Oh.... the SLO life

As soon as we crested Cuesta Grade and started our downhill descent into San Luis Obispo, the familiar memories came flooding back to me.

I had lived on the Central Coast for 5 years (well, one of those years I spent in Italy) while getting my architecture degree at Cal Poly and loved its beautiful coastal location halfway between SF and LA. As a student, I loved the mellow, small-time vibe and lack of distractions, but I often missed the diversity and excitement of an urban city. Seeing those puffy clouds and green mountains reminded us that getting out of freezing cold New York for a weekend was exactly what we needed.
We rolled into town and checked into the awesomely beautiful Sanitarium Spa/Guest House (more on this wonderful retreat later) around 6pm on Thursday evening, just in time for the infamous Farmer's Market. It is held every Thursday night throughout the year in downtown San Luis Obispo. Tree-lined Higuera Street is closed to traffic for 3 hours and the entire town (families, college students, professors, locals, ranchhands, farmhands) comes out for the lively street fair atmosphere- freshly picked fruits and vegetables are sold along with local flowers, eggs, desserts, honey, preserves, artwork, homemade crafts, etc., the stores are all open late, and everyone comes for the food...
Every local restaurant has a booth out there, and people form lines in front of the massive pit barbecues sending smoky aromas down the street. Each intersection provides a different form of entertainment- street performances ranged from a country/folk band to a wild elect(r)ic violin concert to a ska/reggae-influenced rock band, a rock climbing wall, and kids go crazy climbing all over the local fire department's firetruck. Even the old "Wrath of God" guy with the sign warning sinners of impending doom was still there!

It was a weekly tradition during my college years to go down to what everyone lovingly called "Farmer's". My friends and I would leave studio and head downtown, get some BBQ tri-tip (or on hungry nights, gnaw on a massive turkey leg), buy a bunch of fresh local produce, and then head to someone's house and bake a big batch of chocolate chip cookies, watch Seinfeld, and then we would all troop back to our architecture studios and work until 2am! Oh, the good ol' days... It was great to relive the old days although so much has changed during the last 10 years. Many of the familiar restaurants (Louisa's, Buona Tavola, McClintock's) and stores (Hands Gallery, Fanny Wrappers, Ambiance) were still down there, but the new sparkly commercial developments (Pottery Barn? Banana Republic?! Abercrombie & Fitch?!?) seemed to be out of place from the humble downtown San Luis Obispo I knew and loved.

Well, the old haunts did not disappoint. We feasted on barbecued ribs, tri-tip sandwiches, grilled corn, tamales, fresh apple juice, and cookies while sampling fresh fruit from the stands (yummy oranges! local strawberries!). We even bought a bag of Cal Poly grown mandarin oranges to bring up to my parents.










Mica, the expert chocolate chip cookie baker/tester himself, drove up from Ventura with his adorable daughter Amelia to meet up with me and Paul. Amelia was delighted to have the Balloon Man make her some Mickey Mouse ears...










Paul was equally amazed and disgusted by Bubble Gum Alley...














Later on that night, we met up with the DiSantos (sans Tom) at my beloved Linnaea's Cafe on Garden Street. The staff is still amazingly friendly and mellow, and the carrot cake is still one of the best things I've ever had. Poor Tom was trying to recover from a bad cold, but T and N were super adorable (not surprising) and it was great to catch up with Eva! The last time I had seen her, she was pregnant with Nico, and I was on my way to Japan!

It was a lot of socializing and traveling in one day though- our 5am wakeup call in NYC that morning seemed like days ago, and we were fading fast. We couldn't wait to head back to our room and sink into bed...