As we continued our exploration of the California wine regions, we drove up toward San Luis Obispo. While not as well known as the Santa Barbara wines, it is worth taking the time to visit San Luis Obispo.  There are lots of good restaurants and wineries to enjoy and if you want to go to the beach, Pismo Beach is truly a beachy community that is a throw back in time.

When driving up 101 past Santa Maria, the first place we went to was Laetitia Vineyard.

It is in Arroyo Grande, that is the southern most part of San Luis Obispo. Laetitia grows a number of varietals but they are best known for their Pinot Noir. Their wine is always good and are available at a good price point as well.  We belonged to their wine club for a number of years but stopped before we moved to Florida. They have a number of single vineyard Pinots that are just wonderful, full bodied wines but they aren’t usually available outside the winery. Their Laetitia Estate Pinot Noir is readily available and is a good wine to keep around the house for any occasion. They also have a good chardonnay and other wines including a sparkling one.  Take the time to visit. It is a beautiful spot to stop.

Talley Vineyards is also a good choice and is located in Arroyo Grande as well. We visited Talley a number of times. It is a beautiful winery with lovely views.

We have also been to Claiborne and Churchill, as well as Baileyana, Chamisal, and Windemere.

San Luis Obispo has a lot to offer visitors. It is known throughout California for being the home of California Polytechnic Institute. It is an amazing university because of all of their offerings including a architecture school and their wonderful school of Agriculture and Natural Resources where the students make cheese and all kinds of foods that are available for sale. They have a cheese making class that is open to the everyday public that I thought about taking but, unfortunately, didn’t get to do it while we lived in California.

The town center has a wonderful downtown with lots of restaurants. It is definitely worth the time to stop and visit if you are in the area. We don’t really know too many hotels in the area but there are two I thought I would talk about.

The first one is the Madonna Inn. It is truly a funny, fantastical, original that only exists in San Luis Obispo.

It is right on the 101 and is worth a stop if not a place to stay for the night.

Each room is different and each is an individual. It is kitschy and just plain retro funny. Want to say in a caveman room? How about Flowers and Hearts or a western room complete with a wagon bed? Oh, and what about a toilet sculpture for a fountain? Think about every idea you ever had for a room and give them a call. They probably have it.

The second hotel is The Apple Farm. It is an institution in SLO.

The rooms were pretty funky. They are decorated a la poster beds and a lot of chintz.

There may even be an old fashion rotary phones with (oh horror) circular dials and a dial tone. I guess the kids today would know what to do with them. They don’t have to because it is a stop on the tour buses with a lot of elderly people going to SLO. Breakfasts are good and old fashioned and they have wonderful baked goods to purchase.

Once you have seen enough of SLO (the town), you can cruise over to Pismo Beach. It is also a throwback in time. Lots of motels and funky restaurants. It is a fun place and we always got a kick out of going there but now we are headed to one of our favorite places: Paso Robles.