Day 26 - Apr. 14th: Gorditas Make Me Sleepy

<-- Day 25 - Apr. 13th: Port Why-Knee-Me | OVERVIEW | Day 27 - Apr. 15th: Strolling Monterey -->

2014-04-14-pch1
Henry is looking toward the coast on our way from Paso Robles to Highway 1.

Today's goal was to drive Highway 1 north to Monterey, California.

2014-04-14-pismo-monterey-map
Today we drove from Arroyo Grande - Pismo Beach area to Monterey.

We started off this morning with a quick visit to Pismo Beach to say we'd been there and done that. One thing we didn't do was give into the temptation for some pastries from Old West Cinnamon Rolls, though my mouth sure watered as we passed their store front.

2014-04-14-pismobeach
Pismo Beach pier.

After a short walk on the Pismo Beach pier, we drove north to Paso Robles to visit the highly recommended Pioneer Museum. When we arrived, I discovered that I hadn't read the fine print; it was only opened Thursday through Sunday.  Still, there were a few exhibits outside, so we entertained ourselves for a little while.

2014-04-14-pioneer-museum1
The front of the Pioneer Museum. Me wondering how I missed the fact that the museum is only opened from Thursday-Sunday
2014-04-14-pioneer-museum2
Ann took the news of the museum's closure pretty well. I only stayed in jail for a little while.
2014-04-14-pioneer-museum3
".

I got a little worried when she found this witch's pot and began uttering the words "Double Double Toil and Trouble

2014-04-14-pioneer-museum4
, one of the early roads through California. Bells were added along the route at the turn of the 19th century.

If you travel anywhere along the coast you are likely to run across signs with bells for El Camino Real

We left the museum about noon, so I YELPed for a place to eat. Tortilla Town showed promise, so we dropped by for some food.

2014-04-14-tortilla-town1
2014-04-14-tortilla-town4

I was most interested in trying their gorditas, which is a masa-like pita filled with a choice of meat and fixings. The only option for gorditas on the menu was to order a set of three, which I filled with pork and beef. The first gordita filled me up, yet it was so good I couldn't stop until I finished all three.

2014-04-14-tortilla-town3
These gorditas were delicious.
2014-04-14-tortilla-town2
Ann had the tacos, which were also very good.

While delicious, the gorditas proved to be my downfall. By the time we left Paso Robles and returned to the coast, I was feeling pretty sleepy. I guess all the travel coupled with a full belly finally caught up to me. I turned over driving to Ann and we wound our way up the coast taking photos and me trying to nap. But, truthfully, I couldn't wait to reach our motel.

Along the coast south of the Big Sur area is famous Hearst Castle. The cost of a tour is $25 and we considered going, but decided that since we'd both seen it, that we'd save it for a later visit. If you've never been, it is a pretty amazing place. Here's a photo of it we took from Highway 1:

2014-04-14-hearst-castle

Despite my sleepiness, we stopped multiple times to take photos of the postcard-perfect coast:

2014-04-14-coast1
The squirrels sure like the coast.
2014-04-14-coast2
Beautiful view (not of us, but of the coast).
2014-04-14-coast3
Lots of cliff areas in the Big Sur area.
2014-04-14-coast4
More water and views . . .

A few hours later, we made it to the city of Monterey. We check into our motel and I immediately hit the bed for a long nap :-)

On Tuesday we had planned to visit the Monterey Aquarium. However, when we learned it costs $40 a person, we scratched that plan. Even the active military discount was $37! So, we'll tour the wharf and some of the beaches.

<-- Day 25 - Apr. 13th: Port Why-Knee-Me | OVERVIEW | Day 27 - Apr. 15th: Strolling Monterey -->

5 Comments

  1. Brett
    Cannery Row is pretty neat to check out and at the wharf, try out the clam chowder samples.
  2. mom
    That jail doesnt look too difficult to break out of. Glad Ann went easy on you, however.
  3. scramboleer
    If you're driving up Highway 1 north of Monterey/Santa Cruz, stop in Duarte's in Pescadero for food and pie and at Sam's in Half Moon Bay for chowder.
  4. deilers
    Thanks Dan. I've been to Pscadero and Duarte's. We haven't decided whether we are going up that way or cutting over to San Jose. I've heard the chowder in Monterey at the non touristy wharf is good. I never did have a good bowl of clam chowder in Santa Cruz. Never tried the Half Moon Bay Chowder.
  5. deilers
    Brett: Today we wandered through the main wharf and had some testers. We enjoyed them :-)

Leave a Reply