A Day Well Spent at Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Madonna and San Luis Obispo, California

Monday, October 6, 2025

Exploring a Handful of Mid-California Towns

A Day Well Spent at Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Madonna and San Luis Obispo, California

We spent a day of leisurely exploration as we scoured one little California town after the other. Indeed, the little hamlets along the mid-California coast are truly delightful, particularly in the off-season when they are not mobbed by holidaying crowds. But our day began in the nicest possible way with a humongous breakfast, courtesy of AJ, who decided to give Llew and me a belated Mothers-Father’s Day treat since they are never with us in person to celebrate those holidays. And so, off to breakfast it was…

Breakfast of Champions at Dorn’s:

Very conveniently located, in fact right across the road from our beautiful hotel was Dorn’s, a darling little café right on the waterfront. Yes, in normal circumstances, it would provide staggering views of the famous, towering Morro Rock that seems to rise out of the sea like a giant Phoenix rising from the ashes. Except that it was a very foggy morning and visibility was nil, just a few feet beyond us. On a past visit to the area, Chriselle and AJ had eaten breakfast at this venue and knew that it would be the perfect place in which to treat us. They were spot on. We felt like Royalty, thanks to their generosity.

We were pretty much the only patrons that early in the morning (we were there by 8.00 am as we had a full day chalked out ahead of us) but, by the time we had stuffed our faces and were ready to leave, several others had the same idea. We had our pick of the tables and chose one parallel to the Rock. In terms of food, well…it seemed as if you could not go wrong, no matter what you chose to eat. After orders for hot drinks were taken (Chriselle had a cocktail while the rest of us settled for coffee), we dived in for the food. I had a Ham, Swiss Cheese and Mushroom Omlette, Llew had Eggs Over Easy with Bacon and Hash Browns, AJ got the Southwestern Omlette with Fruit on the side and Chriselle got Eggs with Sausages and Fruit. A Couple of us got Pancakes (on top of everything else with our omlettes). I chose to save my pancakes for breakfast, the next morning, as I simply could not imagine sitting and devouring two breakfasts at the same meal—no matter how scrunps! Everything was delicious, conversation was a load of fun and we were excited to begin our day with the wealth of sight-seeing that lay ahead.

Drive to Pismo Beach:

We posed for a few pictures outside Dorn’s and outside our Hotel (The Landing at Morro Bay), then left for the next item on our day’s agenda: A Drive to Pismo Beach.

Pismo Beach is another one of the mid-California state beach towns that is a popular venue during the summer. After parking in the public parking lot, Chriselle went out in search of a coffee and I browsed in a shop that was closing for the season—in order to pick up our souvenir magnet. Then, the lot of us walked towards the giant sign spelling out Pismo Beach along the waterfront and that done, we took a little walk towards the pier to look at the pristine beach itself from the height of the viewing platform. It was a lovely day although the sun played peekaboo with us for a good part of the morning. After enjoying our brisk walk, and posing for pictures on the pier, we were ready for the next attraction.

Off to the Butterfly Grove:

As the young folks with us had already been to Pismo Beach before and had happy memories of a Butterfly Grove nearby, that was the next venue to which AJ drove us. Chriselle had happy memories of a short hike along a raised pathway that led to the sea and she was keen that we should undertake it. Accordingly, we parked our car and set out, only to discover that the place was officially closed for the season although visitors were free to saunter around at their leisure. Also, since the migrating monarch butterflies do not come to the venue until the end of October, we really did not see a single one of them. Apparently, they arrive in droves and cling to the surfaces of the trees all along the boardwalk. Despite their absence, however, it was grand to walk towards the sea, We could hear the thundering sound of the waves, but after about fifteen minutes of lingering in a very beautiful, very sheltered area, we decided to make our way back to the car.

Exploring the Unique Madonna Inn at Madonna, California:

A few years ago, when Llew, Chriselle and I had undertaken another driving tour of the mid-California coast, we had stopped at a town called Madonna which is famous for a most unique structure—a place called Madonna Inn. This site is pure 1950s kitsch and Chriselle, who had recently stopped there on a work trip, was keen for us to pause there again. Frankly, I did not remember much of it at all—so I was quite enthusiastic about exploring it again, As it turned out, the place was a study in pinks; every shade of the color is used in the inside and outside decoration. Furthermore, the garden is just gorgeous with glorious pink blooms of various sizes and shades filling it with photo ops. And so, en route, we stopped to take pictures and gradually worked our way towards the main doors (somewhat reminiscent of a castle) before we entered.

