Going to California

[Kuntmissioner]

My wife and will be visiting friends in LA for eight days in November. We've rented a place in Venice for the first 4 days, and our intention is to move up the coast for the next 3, returning to LA on day eight and flying out.

We've semi decided on SLO; I've read about morrow bay and it's birds, the wall of gum, etc. Excited. But I want some input from Californians.

And there's quite a few on this board.

Where would anyone recommend for us? Nature, art, food wine, cannabis are all interests. Hiking, biking, surf, whatever. California stuff.

No more than 3-4 hours outside LA county.

Yes, we'll have a vehicle.

[sonatine]

3-4 hours outside LA county can literally be 3-4 miles depending on traffic. just saying.

[Kuntmissioner]

3-4 hours outside LA county can literally be 3-4 miles depending on traffic. just saying.

Within 250ish miles, any direction but south.

Nothing against south, just not on this trip.

[RichardBrodiesCombover.]

3-4 hours outside LA county can literally be 3-4 miles depending on traffic. just saying.

Within 250ish miles, any direction but south.

Nothing against south, just not on this trip.

Just make sure to take the PCH on your way to San Luis Obispo.

[hutmaster]

My wife and will be visiting friends in LA for eight days in November. We've rented a place in Venice for the first 4 days, and our intention is to move up the coast for the next 3, returning to LA on day eight and flying out.

We've semi decided on SLO; I've read about morrow bay and it's birds, the wall of gum, etc. Excited. But I want some input from Californians.

And there's quite a few on this board.

Where would anyone recommend for us? Nature, art, food wine, cannabis are all interests. Hiking, biking, surf, whatever. California stuff.

No more than 3-4 hours outside LA county.

Yes, we'll have a vehicle.

I live on the Central Coast so I can tell you the places to see.....SLO is a cool college town, Thursday nights they close off several blocks downtown on Higuera Street and put on a great farmers market with live music, great street food, etc... I don't really know your interests but Pismo Beach is a cool place to rent ATV and ride the sand dunes along the beach. Pismo is 10 miles south of SLO on the 101 freeway. Avila Beach is also nice if you want to hit the beach, there is a pretty good restaurant at the end of the far pier called the Olde Port Inn. If you want something romantic stop by the Sycamore Springs Resort in Avila. You can rent private hot tubs for like $20/hour...set on a hillside, you can often see deer and other wildlife while you are in the tub. There are some really nice hotels just off the 101 in Pismo that offer beautiful ocean views. If you've never been to the Central Coast eating at Jocko's is a must. It's a non-descript steakhouse thats been there forever, they run 1-2 hour waits every night of the week so call and make a reservation. They cook an amazing steak! I recommend the Spencer. Jocko's is in Nipomo about 15 miles South of SLO. If you are wine drinkers you will be in heaven. For 60 miles from Santa Maria thru Paso Robles is one winery after another. Most of the wineries are open to the public for wine tastings. There are tours you can sign up for that will take you all around and no worries about driving. If you are a serious wine connoisseur, call Clos Pepe and set up a private tour....Wes the winemaker will amaze you with his knowledge and his wine and he will probably cook for you too! If you play Disc Golf, Wes has a private course too. It's highest rated wine tour in all of California 5 stars on Yelp....I don't think he charges you either...or it is very minimal. Solvang is worth a visit.....its a small town with a very Danish vibe, while there you can visit Santa Ynez and Los Olivos....2 other small towns with cute shops and lots of wine tasting opportunities. The Chumash Casino is also located in this area.... If you travel to North County (cities north of SLO) Paso Robles is the place to go for dining and of course more wineries. Hearst Castle is worth a visit, Cambria about an hour north of SLO is a nice place to stay....Cambria Pines Lodge is a great place. Let me know any specific questions you have and I can probably answer them.

[DannyDeadWood]

My wife and will be visiting friends in LA for eight days in November. We've rented a place in Venice for the first 4 days, and our intention is to move up the coast for the next 3, returning to LA on day eight and flying out.

We've semi decided on SLO; I've read about morrow bay and it's birds, the wall of gum, etc. Excited. But I want some input from Californians.

And there's quite a few on this board.

