Coffee during our Central Coast Road Trip - Red Kettle Coffee House, Cayucos Coffee, Luna Coffee Bar, Scout Coffee & Lucky Llama

It's been about three weeks since our trip to the Central Coast...

we debated whether to do it or not, but wanderlust won out...

25th Anniversary dinner at Lunada Garden Bistro, Cayucos

I am going to jump around with my posts and the timeline a bit...why? Because I can dammit.

Bert and I celebrated our 25th Anniversary this year and took a family road trip to the Central Coast.

Instead of doing sad ass takeout and eating it in our room out of styrofoam containers...

The Peddler's Faire

The "Peddler's Faire" sign caught our attention...

It was a stone's throw away from the Cass House...

and gosh darnit, the fog was rolling back in but we didn't care. We wanted to check out this curiously named event...

Lunch and snacks from the Cayucos Farmer's Market plus return to the Cayucos Candy Counter & the Brown Butter Cookie Company

We noticed this on our way in...

and definitely made a stop back before they closed for the day..

The Whale Rock Reservoir + Return to Cayucos

We decided to take a different route to Cayucos...

which was Old Creek Road. It was a two lane road and was very much in the boonies.

It was also kind of twisty. The main reason we wanted to try this route was because...

Spencer's Fresh Market, Cayucos beach, dinner & dessert + a sunset in San Simeon

We headed south on the 1 to get back to our motel in Cayucos, but first passed by these establishments in Morro Bay...

Gotta love those names! Lolo is the Filipino word for "grandfather" but I'm sure that wasn't their intent.  I liked how regal Taco Temple sounded.

We wanted to pick up just a few things some salad for dinner later that evening as well as picnic provisions for the next couple of days...

Ruddell's Smokehouse (aka Lunch part 1)

When we last visited Cayucos in 2011, we remembered seeing the Smoked Fish sign of this establishment, Ruddell's...

Our stay was short back then but since we were here for a few days, we wanted to make sure to give Ruddell's a try...

A Deli & Pieman Pies twice

Earlier that morning, we had breakfast next door at Top Dog Coffee Bar and took a peek next door...

We picked up a small pie and then ended up coming back later to get a few pies for dinner...

The new Brown Butter Cookie Company

You can see how small this town is...

We never thought we would end up coming back here, but it seemed like the perfect summer getaway from San Diego. The summer crowds hadn't yet arrived so mid June was quite optimal. Last time we were here, we remembered this building. It wasn't the Brown Butter Cookie Company yet, since it was located at the northern end of Ocean Ave. The old building is now a private residence/rental.

The Brown Butter Cookie Company now has bigger digs and even more flavors than before...

The Cass House, views of Cayucos State Beach and the Cayucos Pier

We peeked into Pieman's and ended up going back a little later to pick up a few things for a snack and diner later.  It was time to check out the Cayucos Pier...

(sign seen in a window near the coffee shop)....

As you can see, the beach town of Cayucos has that old fashioned "Wild West" look and feel...

It was very quiet and sleepy that cloudy morning, but we enjoyed the peace and stillness...

Summer Road Trip: Day 2 - Top Dog Coffee Bar

Enshrouded by the cool coastal mist, we made the short trek from our charming beach side motel to our breakfast destination...

located in the Cape Cod inspired Pier View Plaza.

The top floor of this complex was the Pier View Suites, a more upscale hotel/vacation rental boutique hotel. We were interested in the businesses below...

Dinner from the Cayucos Super Market

Across the street from the surf shop, at the northern end of Ocean Ave is the Cass House (nicely obscured by a big trailer). It was the home of Capt. James Cass, the founder of the town of Cayucos.

It is now a fancy restaurant...We noticed that the Brown Butter Cookie Company which used to be next to it had moved...In fact it was up the street in a big red building...

We would end up going there before leaving town a few days later...In the hillside are homes with what has to be million dollar views of the Pacific Ocean....

Even though we had been out and about ALL DAY, we still had energy to check things out...

Duckie's Chowderhouse + the return to the Cayucos Candy Counter

A few steps away from the Cayucos Pier is a chowderhouse and a candy store...

Although we did the candy store three years ago, we skipped out on Duckie's...

Welcome Back to Cayucos!

After more than nine plus hours with lots of stops in between, we were finally back to Cayucos...

known as "the town that time forgot"....

Summer Road Trip Day 3 Highlights

Well, as the late Chef from South Park would say, "Well hello there childrens..."

In this case, it was goodbye to this cute little seaside town with quirky homes...

Summer Road Trip Day 2 Highlights

Our morning was spent wandering this seaside town...

while experiencing a bit of a chill from the marine layer...

Summer Road Trip Day 1 Highlights

We are currently enjoying a road trip in the Central Coast...

Sometimes you just gotta get out of town...

Cayucos - Candy Counter

Although we had some cookies from the Brown Butter Cookie Company, we still wanted something sweet again.

So of course, we couldn't pass up the local candy shop, the Cayucos Candy Counter...

Enjoying Cayucos...

As mentioned in my previous post, this pretty Victorian house, known as the Cass House, was the home of Captain James Cass who settled in Cayucos in 1867. He and his partner Captain Ingals built the pier which still stands today.

We enjoyed our cookies from next door as we strolled the main street...

Cayucos - Brown Butter Cookie Company

TC felt better after our the drive became less windy and twisty. Before heading down to Pismo Beach, we wanted to check out Cayucos. a tiny seaside town along the coast near San Luis Obispo County. Marie from Meandering Eats had a nice write up on a local cookie company (link at end of post).

Ironically, we received our June/July Westways (triple AAA magazine) AFTER our trip and lo and behold, a two page article on Cayucos (and one page on Lompoc, but I'll get to that later!)!