Day 13 - Saturday, Sept 15 - San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay coast

September 16, 2018

In the morning, Carmen, Kathy and I visited the historic downtown area and the San Luis Obispo Mission that was built in 1782 as part of a series of missions along the Pacific coast. We sat outside and had cappuccinos at Peets coffee. Eric joined us and gave a tour of the Masonic Temple built in 1913. It was interesting to learn about the symbology of the architecture and the decorations of the temple.

We then went on a series of small walks along the coast, starting in Morro Bay which is dominated by the huge Morro Rock which sticks up dominantly in the middle of the bay. It is the volcanic plug that remains after a very large volcano eroded away. We walked up to the jetty that protects the harbor from the ocean waves crashing on the outside.

Lunch was at a restaurant along the bay where we had grilled oysters. While I am not a fan of raw oysters, the grilled oysters were absolutely delicious, drenched in butter and lemon juice. It is something that I would have again.

From there we drove up to Cayucos, a cute little town on the coast and walked out to the end of the long pier jutting into the ocean. Some people were fishing but most were just enjoying the ocean breeze and the view of the waves crashing onto the beach. A few people were trying to surf but the conditions weren't very good. One of the highlights is the Brown Butter Cookie Company that makes tasty and very popular cookies. There was a line of people waiting to taste samples and buy cookies.

We backtracked to a park high above the Morro Bay estuary with expansive views and then down to Sweet Springs nature preserve on the southern edge of the estuary. We were able to get quite close to a beautiful white Great Egret and saw a strange-looking Long-Billed Curlew as well as many ducks. It is a very relaxing place to walk under the Eucalyptus trees and along the marsh.

Our final stop was a walk along the high bluffs of the Montana de Oro State Park. From here one can see interesting rocks sculpted by the waves.

Finally back to Eric and Kathy's where we had a delicious dinner of grilled asparagus, grilled lamb chops, roasted potatoes and salad, finished off with Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream.