Pismo Beach

We ate breakfast at the Spyglass Restaurant at our hotel. We noticed a number of cats on the restaurant balcony (too wet from last night’s rain to sit out there) and inquired about them. The restaurant owner told us that they are wild cats which he feeds and which a local vet has neutered and also given shots to. He said that if they caught the cats and had them taken away––something they had done in the past––a new set of wild cats would just come to take their place. I thought this was fascinating as this is what is done with stray dogs (and probably also cats) in Athens, Greece. So, what I thought was a unique way of doing something about a stray animal population in Greece really isn’t so different from what this man is doing in the United States. Photo of one of the cats.

Pismo Beach

View from the back of the Spyglass Inn. Avila Beach, where I was going to this morning, is in the middle of the photo.

Pismo Beach

Here come the rain clouds and it did start to rain. Brett went off to do some attorney work (the reason we all went on this trip). I was picked up to go to Avila Beach by some very dear friends, Dale and Brian Griffin, who were up in this area the same time we were. Sharon decided to take a nap and not come along with us.

Avila Beach

Brian and Dale treated me to lunch at the Fat Cats Cafe at Avila Beach. Quite surprisingly, it wasn’t raining in this area. Fat Cats Cafe specializes in good old American food––I had an excellent BLT. But get here early. With the outside tables too wet to eat on, most of the tables were already full when we got here before 12 p.m.

Avila Beach

View of Avila Bay––we are looking south toward Pismo Beach.

Avila Pier

The Avila Beach Pier at Port San Luis.

Avila Pier

View from the pier, in the other direction from Pismo Beach. Around the corner somewhere is the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. The entrance to the plant is right before the entrance to the pier area. When you stay at a hotel in the San Luis Obispo area, there is a card in your room telling you what to do in case you hear the siren telling you that you must evacuate the area in case of a nuclear accident. We have been up here enough times not to let it bother us.

Avila Pier

Diablo Canyon Power Plant info on a sign on the pier.

Avila Pier

A view of the pier. You can drive your car on this pier. We walked.

Avila Pier

Starfish and sea urchins. We saw some young men on the pier looking excitedly over its side. We went to see what they were looking at and discovered the starfish and sea urchins on the pilings.

Avila Pier

Close–up of the sea urchins.

Avila Pier

More starfish.

Avila Pier

Close–up of one of the starfish.

Avila Pier

More starfish.

Avila Pier

Brian convinced that there would be photos to take down this rickety lower part of the pier.

Avila Pier

More starfish could be seen from the lower pier.

Avila Pier

We could also see the underside of the pier. Does this structure look safe to walk on or to drive a car on?

Avila Pier

Avila Pier

Closer–up view of the sea lion hangout.

Avila Pier

Just lazing away.

Avila Pier

Cute sea lion pup near the end of the raft.

Avila Pier

Live seafood market on the pier.

Avila Pier

Oysters and dungeness crabs.

Avila Pier

Clams.

Avila Pier

King crabs.

Avila Pier

Farther along on the pier.

Avila Pier

Seagulls make perfect photo subjects.

Avila Pier

Farther along on the pier.

Avila Pier

Seafood outlet––Pick your own live crab.

Avila Pier

The sign says to come in.

Avila Pier

So we did. The live crabs are in that big tank in the back.

Avila Pier

Preparing the fish for sale.

Avila Pier

Barrel of oysters.

Avila Pier

The Old Port Restaurant near the end of the pier.

Avila Pier

Dale and Brian.

Avila Pier

Fishing boats on the bay––photo taken from the end of the pier.

Avila Pier

Lone duck swimming near the pier.

Avila Pier

Interesting menu at a cafe on the pier––seaweed salad for $5.29 and octopus cocktail for $4.29.

Avila Pier

Fish seller feeding the pigeons. (There is a sign on the pier asking you not to feed the birds, but so what.)

Avila Pier

Whale watching boat trip. The whales are California gray whales that start their migration from the Pacific Northwest in early December to Baja California, Mexico, traveling along the Oregon and California coasts. By March, the whales have started their migration back.

Avila Pier

Coffee, taffy, sea shells, and tackle for sale.

Avila Pier

Fish cleaning station.

Monarch Butterfly Grove

Dale and Brian took me back to the Spyglass Inn (I greatly enjoyed my time with them), where I hooked back up again with Brett and Sharon. The three of us went off to visit the Monarch Butterfly Grove, which is on Highway 1, not too far from Pismo Beach. This photo shows what the grove looks like, but you see this view coming north on Highway 1, so if you are going south, you have to really look out for it.

Monarch Butterfly Grove

Sign at the grove.

Monarch Butterfly Grove

There were still a number of Monarch butterflies here, but they were flying high above the trees––you can see two of them in this photo. A better time to view them probably would be earlier in the winter.

Monarch Butterfly Grove

Monarch butterfly on the ground. Either it found something good to eat or else it was injured and could no longer fly.

To the Ocean

There are several pathways that you can take through the woods from the butterfly grove to the beach.

To the Ocean

This duck was on the pathway. We just got through feeling sorry for the poor butterfly that perhaps was injured when we came upon this very sad duck. To the right of this duck was a dead duck on the pathway. Perhaps, it was its mate. It did not leave the dead duck’s side.

To the Ocean

Walking toward the ocean.

To the Ocean

View of the ocean through the branches of a tree.

On the Sand

The Pismo Beach pier would be to the right of where we were, and the huge Pismo Beach sand dunes, to the left.

On the Sand

You can see the Pismo Beach pier in the photo.

Arroyo Grande

We drove next to the town of Arroyo Grande, south of Pismo Beach off the 101. I had been here before with Eddie, but Brett and Sharon had never been here. Its old town dates back to the late 1880s. You can pick up a walking tour map of the town’s historic buildings. Photo of the main street of the Arroyo Grande old town.

Arroyo Grande

More Old West buildings.

Arroyo Grande

Candle street vendor.

Arroyo Grande

Village Butcher Shoppe.

Arroyo Grande

The Swinging Bridge, originally built of rope in the 1880s. It bridged the gap between two sections of a property. Sides were added to the bridge in 1902. It was destroyed in January 1955 when a tree fell on it, but was reconstructed in May of that same year. When I was here with Eddie, I refused to cross the bridge with him––I thought that it was just too scary. But I decided that if I could climb up to the Parthenon in Athens and over slippery rocks in Barbados, this really should be a piece of cake. It was. Warning: The Swinging Bridge does swing from side to side and also moves up and down while you are walking on it.

Arroyo Grande

The San Manuela Schoolhouse, built in 1901, directly across the bridge. It is the last remaining one–room school house in San Luis Obispo County. It is now a school house museum, but it was in use as a school until 1957.

Arroyo Grande

No Pooping Sign (Do you think dogs can read?) and the Swinging Bridge from the side.

Arroyo Grande

Harvest––The Church in the Village. It is an historic structure but I can’t find out what year it was built. It had started to rain again and we left Arroyo Grande to return to Pismo Beach. On a previous visit up here, we had heard people talking about how good Giuseppe’s, an Italian restaurant down the street from the Cracked Crab, was. We decided to try it. We were very much surprised to find braciole (pronouned bur–joel) on the menu. Their menu described it as flank steak slow simmered in a rich tomato ragu. This was a dish that Eddie’s Italian mother had made for him and which I could never figure out how to make. I have never seen it before on a menu of an Italian restaurant either in Italy or anywhere else. Brett and I both ordered it––and the waiter didn’t even show any surprise that we knew how to pronounce it. It was very good. A great end to another day.