THE COCKTAIL HOUR: Paso Robles Wine Tasting

(Please read our Covid 19 Statement first - Ed) We've done this before but time to hit a couple of new places.

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While California wine tasting used to be a fun, cheap way to pass some time on vacation, wineries have caught on and have made this a profit center. Cheap tasting is getting hard to find. Free tasting is on the endangered list and in extreme danger of going extinct.

Still, have faith...there are some bargains to be had out there yet.

A quick inquiry at the hotel's front desk yields us about half a dozen coupons for free wine tasting here in the Paso Robles AVA.  Two are local, and we'll taste a third under different circumstances tonight.

From our hotel in Atascadero, it's just a few miles south to Santa Margarita where the Ancient Peaks Winery's tasting room anchors the block-long downtown. A display inside has samples of the soil of their growing areas to the north and a map of each type of soil and the grapes grown on it.

Our coupon gets us tastes of everything on the list and we make up a mixed case (10% discount for non-members) of their great cabernet, Sauvignon blanc, and Blanco...a slightly sweeter dry white wine made up of a chardonnay/moscato mix...from the friendly, helpful, and down-to-earth counter staff. They also had a rose for this hot day but it was average and kind of paled a bit in comparison with the other wines.

Be sure to stop at the bakery next door for some sweets to go with that Blanco by the pool later.

Next, we go to the other side of Atascadero, to Templeton, where the rolling hills are dotted with quarter horse ranches. Here's where we'll find Wild Horse Winery. It's a name we're familiar with as we've had their readily available wines many times before.

It's a bit lonely here as we're the only customers. The friendly woman at the counter helps us out with our free tasting as I end up splurging on a really excellent chardonnay that I wasn't planning on spending that much for (but it was worth it). The other wines, such as their pinot noir and viognier, were on sale for such low price that I made up the price of the charonnay.

Later, at a concert in the park in downtown Paso Robles, we hit the wine bar where J. Lohr is selling bottles of their excellent wine for $20 a bottle, souvenir glasses included.

We enjoyed the concert with a chilled bottle of their Riesling to finish off our wine day in Paso Robles.

Cheers!

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved

Cooling Off Over the Hill - An Afternoon in Morro Bay

It's in the nineties here in Atascadero (actually, that's not too bad for mid-July here) so we're going to take a break over the hill in Morro Bay, which is in the sixties today.

It's only about a twenty minute drive on Highway 41 from Atascadero to the heart of Morro Bay. We find a good parking spot just north of midway on the Embarcadero, Morro Bay's waterfront street.

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It's always a good time to meander along the wharf's path along the water, which is a good ten degrees cooler on this side than it is on the street less than one hundred feet away. The path is not a straight line. It weaves in and out of all the shops, restaurants, and other buildings facing the water.  It is accessible to wheelchairs, though, so it's a cool...almost cold...way to wander along, businesses on one side, sea lions and otters on the other.

While it's a good way to pass the day just inhaling that salt-water air and marveling at the Morro Rock view, it helps to have a couple of other stops, too.

Rose's Bar and Grill welcomes us to sit at their long, low, boat-shaped bar with a view of the rock. The height of the bar is perfect and, as a happily coincidentally result, is completely wheelchair accessible.

Letty has their house cabernet, which happens to be from Ancient Peaks Winery in nearby Templeton.

"I've got a coupon for free tasting there," I tell her. That will come in handy tomorrow.

"Good, 'cuz this is a really wonderful wine," she tells me.

Tim has his soda while I have an Alaskan Red Ale before we continue on our way.  

Before Letty wanders up the hill to the leather shop to look around, we stop in at a bakery to have a snack. There's a fireplace going in the middle of the dining room that really isn't necessary this July day but I'm sure comes in handy on those cold, winter days like we had the last time we visited Morro Bay.

Yes, it's a short, sweet, cool little break from the heat of Atascadero over the hill but it really helps to recharge us for another day in our little cave of a room.

We'll have some more fun tomorrow.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved

Wallowing in the Mud - Fun Times in Atascadero, California

Atascadero is a Spanish word that basically means "mired in the mud." Why they chose this name for a charming little Central Coast town is beyond me...we saw no mud bogs at all.

Anyway, we're out and about to see what we can find. Not wanting to spend any unnecessary time at our hotel, we come downtown where my wife...the knitter...can visit not one but TWO yarn shops within a block of each other.  The thing is one opens at 10 and the other at 11 and it's 9:30.

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We'll do some urban exploring in the meantime.

Smack in the middle of town is a big, domed, brick building. It looks lovingly maintained (it is) and is the century-old City Hall. We take some pictures and send Tim up the adjacent wheelchair ramp as part of our video shoot.

I notice some great looking old light fixtures through the door so we go in to take some pictures. In the lobby, we find there is a little historical museum with exhibits on the city's and building's past.

Before houses were erected, magazine publisher E. G. Lewis founded the town as a planned, Utopian society. Tents were erected before house were built and this area became known at "Tent City." A recreation of one of those tents is in a room off of the foyer.

In late 2003, a 6.5 earthquake struck the area and caused much damage to many of the buildings here and in nearby Paso Robles.  Another exhibit in another room displays some of the pieces of the building knocked loose and photos of the devastation.

