Not long ago, I went off on a quick trip to the Central Coast. It was just a two-nighter. I was facing a grueling work schedule when I got back (I had to be there every day for a week---with long committee meetings, classes I'd be teaching and regular 12-hour shifts on the floor taking care of patients). The week before, I had taken the train up to the Bay Area for my best friend Erich's birthday. He had driven me back home and was hanging out for a while. He'd be going back home when I went back to work, so why NOT get away for a few days before going back? Besides, there was a new release party at one of my favorite wineries in Paso Robles we wanted to attend. Whoo hoo!
Both of us are trying to watch our budget, so we rented a smaller car (but one I could still comfortably fit into as I'm tall). This was it.
For some reason, the car had tape marks on all of the doors (see photo below). Oooo so glamorous.
We were soon on our way. This intersection below is the one where James Dean died. In the area with trees just beyond it there is a memorial for him. There is also a sign at the intersection (to the left of the truck, beneath the caution light) naming it the James Dean Memorial Junction.
We booked a room at the Farmhouse Motel in Paso Robles. It's an old, but very cute motel with little cluster of duplex-like units. We had tried top stay there before but it had been booked.
The rooms were small (the bathroom was tiny...and the shower claustrophobia-inducing) and the bedspreads were ugly, but it was still charming.
After checking in, Erich wanted to go to Morro Bay. I'm glad he did. It turned out to be one of those incredibly perfect days.
The weather was gorgeous. Warm--but not hot--and just the right amount of breeze.
I had seen this tiki-ed out boat there several times in the past. This trip, I decided I was going to find out more information about it, with the idea of going on it on my NEXT visit to Morro Bay.
I found the shop that ran the tiki cruise (the shop entrance faced the water, not the street) and stepped inside. Oh my stars! It was a tiki paradise...filled with tiki mugs, tiki decor, and even a tiki bar for sale. Ha!
Many (all?) of the mugs in the display case were tiki mugs from other locations. The orange one in the center and the black one right behind it are from Frankie's in Las Vegas (one of the best tiki bars I've ever been to). The headhunter mugs (lower left) are from the Bali Hai in San Diego. The green on just right of those is from Disneyland's Trader Sam's. The stickers on the bottom are all by SHAG. I had several of these already, but opted to buy the brown one with blue eyes on the right.
I had only intended to inquire about the tiki cruise for a future trip. However, when we were there, a family of four was trying to go on the cruise. They were told no, that four was not enough for a cruise. I chimed in and asked if Erich and I went would it be enough people for a cruise? Yes. So that is how we ended up going out on the tiki cruise this trip after all.
Not only was i looking forward to going on a tiki boat, I was looking forward to having a tiki cocktail as well. Ha!
The family that went with us was very grateful for our joining them and making the cruise possible. It was a father, mother, small son and daughter...and the family dog.
On the backs of all of the seats were ropes holding hollowed out coconuts. These served as (very clever) drink holders.
The cruise was only $13 each and was only 45 minutes long.
And the cocktails? Well, i opted for the signature cocktail, The Leaky Tiki. It was delicious.
Here is the recipes for all of the cocktails they served. Click it to make it bigger, if you'd like. I don't remember what Erich had (Dark and Stormy? No, I think it was the Cinnamon Mai Tai, actually), but he was not that enthused about it. I strongly recommend the Leaky Tiki. Erich liked my drink as well.
Here is our captain/bar tender in action.
A floating tiki bar....How FUN!
Mmm. The Leaky Tiki.
Here is Cody, the family's dog. They had just taken him to the beach for the first time and he was exhausted.
And off we go...
The tour was far more fascinating than a short trip around the harbor with a cocktail. It was actually pretty fascinating. The captain told us a bit of history about Morro Rock and the old power plant.
He took us near some sea otters (a mom and baby).
And then showed us where the sea otters "live" as a community. Apparently there are only about 3,000 left in the world. There are one million hairs on their body per square inch...which is why they always live in the water. It is too hot for them to come out of the water. Amazing.
Although the sun was not the best for me to get shots of the sea otters, I also took video of them as well. I put it together here should you care to have a look:
After the sea otters, we went and visited several floating platforms that have become home for the sea lions in the area.
The sea lions were also amazing and interesting. I also made a video about them you can watch here:
After the sea lions, the captain showed us some of the other boats anchored in the harbor and talked about how people live on them year round.
He also pointed out the rinky dink Morro Bay Aquarium, which is scheduled to close at the end of December. An anonymous donor gave them $18 million to build a new one. So i hope to visit the old one before it closes...
As we headed back to shore, I was quite impressed with the tiki cruise. It would end up being my favorite part of the whole trip.
After the cruise, we asked the captain for a recommendation for dinner. He suggested this place, Tognazzini's Dockside.
It was okay...nothing great though. There are other places we'd like to try.
Since Tognazzini's did NOT have a full bar...and since it's the only thing close to resembling a tiki bar around, we next stopped at Harbor Hut for a cocktail. It's been there for years...but I had never actually been a customer there.
Palm tree stumps have become tiki idols.
This cool tiki statue leads the way to the restaurant.
There is even a tiki bench outside.
In front of the Harbor Hut is a smaller version that sells fish and chips from a window.
Harbor Hut isn't very tiki...but it is enough so that I FINALLY went in.
I opted for the Freaky Tiki (not nearly as good as the Leaky Tiki). Erich had a Xanex. I didn't like his drink.
More of the inside...
After that, we went to Morro Rock ourselves to look more closely at the sea otter community.
After an excursion a little south to check out Los Osos (sorry no pictures), we headed back to the motel.
I needed a pen to write a few postcards with (really), so we walked down the street to a convenience store. On the way back, I spied this 24 hour donut shop. It was called Twisted & Glazed. It looked interesting and we decided to go in.
The menu looked like a semi-knock off of Voodoo Donuts in Portland, with some weird donut concoctions like Bubble Gum or Fruity Pebbles or Raspberry Cheesecake. (Click HERE for their Facebook page to get an idea.) Unfortunately the shelves were bare and they were out of their most interesting creations. But the man that came up to help us, well... Twisted & Glazed described him pretty well, too. He was covered in tattoos. He had these big blue (and very vacant looking) eyes. He seemed rather off, like he was on something or perhaps had recently gotten out of jail. We both felt the need to buy something from this character, even though we weren't really hungry. I forget what Erich ordered, but the guy dutifully wrapped it up in a bag and handed it to him. Then it was my turn...
I opted for an apple fritter. The man looked at me and his eyes got bigger, as if he were almost in a panic. He said the fritters wouldn't fit into a bag. I looked at the fritter and then at Erich's bag. It didn't seem like much of a problem to me. I told the guy to just put it in a bag anyway. If it got a little squished, that would be okay as it would taste the same either way. The panicked look continued and then he said "My hands are clean. I'm going to take the donut and break it in half to fit it into your bag." And he literally did just that. Ha! Weird. Weird. WEIRD. But then he seemed all too happy to have made a sale.
We went back to the Farmhouse. Erich watched TV while I wrote postcards. The donuts were stale. Erich didn't bother with his and threw it away. I did eat mine though. Weird.
And that is it for Part 1. Stay tuned for the 2nd installment when we go to the wine party and---there is an emergency situation. EEEK! Stay tuned.
Cheers!
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