After hitting up some of our favorite places the day before, then spending the night in Solvang we headed up the 101 to a stop that we had enjoyed a few months before; Avila Beach.
On the way up, we stopped in Los Alamos. The Missus had always enjoyed shopping at Los Alamos Gallery.
As there were always things that She never knew She needed!
Los Alamos Gallery
515 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440
Still running a bit early, we made a stop in Pismo Beach, so that the little “crazy guy” could run around on the beach.
With a stick he found of course.
We got to Avila Beach and was able to score an early check in.
And after taking a break, we went to our favorite restaurant in Avila Beach; Blue Moon Over Avila.
Which is open all the way thru from 1130am….so we did a late lunch-early dinner kind of thing. The place is totally dog friendly and we got seats at the rail so we could see what was happening on Front Street.
Since we had a fridge, we ordered more food than we needed.
Like this huge Charcuterie Board.
Nothing fancy mind you; but quite satisfying; I enjoyed that cheese that seemed like Manchego which was nice and milky. We saved a good amount of this to have as an evening snack.
We also got the Beef Bourguignon, which was just as good as on our last visit.
Not overly “winey”, it was quite savory, with the mushrooms adding the perfect earthiness, the lardons saltiness. We saved some of this for later as well.
And I was glad to know that our favorite item from our previous visit; the Croque Monsieur was just as delici-yoso!
That perfectly crisp layer of Gruyere makes this for us. It’s a bit milky-savory, with a hint of what seems like sweetness.
Buttery Bechamel, rosemary ham, and a nice yeasty sourdough completes the set. Man, I wish this place was in San Diego. Totally our favorite Croque Monsieur!
Blue Moon Over Avila
460 Front St.
Avila Beach, CA 93424
Sadly, my favorite stop for a local brew, Locals Taproom was closed because it was a Tuesday, but because it was early in the week; all the kids from SLO and other visitors weren’t around. So it made a nice afternoon; then evening stroll really nice.
Of course we took a walk down the pier with J.
This little town of about 1,600 is quite mellow during days like this. And JJ even met a “cousin”!
We then headed on back to the hotel…relaxed. They had a free wine tasting during the evening which the Missus enjoyed. I had also gone to the little market and got myself a brew to have with the leftover Beef Bourguignon. We enjoyed a nice night of sleep and of course JJ got me up at 430am!
The beach is open to pups before 10am and after 5pm daily. So once the sun was up, we took JJ for some fun on the shore.
And there’s always something “new” to notice!
Our accommodations serves breakfast which is nice. We checked out and then headed back South.
We made a couple of stops on the way to our final destination for the road trip. Since this was in early December, I decided to stop at the Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove. Which is a well known migration spot for Monarch Butterflies between November and February.
There were a couple of people on the trail…two folks with major camera gear. But unfortunately we saw maybe 4-5 Monarchs.
I read that there’s been a 90% drop in the Monarch Butterfly population in recent years. So sad…..
We took a short stroll around the Meadow Creek area.
Before heading back to the car and our final destination….we were actually taking a bit of a longer route since there was a place I wanted to stop at!
Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!