A renovation project was launched after the quake close the building and it reopened better than new in 2013.  Inside, the main public counter sits under a beautiful dome.  You can conduct city business here, pick up some brochures, and even buy souvenir t-shirts.

Across the street is a park, known as the Sunken Gardens, with a fountain and some statuary.  The knitting shops should be open so we make our way over to the old Carlton Hotel and the first knitting shop next door.

Tim and I poke around the other shops as Letty peruses the yarn.  We don't find much that interests us.

After that, we head around the corner to shop number two, which is closed today.  We'll have to come back tomorrow for that.

Fast forward to the afternoon and we're back at the Sunken Gardens.  It's time for the weekly farmer's market taking place along the sidewalk in the southern edge of the park.

There's some great local produce, along with some breads and a rancher taking orders for his beef.  I grab a few pieces of fruit for a snack later back at the hotel.

It's dinner time now so we head across the street to Sylvester's, a small local burger chain.

Cooler now that it was earlier, we take the opportunity to sit on the corner deck and have our food and drink.

Letty has a mushroom burger with a glass of local wine...

...while I have the Central Coast favorite, a tri-tip sandwich with a cold glass of 805 beer to wash it down with.

Tim goes with a basic bacon cheeseburger and fries.

It is all very delicious and filling. I could not quite finish my sandwich.

Sated and relaxed, we head back to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved

Photos by Letty Musick
Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved

Hitting the Wall at the End of the Road on the Central Coast - Atascadero, California

My wife has given me one request for her birthday this year, that we not be at home.  Sure, we've been on trips on her birthday before but that day has always landed on a travel day so she got to spend it in airports, on trains, in a car...you get the picture.  This time, she wanted to be gone and able to relax.

After mulling over several destinations, it was decided that we'd go up to the Central Coast to the wine country of Paso Robles and the Edna Valley.

It's not a cheap place for hotels, especially in the peak summer travel time.  A very basic room at a Motel 6 would be edging up towards a hundred dollars a night, rooms in Pismo Beach were in the $300 - $500 range, Morro Bay around $200 - $300, Atascadero and Paso Robles were $150 - $400.

I settled on the Holiday Inn Express in Atascadero (just ten miles south of Paso Robles) for $190 a night because it seemed like they had a very nice, wheelchair accessible suite with a king bed and sofabed in the living room, hot breakfast, and a decent pool to swim in on those hot, wine country afternoons.

The drive up was pleasant enough with just a stop for breakfast at the Main Street Restaurant and Steakhouse in Ventura.  It's a very good diner with great food but this morning was hosting a party of clueless parents who let their kids climb on the table, run around the restaurant, and bang on windows. We couldn't wait to get back on the road...

Being summer in Southern California, the great ocean views to the left of us on the 101 were balanced out by the many wildfires burning to the right of us.

A bathroom and gas stop in Buellton lands us next to an old used car lot filled with some great, classic and antique cars.

About four hours later, we pull into the Holiday Inn Express in Atascadero for checkin.  After the paperwork is done and room keys issued, I send Letty and Tim ahead to the room while I collect some luggage from the car.

When I get to the room, Letty greets me at the door with "you'll never believe this. Come inside and look."

I go inside to a nice, rather large room (no way this is a two-room suite, like I booked, maybe a studio, at most) where my wife has pulled back the curtains to reveal the view of the rolling hills of the Paso Robles wine country going off into the distance.  At least that's what we expected. Instead, we get a view of a stucco wall, 3 feet away, completely blocking any view at all (it's part of the facade of the portico over the hotel's entrance).

"OK, lets go back down and see if they have another room," I tell her.

Marching back to the desk, we explain the dilemma. "That's the only wheelchair accessible suite we have," the clerk tells me. We have a regular room with one bed that is accessible."

I let her know that we will not be able to fit in that room and, since this room is not what I thought it would be and is obviously inferior to a non-accessible room, that they should have no problem if I go ahead and cancel, right?

"You need to cancel 24 hours in advance, you'll forfeit a night's room rate."

This is not good.  I know I could probably fight this and win later but I just want to give my wife a nice getaway for her birthday so, when they won't budge, we go ahead and stay in the room.

It's not a great room for sleeping, either, as we'd find out listening to the people upstairs walking around all night and the air conditioner cycling on and off repeatedly.

The next morning, we go to the breakfast buffet. It's not great. It's pretty bland and we decide after today, we'd rather spend extra and go eat out.

The manager spots me as we're getting ready to go out for the day.  "Mr. Musick, I see that you wanted to cancel yesterday but you needed 24 hours notice. If you'd like to cancel today at no charge, that would be fine."

I tell her that today is my wife's birthday. All she wanted was to be away from home and not dealing with the actual hassles of traveling and that the last thing I want to do on her birthday is to have to try to find another hotel on short notice in this expensive town and to move.

The manager says she'll knock off ten dollars a day for our troubles.

Well, at least I know where not to stay next time I come up here (you can see my review of the hotel at Tripadvisor).

At least that's the height of our displeasure on this trip. The rest of it will be pretty fun and relaxing...I promise.  See you next time.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved

Photos by Letty Musick
Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved