road trip: morro bay & cambria
may 17, 2005
she knows where she's going
morro rock is an extinct volcano peak in this area. there are 9 other peaks but this is the most famous one and is approximately 21 million years old. the character walking in the middle of the photo is 35 years old. and the car she is walking to is 6 years old. we are small in comparison whether by size or by age. up close, the rock is gigantic and from different views from highway 1, it sometimes looks round, and other times looks flat.
it's strange to see myself walking.
my first glimpse of morro rock into town
with lunch secure in my belly and morro rock being such a close distance away, it only made sense to take a look at it up close and personal. i found out from the waitress that you could drive up to morro rock and around half of it before having to u-turn around again. and from after visiting it now, i know that you can park there and take pictures from a couple sides of the rock onto morro beach and onto the town of morro bay and los osos.
seagulls scare me
view looking up morro rock.
can you see a profile of a puppy there? i can.
odd couple: seagull and squirrel
i watched her dig for awhile. too much CSI for me.
after being pulled and pushed around by the insane winds, i climbed back into my car and made my way back onto highway 1. and after winding through another 20 minutes of road, i passed by the docile and tiny town of harmony: population 18. these are the types of towns that i don't like to stop in because as i mentioned, i don't like to be dinner on someone's table. but for the sake of this website and my own crazy curiousity, i had to take a photo.
and then i got the hell outta dodge. or make that harmony.
as with all road trips, you end up behind some slow cars from time to time and you can only pass them when there are correct markings on the road. as if driving behind a small winnebago wasn't bad enough along a 2 lane highway with no chance of passing, the name of the winnebago was minnie winnie. the gods must think this is funny.
i arrived at the fogcatcher inn at around 3:30pm. moonstone drive is a really serene road along the ocean and there are numerous inns, motels, cottages and bed & breakfasts there. it's considered part of cambria although it's not located in what people would call the east and west village of town. i randomly selected this one since it looked nice on the website and the price was reasonable ($109 per night). they put me in one of the cottages in the back with my own private parking space right out front. man, that makes unloading the car so much easier. i really liked the room as it wasn't loud with crazy floral wallpaper in burgundies and blues. it wasn't frilly nor too busy. it was just nice and mellow. there's also a fireplace in every room which helped as night time temps dipped into the 40's. the room was spacious and came with my very own waffle knit robe. ok, little things tend to amuse me.
i settled in and unpacked and for those who have traveled with me before (you know who you are), you know how anal i am about putting things away before getting out and about town.
as i had some time before my dinner reservations in town, i walked across the street in my heavy duty fleece jacket and walked down to the shore where all the rocks were. it gets really windy around this time of day and i got a splitting headache from the wind. wimpy me. amidst the rocks, there were marine life and the glitter of the setting sun shone brightly against the waves.
yes the pictures all start to look alike after awhile
i went to have dinner at the brambles dinner house, located in the east village of cambria on that first evening in town. the brambles is considered one of the best restaurants in town and one feels like they are actually dining in an old house with creaky wood floors, a roaring fireplace, dark burgundy walls and china plates hung on the walls. my waiter wasn't the smiling type and reminded me of those english butlers with a dry sense of humor. it took all my funny jokes to get him to crack a smile.
clam chowder
8 ounce petit filet $26.95 & comes with the soup
french chocolate sundae $5.25
you could say this trip was the trip of clam chowder, raw oysters and fish & chips as those were the items i ate the most. at nearly every single meal, i ordered clam chowder to taste the variations in preparation. some were watery and brothy while others were rich and potato laden. some had actual clams in a shell even.
the brambles
4005 burton drive
cambria, ca 93428
805.927.4716
this dinner at the brambles was very tasty but not cheap. but it came recommended by one of my doctors and so i figured it's worth it try one of the best places to eat in town. the brambles is located on burton drive - where some of the stores open even past 8pm while the rest of town quietly shuts down at 5pm or 6pm. i spent several evenings at moonstones, across the street from brambles, looking at the jewelry and artsy stuff since they close at 10pm. i'm just not used to these small towns that close so early.
maybe it's me but i just can't sleep well away from home. i have an active mind and i constantly sleep with one eye opened and with my ears perked up listening for odd noises. it's rare that i can fall into deep sleep anywhere when i travel. it's only when i'm worn out from pure exhaustion that i will sleep. this is probably why i usually get sick when i come back from a trip. :p
california state flowers: the golden poppy
currently listening to: deep purple, highway star
