Cambria, CA and environs... and basically the central coast of California

sopas ej · #1 Posted **May 18, 2022, 5:06 AM**

My partner and I took last Thursday and Friday (5.12 - 5.13.2022) off from work just for shits and giggles and created a 4-day weekend for ourselves, and explored the central coast of California. We stayed for 2 nights in Cambria, a little seaside town. We had booked the room about a month ago, and as it turns out, while there, we enjoyed nice cool weather, while the LA area was going through a heat wave. That's one of the nice things about where we live, when it gets too hot, you can always drive somewhere to escape the heat, whether it be the coast, or the mountains.

These pictures are all over the place, no rhyme or reason---but my photo threads of places tend to be that way anyway.

We arrived in Cambria. Lunch time! Well, more like a very late lunch or early dinner...

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Margarita #1. On the rocks, no salt. Just the way I prefer it. But hey, I also drink it blended and salted on occasion.

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Guac.

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I also had an enchilada a la carta but accidentally deleted the picture later. So here's my Margarita #2.

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Moonstone Beach.

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We walked around for a few hours on the beach... and then it was dinner time. But we weren't too hungry, so we made it more of a wine, cheese and dessert time.

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Pinot grigio #1.

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Tapenade.

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Cheese and bread and stuff.

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Crème brûlée.

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We stayed at this place for a while, after the sun went down... the place closes at 9pm on Thursdays. Cambria is a small town after all.

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Slightly drunk but feeling great, we walked around a bit before walking back to our inn. Again, Cambria is a small town, so it seemed nobody was around on a Thursday night.

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Cambria has 2 commercial areas, East Village and West Village. East Village is the older, more historic area, basically the original center of town. Our inn was in the East Village. The West Village has more of a commercial strip kind of feel, and my guess is it was created in the 1920s or so, and is more off the main highway, with many buildings having a Tudor-style theme, probably to go with the name of the town, and to attract motorists traveling the coast.

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My partner is not a morning person, and I'm an early-riser... so while he slept, I showered and got ready for a brisk walk after the sun went up, to scope the place a bit to see where to get breakfast. So I walked around the East Village a bit after I gassed up the car.

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Cambria Historical Museum, originally the Guthrie-Bianchini House, built in 1870.

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We ended up having breakfast at the place on the left. If a place says they serve breakfast, you'd think they'd be open at 6am or even 7am, right? Not this place. They didn't open until 8am. So we waited outside for a bit.

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I had a vegetable frittata.

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Afterwards, we headed up the coast to Big Sur, stopping a number of times along the way to look at the views.

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Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, in well, Big Sur.

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I love me some redwoods.

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On the road again, headed north...

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A vintage Corvette in Carmel---a place we hadn't been to in many years, actually. We usually associate it with hoity-toity people and difficult-to-find parking. But we found parking and decided to have lunch.

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We had lunch at a building that's been around since 1944 or something, and where authors Henry Miller and John Steinbeck used to hang out and have drinks; we sat outside, though. And honestly, the weather was so nice, they didn't need to have the fireplace going.

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Pinot grigio.

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Duck empanadas.

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Cobb salad.

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Carmel Mission, or formally, Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, which has Basilica status in the Roman Catholic Church.

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A wedding rehearsal was going on.

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Um...?

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Creepy Jesus.

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Another creepy Jesus.

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Graves along the church wall.

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The abalone shells represent indigenous people.

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OK enough of the Mission. Let's move on...

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Monastery Beach.

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As many times as I've been through the central California coast, I'm still amazed by its beauty. And it's still very little-populated (and I hope will remain so), so I imagine it has looked like this for a very long time.

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Haha.

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Back in Cambria, just in time for dinner. This is West Village.

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Grüner Veltliner.

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I had a very delicious aubergine gratin.

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This is where we had dinner.

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After the 2nd night, we checked out of our inn and drove into the West Village.

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I had a tuna salad sandwich for breakfast.

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Then we went to the Piedras Blancas Light Station, built in 1874.

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Elephant seals.

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The piedra blanca itself.

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Back to Cambria for lunch. Saw this old Datsun Z.

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We ate at the pub on the left.

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Chocolate stout. Just one.

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Salmon salad.

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Then it was on the road again, headed south, homeward bound... And we ended up at one of our favorite mead places, in Carpinteria.

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"You're turning red," my partner says to me. "Am I?" I say. "Here, lemme take a picture." So he grabbed my camera and took some pictures of me, but in black-and-white, because I did indeed look red.

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We then both wrote on the chalkboard.

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Then it was onward to dinner in Carpinteria. Ah, palm trees. You can tell we're towards the southern end of the state.

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The Palms indeed.

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Little birdies.

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A late 1970s Thunderbird.

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We ate dinner here.

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Margarita.

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Oaxacan banana leaf tamales.

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Yum!

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Don't know what year this Land Cruiser is.

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On the road again... this time to go home. Thanks for tagging along! This thread was all over the place. Small town, food, drink, nature, food, drink...

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craigs · #2 Posted **May 18, 2022, 6:06 AM**

Nice photos of a fun trip. My parents used to stay in Cambria for a week every year but I never joined them. Looks charming.

tdawg · #3 Posted **May 18, 2022, 11:45 AM**

Gorgeous part of the country. I'm flying out west tomorrow for a wedding this weekend in Solvang and hope to make it to the coast or a visit with my nephew in Ojai.