Where would anyone recommend for us? Nature, art, food wine, cannabis are all interests. Hiking, biking, surf, whatever. California stuff.

No more than 3-4 hours outside LA county.

Yes, we'll have a vehicle.

I live on the Central Coast so I can tell you the places to see.....SLO is a cool college town, Thursday nights they close off several blocks downtown on Higuera Street and put on a great farmers market with live music, great street food, etc... I don't really know your interests but Pismo Beach is a cool place to rent ATV and ride the sand dunes along the beach. Pismo is 10 miles south of SLO on the 101 freeway. Avila Beach is also nice if you want to hit the beach, there is a pretty good restaurant at the end of the far pier called the Olde Port Inn. If you want something romantic stop by the Sycamore Springs Resort in Avila. You can rent private hot tubs for like $20/hour...set on a hillside, you can often see deer and other wildlife while you are in the tub. There are some really nice hotels just off the 101 in Pismo that offer beautiful ocean views. If you've never been to the Central Coast eating at Jocko's is a must. It's a non-descript steakhouse thats been there forever, they run 1-2 hour waits every night of the week so call and make a reservation. They cook an amazing steak! I recommend the Spencer. Jocko's is in Nipomo about 15 miles South of SLO. If you are wine drinkers you will be in heaven. For 60 miles from Santa Maria thru Paso Robles is one winery after another. Most of the wineries are open to the public for wine tastings. There are tours you can sign up for that will take you all around and no worries about driving. If you are a serious wine connoisseur, call Clos Pepe and set up a private tour....Wes the winemaker will amaze you with his knowledge and his wine and he will probably cook for you too! If you play Disc Golf, Wes has a private course too. It's highest rated wine tour in all of California 5 stars on Yelp....I don't think he charges you either...or it is very minimal. Solvang is worth a visit.....its a small town with a very Danish vibe, while there you can visit Santa Ynez and Los Olivos....2 other small towns with cute shops and lots of wine tasting opportunities. The Chumash Casino is also located in this area.... If you travel to North County (cities north of SLO) Paso Robles is the place to go for dining and of course more wineries. Hearst Castle is worth a visit, Cambria about an hour north of SLO is a nice place to stay....Cambria Pines Lodge is a great place. Let me know any specific questions you have and I can probably answer them.

Let me add on to this post. While its been several years since I've been to the Pismo Beach area. It's worth the trip...while not a 5 star resort, I always liked staying at the Kon Tiki Inn in Pismo...all ocean view rooms for a decent price, maybe other posters can give an update to what the Kon Tiki Inn is like today... A must, is a stop to Splash Cafe for chowder....edit: just did a quick search on line, can't see room prices at the Kon Tiki but some reviewers paid $100 a night 2 years ago....at $100 a night its a snap call.....

[Dan Druff]

I know you're from Mass and are used to cold winters, but I want you to be aware of the weather to expect.

Many from the east assume California weather to be similar to Florida or Hawaii. It's not.

California has a real winter -- just a mild one.

Expect 60s during the day and 40s at night. There is also a reasonable chance of rain, though a better chance it won't.

Chumash Casino is frequented by a not-so-nice element, but the place itself isn't bad.

[hutmaster]

I know you're from Mass and are used to cold winters, but I want you to be aware of the weather to expect.

Many from the east assume California weather to be similar to Florida or Hawaii. It's not.

California has a real winter -- just a mild one.

Expect 60s during the day and 40s at night. There is also a reasonable chance of rain, though a better chance it won't.

Chumash Casino is frequented by a not-so-nice element, but the place itself isn't bad.

In the LA area it is generally warmer than it will be on the Central Coast. Here it rarely is ever above 75 degrees even in the summer but yes it does cool off at night.

Druff, I don't know what you mean by a "not-so-nice" element at Chumash.....the element at Chumash is alot nicer than the Bike or Commerce. You'll get some welfare folks playing the penny slots but I've never seen gang bangers or anything at Chumash. The poker room is also pretty nice (though the games pretty much suck).

[Dan Druff]

I know you're from Mass and are used to cold winters, but I want you to be aware of the weather to expect.