The Madonna Inn is really a visual delight—pure eye candy. Everywhere the eye could turn, there was something of curiosity that was entirely OTT (Over The Top). Of course, we explored the place pretty thoroughly and stopped frequently to take pictures: there was winding Cinderella staircases, straight out of a fairy tale; loads of pretty stained glass in windows and doors; bright chandeliers laden with tumbling bunches of grapes; massive stone fireplaces and mantelpieces decorated with stone sculpture; bathrooms and toilets done in mid-century style and resembling the green rooms of famous theaters; vast dining rooms dropping with fairy lights and loads of Fall and Halloween decorations as to resemble Disneyland. And everywhere the dominant color is pink. Truly, this is a photographer’s dream. We made use of every venue to take lovely family and couple photographs before we were ready to move on.

Back to Morro Bay for More Exploration:

By this point in the day (it was past noon), we kept fingers crossed that the fog of the morning would have lifted and we would actually be able to glimpse the gigantic Rock for which Morro Bay is reputed. So, we drove back to Morro Bay, parked our car and made the slow and exploratory walk towards the shops. Like many seaside towns, there are souvenir shops stacked with the usual tat: sea glass jewlery, toys for the kids, beach towels, magnets, post cards, wall art, etc., not to mention ice-cream places. Every store was empty—we could just imagine how much the place buzzed in the summer; but with the season having passed us by, we were solitary visitors everywhere. Having explored the stores (yes, we picked up our magnet), it was time to hit the actual Rock itself. Yes indeed, the fog had cleared up, although the sun was still missing, but it seemed like a good time to make the drive that would take us to the very foot of the Rock for some more photo ops.

Piling into the car again, we drove around the Town as we headed to the Rock. It loomed ahead of it with its momentous proportions and allowed us to take lovely family photographs. We watched the antics of pretty, spotted wood squirrels on the rocks as we sat down to take in the sight of the distinctive scene in front of us. Seagulls flew screeching ahead and the salt smell of the sea was in our nostrils as we decided to move on to the next port of call after what had been a truly lovely stop in what had been a completely unknown corner of California for me.

Exploring San Luis Obispo:

Yes, the three of us had been to San Luis Obispo before, a few years ago, but honestly, I had only very hazy memories of this town. This time round, I was charmed by the place which had a lot to offer the occasional visitor. It’s beautiful downtown area is a maze of streets sporting enticing shops with sophisticated merchandise from beautiful clothes and housewares to mid-century modern furniture and very sophisticated restaurants. It was after sauntering the streets and pausing to briefly take in the joys of window shopping before looking for lotions and potions in The Body Shop that we made our way to Novo, the glorious restaurant where Chriselle had made reservations for our dinner.

Dining in Style at Novo:

Novo is one of those restaurants that offers an inside-outside experience that is equally great, no matter where one chooses to sit. As it turned out to be a really beautiful evening, most patrons were out in the lovely courtyard garden. We had a table reserved for us and, literally, just a few meters away, the walls of one of the famous California missions of Fr. Junipero Serra could be glimpsed. We looked forward to the thrill of visiting it after our meal.

But first, our food and drink. We started off with cocktails and aperitifs: Llew had red wine and I chose a cocktail made with gin, elderflower liquor and elderflower cordial. It was delicious and very refreshing indeed. For our starter, we chose the Mediterranean platter that contains hummus, a beetroot dip, babganoush, dolmades (stuffed vine leaves), marinated olives and red peppers, fresh cherry tomatoes, slices of cucumber and toasted pita bread. Believe me, a better appetizer would be hard to find. I realize that I really do love these platters for they offer something for everyone. Chriselle chose the buratta with beetroot and it was also very satisfying indeed. For my main, Llew and I chose to share pappardelle with shrimp, artichoke and spinach (absolutely delectable) while Chriselle and AJ chose to share a filet mignon with a lush barbecue sauce. Our mains were just superb and truly, this meal set the tone for the number of absolutely awesome meals we would enjoy through the rest of our travels. Although we were pretty stuffed, I have to say that we could not resist dessert and chose to share a fabulous slab of chocolate ganache cake that came with whipped cream, chocolate sauce and fresh raspberries on the side, What a truly magnificent meal it was and what a superb choice for a venue! It remains one of my most memorable meals of all time because it was so unexpectedly good!

Visiting Mission San Luis Obispo:

Yes, after our fabulous meal, the only thing left was to follow the mission bells, as it were, and walk just around the precincts of Novo, to get to the compound of the Mission. Built in 1772, as one of the working missions envisioned by the wandering Spaniard priest, Fr. Junipero Serra, this place is highly atmospheric, especially at night, when it is softly flood-lit, most strategically. Fr. Serra built about seven missions along the California coast along what is known as El Camino Real as he brought Christianity to the native, Spanish-speakers of this area when it was still part of Mexican territory. In past years, I (as an individual) and the three of us (as a family) have visited the ones in Santa Barbara, Carmel by the Sea and Capistrano and now, here we were together in San Luis Obispo. It was indeed a treat and a perfect way by which to end a really splendid day.

And on that spiritual note, we made our way back to the carpark for our short drive back to our hotel, The Landing at Morro Bay where we would spend one more night.

Until tomorrow, see ya’…