202_Cyclist · #4 Posted **May 18, 2022, 12:01 PM**

Thank you for posting these photos. Big Sur and Cambria are absolutely one of the most scenic areas of the country. Cambria would be a nice place to retire to.

EastSideHBG · #5 Posted **May 18, 2022, 2:27 PM**

Beautiful!

Quote:

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Cambria would be a nice place to retire to.

My thoughts also.

enro · #6 Posted **May 18, 2022, 2:32 PM**

Incredible thread and commentary, great eye for scenery. The detail in the mission/church photos was fantastic. It's amazing how vivid and blue the ocean water is around Monterey.

Looking forward to more of your L.A. and out of town pics.

OhioGuy · #7 Posted **May 18, 2022, 7:50 PM**

I hadn't heard of Cambria until this thread. Looks like a beautiful place!

LAsam · #8 Posted **May 18, 2022, 8:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdawg

Gorgeous part of the country. I'm flying out west tomorrow for a wedding this weekend in Solvang and hope to make it to the coast or a visit with my nephew in Ojai.

If you're into wine, check out Carhartt Winery in Los Olivos... a short drive north of Solvang. Lots of other tasting rooms in Los Olivos as well.

plinko · #9 Posted **May 18, 2022, 10:17 PM**

We venture up that way occasionally. Cambria is gorgeous and my kids like to go out and watch the elephant seals. Love the lighthouse shots.

Oaxaca Fresh in Carp is good. My project across the street should start construction in September and the block long dead spot on Linden will finally be gone. Cannot comment on tenants, but it will have at least 4 restaurants and a rooftop bar (a first for Carp).

Ext 04a by Michael Stroh, on Flickr

Ext 01a by Michael Stroh, on Flickr

Ext 24 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr

homebucket · #10 Posted **May 18, 2022, 10:30 PM**

Great photos and tour! Cambria and Big Sur are awesome.

sopas ej · #11 Posted **May 19, 2022, 2:41 PM**

Thanks for all the comments! My partner and I have been to Cambria a number of times, but only as a stopover or a day trip; this is the first time we've stayed there at a hotel. It is indeed very beautiful; I particularly love strolling along Moonstone Beach. Cambria makes a great home base to explore other areas of the central coast.

And because we were there on two regular weekdays and left on a non-holiday weekend Saturday, it was very relaxed, because it can get really crowded on a long weekend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by plinko

Oaxaca Fresh in Carp is good. My project across the street should start construction in September and the block long dead spot on Linden will finally be gone. Cannot comment on tenants, but it will have at least 4 restaurants and a rooftop bar (a first for Carp).

I remembered that you had mentioned that project of yours a few years ago, when I posted pics of Carpinteria (a thread that no longer exists, as all the pic links have been broken), and thought of you when I saw that block. I'm very glad to know that construction will be starting up.

LAsam · #12 Posted **May 19, 2022, 3:31 PM**

I love the Central Coast so much. It's just non-stop goodness from Santa Barbara up to Monterey. I think part of the appeal for people visiting from SF or LA is getting see what undeveloped California coastline looks like. It's familiar/comfortable surroundings, but such a relaxing version of it. Gets quite dramatic up in Big Sur where the mountains come right up to the ocean as well.

Echoes · #13 Posted **May 19, 2022, 5:34 PM**

Lovely. Thanks for the tour.

geomorph · #14 Posted **May 23, 2022, 6:31 AM**

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Originally Posted by sopas ej

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You captured my former neighborhood in this shot! In what seems like a past life, I lived in Cambria in the late 90's. My place was next to Shamel Park, which is the fenced beachside stand of Monterey cypress trees in the middle of this shot. It looks like the businesses of Cambria have changed little since I was a resident!

SLO · #15 Posted **May 27, 2022, 4:38 AM**

Great trip! I’ve done that one many times, will be back there in June!

Doady · #16 Posted **May 31, 2022, 7:00 PM**

Coastline with sheltered places for elephant seals is obviously interesting. Probably worth to check next time I visit South California. I didn't even know where Cambria or central coast of Cali referred to without checking the map.

Empanadas reminds me banh pate so that my mom used to buy from Vietnamese bakery when I was a kid. Banana leaf tamale reminds of me of Vietnamese banh tet, also wrapped in banana leaf.

sopas ej · #17 Posted **May 31, 2022, 7:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doady

Coastline with sheltered places for elephant seals is obviously interesting. Probably worth to check next time I visit South California. I didn't even know where Cambria or central coast of Cali referred to without checking the map.

Empanadas reminds me banh pate so that my mom used to buy from Vietnamese bakery when I was a kid. Banana leaf tamale reminds of me of Vietnamese banh tet, also wrapped in banana leaf.

Hehe actually, these particular empanadas from that restaurant reminded us of Cornish pasties; somehow the dough/crust had a different texture than the empanadas we're used to, and were more like pasties. And of course even among other nationalities' empanadas, there are variations.

The outside of the banana leaf tamale kind of looks like a banh tet, but they are completely different. A lot of Caribbean, African, and southeast Asian cuisine use banana leaves to steam things for both sweet and savory stuff.