Many from the east assume California weather to be similar to Florida or Hawaii. It's not.

California has a real winter -- just a mild one.

Expect 60s during the day and 40s at night. There is also a reasonable chance of rain, though a better chance it won't.

Chumash Casino is frequented by a not-so-nice element, but the place itself isn't bad.

In the LA area it is generally warmer than it will be on the Central Coast. Here it rarely is ever above 75 degrees even in the summer but yes it does cool off at night.

Druff, I don't know what you mean by a "not-so-nice" element at Chumash.....the element at Chumash is alot nicer than the Bike or Commerce. You'll get some welfare folks playing the penny slots but I've never seen gang bangers or anything at Chumash. The poker room is also pretty nice (though the games pretty much suck).

The last two times I went to Chumash, I encountered drunks, white racist trash, aggressive Mexican dudes, etc.

Not to say that I love the crowd at the Bike or Commerce, but Chumash was worse -- at least those two times.

Maybe I just went on bad days.

[nightmarefish]

Big Sur

[Hockey Guy]

WTF is the wall of gum? I went to some wall with gum on it in Seattle(it was part of the Pike Market tour we did) & that was just utterly retarded. Not sure why anybody would put gum on a wall or why anybody would go see it.

[DannyDeadWood]

WTF is the wall of gum? I went to some wall with gum on it in Seattle(it was part of the Pike Market tour we did) & that was just utterly retarded. Not sure why anybody would put gum on a wall or why anybody would go see it.

Its actually called Gum Alley.....its an open section between two buildings...its as gross as it sounds. google, Gum Alley San Louis Obispo and hit images

[Hockey Guy]

WTF is the wall of gum? I went to some wall with gum on it in Seattle(it was part of the Pike Market tour we did) & that was just utterly retarded. Not sure why anybody would put gum on a wall or why anybody would go see it.

Its actually called Gum Alley.....its an open section between two buildings...its as gross as it sounds. google, Gum Alley San Louis Obispo and hit images

No, I won't be doing that. It sounds like the same stupid thing as I saw in Seattle. That was bad enough.

[BHS]

We've semi decided on SLO; I've read about morrow bay

Funny I was just up close to there a few weeks ago..

There is a camping/hiking area called Montaña de Oro that is fucking awesome with all kinds of coastline areas to see/climb around on/explore, there is a blowhole in one of the coves that is quite the site. We also saw literally like 70+ whales swimming off the coast, was like nothing I've ever seen before.

Would definitely recommend checking out the area for at least a day..

[gauchojake]

Venice:

Canal Club for margaritas. They have a good menu and happy hour too
Gjelina for pizza. Expensive but delish
Sugarfish for sushi in marina del Rey. Also recommend Sakura on centinela...culver city/playa vista/del Rey area
Skip Santa Monica except Tar and Roses. The bomb.
There are a lot of shops and shit on Abbot Kinney.
There's a great restaurant in playa del Rey that I will update when I remember.
Definitely go to Santa Barbara on your way up north

Edit: Place in Playa is called Bacari. It's new within the last couple months but worth checking out if you're in the area.

I live in the area so feel free to pm if you have any questions.

[hutmaster]

Venice:

Canal Club for margaritas. They have a good menu and happy hour too
Gjelina for pizza. Expensive but delish
Sugarfish for sushi in marina del Rey. Also recommend Sakura on centinela...culver city/playa vista/del Rey area
Skip Santa Monica except Tar and Roses. The bomb.
There are a lot of shops and shit on Abbot Kinney.
There's a great restaurant in playa del Rey that I will update when I remember.
Definitely go to Santa Barbara on your way up north

I live in the area so feel free to pm if you have any questions.

Sugarfish is a must! It is the sushi chain started by Kazunori Nozawa of Nozawa's Fame. Nozawa's was a tiny little sushi place on Ventura Blvd in Studio City that arguably served the best sushi in America! Sugarfish isnt your typical sushi place, it's made in a kitchen not in front of you, but their commitment to quality is unmatched. http://sugarfishsushi.com/our-story-2/sushi-nozawa

Mr. Nozawa was famous for kicking people out for ordering non-traditional Americanized sushi.