After a restful night at the Avila Lighthouse Inn, I woke early to have JJ “do his thing”. We walked along the beach; right across the street.
Right through the small downtown area.
Things were so peaceful on this morning. Avila Lighthouse Suites provides breakfast, which was a nice way to start the day.
Looking for something to do; I found the Bob Jones City to the Sea Trail, which basically started right across the street from where we were staying.
It starts on a paved bike path, next to a golf course.
Crosses over San Luis Obispo Creek.
Which, unlike what it looks like in SLO, is pretty wide in a parts near Avila Beach.
The easy walk continues on Blue Heron Road and there’s some interesting things to see along the way.
And the terrain also changes; from the seaside, to hills, and some interesting rock formations.
It’s an easy 2 1/2 mile trail…we took it the opposite way and ended at the trailhead on Ontario Road. Instead of turning right around, we decided to head down the road and then take a right on Avila Beach Drive. No sidewalks here and some of the cars drive pretty darn fast, so it was head up all the time.
We got to our destination in about 15 minutes. The Avila Valley Barn, which features a market, a “sweet shack”, corn roasters, and several eating establishments; which were closed when we arrived since it was pretty early. But we mainly wanted to check out the market. We got some stuff for a light lunch.
The place was super farm themed……..there’s even a “farm zoo”.
And of course….you don’t mess with the chickens.
We enjoyed exploring…
Avila Valley Barn
560 Avila Beach Dr.
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
To return to Avila Beach we headed down Avila Beach Drive and then took a short trail back across San Luis Obispo Creek. Along the way we came across this interesting outdoor dining area surrounded by gardens and trees across the bridge from Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort. This is the “Secret Garden”…it looked like a really cool spot and it also discreetly opens back up on the Bob Jones Trail!
From it, it was just returning the way we came.
We got back to our room, had our lunch, relaxed, and took ourselves a nice nap. We decided to get an early dinner and I knew just the place. So, we headed over to the pedestrian only area of Front Street.
Right at the beginning of the pedestrian walk is Blue Moon Over Avila.
We were seated by the very friendly Hostess on the patio. We actually took seats at the rail, so we could check out the beach.
Our Server went and pointed out the Coast Guard rescue exercises going on near the pier.
The Missus started with a glass of wine; I decided not to partake….I was going to get a brew later on. Our wonderful Server made some recommendations and we took him up two of them.
But first, we started with some Escargot ($18). This ended up being our least favorite item as the escargot was super chewy and the herb-garlic butter was to mild in terms of pungent savoriness.
The Croque Monsieur ($24) was delicious!
The melted Gruyere roasted crisp. Lovely cheesy-nutty-savoriness. It added an amazing textural contrast and layer of flavor to the toasted sourdough.
Heck, it almost seemed like the delicate rosemary-garlic ham and the milky cheese were just the secondary players on this. The salad was refreshing and nicely coated with a nice, light vinaigrette.
The Beef Bourguignon ($32) was also recommended and though I had my doubts, this was also good. The Missus really enjoyed it; especially since the flavor was nicely balanced, not overly winey like many versions we’ve had. And of course, the Missus really enjoyed all the lardons.
Pleasantly rich, nice savory beefiness, perfect amount of acidity, earth mushrooms, and a hint of smokiness. We’d end up having most of this for lunch the following day….it as still just as good!
This was a very pleasant surprise. In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we’d return here a couple of months later!
Blue Moon Over Avila
460 Front St.
Avila Beach, CA 93424
After dinner, we took a stroll along Front Street and JJ got his usual “photo-op”.
The Missus returned to the room, while JJ and I made it back to Locals Taproom, which we had both enjoyed the night before. The bartender remembered JJ and even had treats for him! I was having so much fun chatting with the folks here that I forgot to take a photo of my beer!
Needless to say, we really enjoy this place! They made us feel so welcome!
Locals Taproom
90 San Miguel St.
Avila Beach, CA 93424
We really enjoyed the vibe of Avila Beach and was happy to find a restaurant we enjoyed!