Birthday Weekend in San Luis Obispo

I don't feel like I need to tell everyone how wonderful Dan is. My friends tell me, my family tells me, if Funny Bunny could talk, he would for sure tell me. Well this weekend was no exception. For my birthday which we are all aware that I absolutely love and adore, he decided to surprise me with a trip to SLO for the weekend. And not just any trip, but an enchanting wine tasting, fine dining, exploring new towns, staying at The Madonna Inn type trip. From the minute I heard about The Madonna Inn, I said "That is right up my alley! Hint, hint D!"
We drove down on Friday, checked in and immediately went to sleep for a few hours. (BIG birthday party the night before.)




We woke up, and headed to downtown SLO which has got to be the cutest place ever! Within minutes Dan and I were in an argument about why we couldn't just pack up and move to SLO for fun! (This is not a joke, this was a real argument.)If you know me well, you know that any time I visit a place I fall in love with it, and want to move there immediately. "We will figure it ALL out later!" I cheer. "Let's move next weekend!" My boyfriend the planner tells me "Absolutely not Kel, where would we live? Where would we work?" as I cry "I need adventure!"

After that, we ended up having a nice dinner at Novo, which was suggested by my dear friend Kevin. It had twinkle lights on the patio and birdcages hanging from the trees. Most precious ambiance ever.





Saturday morning we got up early and headed to breakfast at Apple Farm, another suggestion from Kev. I fell in love with the charming little house it was in and the cozy feel to it.Where went to next was one of my very favorite parts of our trip. Dan had played baseball in SLO for a Summer in college, so we went to visit the baseball field he played at. To see his proud face and the memories it brought back to him put a smile on my face. I love learning about someone you love's past and the things that make them feel nostalgic.

Kevin had made me this amazing list of all of the wonderful things SLO had to offer, and seeing as how I LOVE lists, I set out and started crossing things off immediately. First, we went to Kelsey Vineyards and Winery where we drank apple chardonnay. So delicious! We then set out to Paso Robles where we tried a few wineries and talked to some really nice people. One of the wineries, Lone Madrone, had a tiny little tree house making this my favorite stop. Not to mention we got a really great bottle of wine and a gorgeous necklace made in Africa for me.















We decided to drive down to the coast to watch the sunset and arrived in a little town called Harmony. I had heard that Harmony is one of the smallest towns in California with a population of 18. I stopped in the tiny little post office, signed their guest book and set out for the next unbelieveably tiny town called Cayucos. Oh my gosh, this town!!!! I loved it. It is this tiny little beach town that literally has not changed from the 1800's. It looks like it should have been a ghost town, other than the fact it is on the water. We stopped in The Saloon and had a beer. The bartender told us his family has been in the town for 7 generations and that the bar has been there for over 100 years. I love history, so seeing places like this totally gets me excited.












Saturday night Dan and I had dinner at Alex Madonna's Gold Rush Steakhouse. It was delicious. It was hands down the best filet I have ever had, and Dan said the same about his prime rib. We had great service, tasty wine and I even got a slice of birthday cake. Such a fantastic day.








We slept in Sunday and left The Madonna Inn (sadly) and went down to Avila Beach. We hiked down a pathway and arrived at Pirate's Cove. In order to get there, you have to go through a tunnel and it leads straight to the cliffs over looking the ocean. It was amazing. I love any sort of tunnel/secret passage, so I was stoked. On the way back I saw that there was apple picking in a farm a few miles ahead, so we stopped to pick some apples (the PERFECT fall adventure and Dan's nightmare) for the kids in my class and we I had a blast doing it. Dan is tall so he was able to reach the really good, ripe apples.
We walked around downtown SLO for a while and after that decided it was time to end our perfect vacation.













I was so sad to leave, because yes, I still want to move to SLO, (it was love at first sight)and am going to concoct a plan on how I can talk D into one of my impulsive, emotional based ideas without any of his logical arguments.:)