The Swiss Restaurant & Bar

After dropping off our luggage and personal  effects at our hotel, we headed out to dinner..

and since this was Santa Maria, land of tri-tip bbq, we headed to a local steakhouse...

Pismo Beach Pier & Farmer's Market

Back to Pismo we were...

next to The Scoop where TC enjoyed a cone several years ago...

Margo Dodd Park & Shell Beach

Right next to Dinosaur Caves Park is Margo Dodd Park and Shell Beach...

Shell Beach is an unincorporated area near Pismo and has awesome ocean views and really nice homes...

OB415 sunset

We made a quick return to SF's OB...

just a few blocks away from our place...

George's Zoo Liquor Deli

Along Sloat Blvd, near the Zoo grounds is this interesting roadside oddity...

This interesting bit of Americana is known as the Doggie Diner head (a designated San Francisco landmark as of 2006; the head dates back from the early 70's from the original Doggie Diner located at 46th and Sloat; it is now on the median of 45th and Sloat across from the SF Zoo).

and you can't miss it!

Velella Velella! Back to SF's OB

This was our last day before we headed back down to San Diego...

It was time to kick back in SF's own OB before calling it a night...

Hidden Garden Steps

In retrospect we could have walked here from the Mosaic Steps on 16th Avenue...

but instead, we reparked and found out it was only a few streets away...

Grand View Park

Once we reached the top of the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps, we hung a right where we saw yet another set of steps...

which weren't tiled but which is on an area known to locals as "Turtle Hill"...

The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps

The morning was still young so we ventured to the Inner Sunset neighborhood...

 to check out the 16th Avenue Tiled steps, also known as the Mosaic Steps (sometimes even called the Moraga Steps)...

Trouble Coffee

From Noriega Street to Judah Street...

where we saw this beautifully painted Mandala on the side wall of Outer Sunset brunch hotspot, Outerlands...which was right around the corner from a small and notorious coffee shop

Scenes from Noriega St. plus Noriega Produce

We return to last year's late summer road trip...

The night before was pretty fun. My former student got married and had a fabulous hipster wedding. We enjoyed a tiny bit of breakfast at Devil's Teeth Baking Company (which supplied the cupcakes at her wedding...Across the street, you can see Devil's teeth with the parklet in front.

This cool mural was for a local surf/skate shop...

Before heading over to these tiled steps in the Inner Sunset, we took a quick stroll on this particular street...

Our lunch @ Dinosaur Caves Park

As we drove up Price Street (one of the main streets) to get to the 101 North, we passed by the only Filipino store on the Central Coast, De Bu of Pismo Beach.

We'd been there three years ago but didn't stop during this trip...

As you can see, it was pretty foggy!

Bert read up on one of the newer parks in the area and though it would be a nice spot to have our lunch...

The Orange Cat Cafe

It's the return of the Summer Road Trip Post. As in LAST SUMMER...

This was Day 3 and we'd just come from SLO making our sticky mark at Bubblegum Alley...

Kreuzberg Coffee Company

A few doors down from Rocket Fizz was Kreuzberg Coffee Company...

It serves as a restaurant and coffee/book lounge, as well as the only roastery in downtown SLO...

and is named after a vibrant neighborhood in Berlin.

Day 3 - SLO Donut Company

Returning to our Summer Road trip, not to be confused with the SF Road Trip (which posts I am still trying to finish)....

It was time to say goodbye to Cayucos and the cute little place we stayed....


We would miss their beautiful garden just steps away from the beach and having our dinners out in the patio. As we took photos, we met another family also on vacation (they were from Madera, CA). Everyone we met during our stay was so kind and nice and we are hoping to make another stop here in the future...

Everything was packed and ready. Southward we would go...