New Favorites

Courtesy of our 2-day getaway, we have a new favorite hotel - San Luis Creek Lodge (TripAdvisor reviews here) - and a new favorite antiquing spot - Cayucos, a cute little town just north of Morro Bay and right on the ocean's edge.

Craftsman Building

Our plan was to stay in the San Luis Obispo area so we could go antiquing along the Central Coast, especially in Atascadero and Cambria. I went hunting on TripAdvisor (THE best place to find real people reviews of lodging and restaurants) and found San Luis Creek; reviews were good, pictures were interesting, price was right - so I booked us a room for one night. Boy, did we luck out - this place is great. Three buildings in three different styles - Londonderry, Craftsman and Plantation. We were in Craftsman - hubby's very favorite - in a huge room with king-size bed, 40" TV, fireplace, beautiful furnishings, lovely bathroom, great breakfast buffet, and more. Clean, comfortable and well-maintained. We'll definitely stay here again.
Monday afternoon, we visited several antique stores in Atascadero, which has a reputation as an antiquers dream destination. We saw a couple of things we liked, but nothing spectacular, nothing special; neither of us found any reason to go shopping there again.

Tuesday morning we headed for Cambria, which we knew had some good antique shops, an art glass store and first-class restaurants. On the way we thought we'd stop in Cayucos, where we'd never been, and check out their antique offerings before moving on. And . . . . . we never made it any further.

Cass House B&B/Restaurant

Four well-stocked, inviting antique stores kept us busy for several hours, with lunch in between at Duckie's - great fish and chips, clam chowder and shrimp cocktail - before finishing the day off with fresh baked cookies at Brown Butter Cookie Co.

So what treasures followed us home? Hubby found the motherlode of wood planes - several vendors in one antique mall had a wide variety of offerings - and came home with (only) 3 new Stanley planes

Plane #5, #4 and #127

and a micrometer in its original box. My treasure was this box of thread and related items, including several hand-crocheted potholder/trivets and a tatting shuttle. I literally had to climb under a clothing rack and drag this from a dark corner in the loft. So thrilled with my find. The thread is perfect for my bobbin lace class and I can already picture the potholders hanging in my kitchen. We never did make it to Cambria. And I can't wait to go back to Cayucos.