San Luis Obispo more than lives up to its reputation as a charming coastal California town. I’ve wanted to visit for years! My friend Jenny and I drove up over President’s Day weekend and following our afternoon at Avila Beach and Pismo Beach, we arrive in San Luis Obispo (or SLO, as it’s known locally) in time for dinner.

Here’s our hotel room for the night, at Avenue Inn just a few blocks away from the central downtown area.

After wandering around looking for a restaurant to grab dinner, Jenny and I end up at California Pizza Kitchen of all places. It happens to be Valentine’s Day and while some places are full, we have no problem getting into CPK and taking advantage of their pre-fixe V-Day dinner (app, two entrees, and dessert for $32 total). Sold!

A storefront window downtown:

In the morning we set out to explore San Luis Obispo. Fortunately everything downtown is within walking distance of the hotel and very easy to explore on foot. Our first stop is Scout Coffee… which immediately becomes a new favorite (I even buy their mug). Check out this place:

Confession: I actually order TWO drinks here, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. (Who’s got two thumbs and a caffeine addiction? This girl.) First I order an almond milk latte (they make their own almond milk in-house) with the Wilderness homemade syrup flavor. Check out that description in the above photo… it includes hints of Douglas fir tips, mint, citrus zest, and maple flavor. It tastes like the mountains and instantly makes my list of favorite lattes ever sipped. Later that afternoon I order an iced almond milk latte with the spiced butterscotch homemade flavor, and it’s also divine. This place gets major points for creative homemade syrups.

They also have a nice selection of baked goods, although I don’t try any of them (next time…).

I love their mugs and purchase one, despite the fact that I’ll have to get it to the east coast without breaking (spoiler alert: it made it just fine, phew).

A look at my Wilderness flavored latte:

There are several decent-looking coffee shops around town that I feel compelled to mention as I would have liked to check them all out personally. This one is Kreuzberg:

This one is Blackhorse Espresso and Bakery — the cozy atmosphere reminds me of Priscilla’s, my favorite coffee shop in LA.

One of SLO’s downtown attractions is Bubblegum Alley, and alley filled with… you guessed it… bubble gum. It’s kinda gross? But the pop of colors is neat to photograph.

Enormous trees cast shade over the sidewalks downtown:

Pleasant side streets are lined with mostly big-name stores and a few independent shops:

Back in 2011 Oprah named SLO the happiest city in America. The nickname stuck!

I love scoping out the local happenings in store windows. (I would totally go to the Tim Minchin show if it overlapped with my visit.)

And here is the San Luis Obispo Mission; we don’t go inside, but walk around the exterior:

Each of the bells at the Mission ring at a different pitch:

Fountain in the Mission courtyard:

The SLO Creek walkway features concrete paths that wind along the downtown creek — it’s a gorgeous outdoor space. There are several restaurants up above the creek which I imagine would be lovely place to dine.

Hi Jenny!

Back up on the main drag we walk a little further and pop into some shops.

The Granada Hotel looks lovely. I wish we could afford to stay here! It’s about as central as you can be downtown (although the Avenue Inn is just a few blocks away and much cheaper). I reached out to a few places in SLO about discounted accommodation but did not get any affirmative replies, as it was both Presidents Day weekend and Valentine’s Day — totally understandable.

I am so pleased to have finally made it to San Luis Obispo. And I really can’t wait to go back. If you’re in the LA area (of even San Fran area, for that matter) this area is a lovely weekend trip. And I still have to tell you about nearby Morro Bay.