody ever visiting L.A. a drive up the coast between Santa Barbara and Monterey is a must. It amazes me how these small towns are still able to stay so small when L.A. and the bay area are crazy huge.
If we would have kept driving, we would have paid a visit to my new best friends in Cuppertino and begged for an iPhone now. I’m probably going to be one of those crazy people down at the Apple Store this Friday trying to get one. But only if the AT&T pricing plans for it aren’t ridiculous – because paying $90/month for a phone isn't sexy.Anybody out there doing any summer weekend road trips with the kids? It sometimes seems like small vacation towns cater to retired people or couples without kids these days. It's always good to find those kid-friendly places that don't have amusement parks or miniature golf courses.
Sound like a lovely day! I think Husband will be one of those guys too. We already have AT&T, and so we just have to upgrade a bit, which we had to do anyway since we just got our son a cell phone. They are quite reasonable, at least in this area.
ReplyDeleteHusband is a gadget addict, and I knew the iPhone would be a must have for him. He doesn't buy himself much, so I really can't complain.
Tony, if you visit Oregon, let me know and will show you around :) Just one thing, don't tell the Oregonians that you're from California, they immediately blame you for every problem we have here :)
ReplyDeleteWashington state is the same, go 30 minutes (or less sometimes) in any one direction and you may as well be on another planet!
ReplyDeleteWe've got nothing but camping trips planned all summer long.
The upcoming one is to Eastern Washington, to a place where frat boys and sorority girls party with their kids in tow. So. Not. Looking. Forward. To. This.
Maybe I should go to Cali instead.
Carrie
I love California's central coast. I spent a lot of time around Moro Bay when I was growing up and loved it.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter and I are going to be in NYC Friday - the very cool Apple shop there is right outside of FAO Schwarz. I'm hoping to get a picture of the line of people. LOL
If you get an iPhone...please tell me it sucks....because I'm having real issues with shelling out $200 to get out of my Tmobile contract and then dropping 5 large on a phone...and then, paying about double per month on what I pay now for service. But damn, I really want one.
ReplyDeleteIf we drive an hour in most directions we're in a different state. I had a college roommate who lived in Monterey for a while...I wanted to visit but we never made it.
ReplyDeleteThose phones are sweet. I want one too.
Also, I should have told you that I tagged you for a restaurant meme last Thursday.
I used to love it when I had a client in Anaheim, I would always schedule my trip so I either had a weekend free. One March weekend a number of years back I was able to go skiing, see the Angels, Ducks, Long Island Ice Dogs, and hit the beach. All within 2-1/2 days.
ReplyDeleteJust got back from Disney World as that was our kid-friendly vacation. Of course that doesn't quite cut your "no amusement park" rules, but unlike Disneyland, Disney World is so much more than just an amusement park.
As for the iPhone, I still don't get why so many people are so hyped up about this thing. There are plenty of phones out there right now that do everything the iPhone does, (except lock you into iTunes, and have an actual keyboard, because who wants to try and type on a touch screen?) and they don't cost you as much as an inexpensive PC. Plus if you cancel with AT&T, you still get whacked with the $275 cancellation fee, even though you got the "honor" of paying full price for the iPhone. (I may be alone on this, but I am thinking this just may wind up being a "Newton 2.0")
Small, kid friendly town sounds SO much more appealing than Orlando FL (Where we were this past week.)
ReplyDeleteThat town you hung out with sound pretty great.
JayMonster -- you make some good points. I'm still getting it though....!!!
ReplyDeleteDarren -- KFC?
Mitch McDad -- That's why I'm donating 18 gallons of my blood to help pay for my iphone.
Hi Tony! I'm back to reading my favorite bloggers after a 2 wks hiatus, you know this child birth thing got in the way.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous that you can drive up the coast and be at a vacation resort. Let's see, where are we going with the 4 kids this summer? Probably the back yard with the kiddie pool.
My hubbie and you have something in common, he's a gadget geek too. But let's see iPhone or diapers? Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteIf you drive about an hour & a half in any direction from our house you'd still be in the middle of nowhere.
ReplyDeleteUh...correction. You'd STILL be in the middle of nowhere.
ReplyDeleteHey, I posted about my iPhone lust today! I just wonder if either of us will actually have one this weekend?
ReplyDeletewayabetty -- I think iPhones can be used as diapers too... (congrats on the baby!)
ReplyDeleteBen & Bennie -- sounds like the twilight zone
aimee / greeblemonkey -- I hope so....
I have two friends with iPhones who now have iPhone photo sites where they post directly from their phones. Maybe this is a standard feature in the iPhone world. I thought it was cool and worthy of mention in case you are not set up yet.
ReplyDelete