Date Day

It's been awhile, but hubby and I got away today for what used to be a weekly occurrence*. Our original date day plan was to get up early and head for Cayucos, our favorite antique shopping town just outside Morro Bay. The getting up early thing? Yeah, that didn't happen.

Going with Plan B, we headed for Los Alamos, a small town about an hour north of us, just past Buellton. We've driven past it often on the way to or from somewhere else, always vowing that we'd stop and see what was there. Turns out there's a lot there of interest to us.

Like the 1880 Union Hotel, where we stopped for brunch. It's a beautifully restored bed and breakfast, with lots of period furniture and decorations. Hubby asked if we could have see one of the bedrooms and the staff was happy to provide a tour of all 18 of them - including the Governor's and Presidential suites (pictures here; scroll down).

Another room was used in the 1982 Michael Jackson - Paul McCartney video "Say, Say, Say" - and the room is still decorated exactly the same as it was then. The hotel is gorgeous and we'll definitely be coming back for a weekend visit, hopefully in one of the suites.

We also found several great antique stores - hubby added to his collection of Stanley wood planes - art galleries, and wineries. The road north through the Los Alamos Valley led us past ranches with Brahma bulls, a large herd of buffalo and lots of vineyards.

All in all, a great, relaxing trip. We should do this more often.

*With the baby grands living here, and having to deliver them to and from school each weekday, it's been hard to find time to go anywhere. And tomorrow it will get even trickier - we'll be watching 7-week-old Leanne at least two days a week while her mama is at work.