Sunday April 15, 2012
We dressed in many layers – it was quite cold – lower 40’s early in the AM. We packed up all our luggage and checked out from the lovely hotel. We loaded up the bikes and off we go……
Only to be thwarted 2 miles in by a broken shift cable on Nancy’s bike. Ohhhh. Noooo, we will not be hill climbing until we can fix this.
Luckily, we had made friends yesterday with the good folks at The Bike Zone. They didn’t open till 10:00, but we were pretty sure they could get us up and running again. So we limped our way back to the starting point, loaded the bikes into the car rack and headed into town for breakfast.
Not nearly so many breakfast choices in Paso as in Solvang, but we found a good one and indulged in eggs, bacon, corned beef hash, warm biscuits, hot chocolate, orange juice and coffee. We dawdled a bit in the restaurant, but finally headed over to bike shop for a new set of shift cables.
Repairs done, we are ready to roll. But it’s now past 11:00, so our planned ride for the day is no longer practical. Instead we decide to head about 15 miles downhill to Cambria and the Blue Dolphin Inn. This is the next stop on our planned weekend itinerary.
Once checked in, we hopped on our bikes and headed into downtown Cambria. The Inn is located along Moonstone Beach, a beautiful stretch of unspoiled shoreline just outside of town.
We did a great little ride into town where we explored the many small shops and galleries. I’ll need to return there tomorrow, to provision myself for the upcoming ride through Big Sur.
After the ride through town, we were tired and hungry once again. The nice folks here at the Inn recommended a sea food place just a little ways down the road. We ate dinner at The Sea Chest. If you visit Cambria, this place is a local institution. They are located right on the beach, and they have been there for a long time. They have definitely figured out how to serve great seafood. It’s busy and they do not take reservations. So you need to get there early or be ready to wait fir a while. Service was good. The menu offeres something for everybody, but don’t go unless you want seafood. We had a fabulous meal, and enjoyed a bottle of good Pinot Noir that we had purchased yesterday in Paso.
After dinner, we headed back to the Inn for another cozy night snoozing to the sounds of wind and surf.