San Luis Obispo, California
March 8, 2021
Yesterday was a busy day --at least compared to some of my days. I visited downtown SLO in the morning, took a break and then drove 15 minutes down US 101 to Pismo Beach to take in the late afternoon and sunset. I took enough good photos that I made a slideshow featuring some songs I heard yesterday by Jackie Wilson and the song "Ocean Boulevard" since one of the streets I was on was named that.
This is a wonderful area. As my sister, Cindy, said it is the Mediterranean climate that makes the weather so nice. And it is the geology/topography that makes it stunning to view.
From SLO, some of my highlights:
- Lots of cool signs as you will see.
- Bubblegum Alley which is gross if you think about it -- I encourage you not to.
- There is a photo of the back of a bus -- SLOTRANSIT. Get it?
- SLO is the size of Charlottesville (population wise). It also has a college - Cal Poly -- but it is located outside of town. In the downtown area you don't sense a college town -- it feels like an upscale community with boutiques and neat looking restaurants. Much bigger downtown than Charlottesville. How upscale in SLO? It has its own Apple Store.
- The two photos at the end of the slideshow are from the drive-in movie theater in SLO. How cool is that? I planned to get there but the Tom Hanks' western did not start until 8:55 pm.
From Pismo Beach:
- I learned that Pismo Beach is made up of a series of neighborhoods. From what I could tell, Shell Beach appeared to be the most attractive and least commercial.
- There was a high surf warning yesterday -- hopefully some of my photos show that,
- Again, more cool signs outside stores.
- I tracked down one of three "clam" statues in Pismo Beach. Apparently the town is known for its clams. Not being a clam fan, I did not partake.
- I thought the late afternoon light was great.
- There was so much potential for sunset with some clouds in the sky. But alas, clouds on the horizon blocked the final descent of the sun.
- There were gusty winds off the ocean which made Pismo downright cold as the sun went down.
- It was much less crowded than it had been on Sunday. Still more Myrtle Beach than Hilton Head.
The surf at Pismo Beach:
About SLO:
Here's a link to the Wikipedia article on SLO. I will cut and paste the article in here when I get a chance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Luis_Obispo,_California
