When we need a break from all the daily whistles in life, we escape to the beautiful small town of Morro Bay. It's a little more than 2 hours north of Ventura, where we live now. When we were in Tehachapi it was a little over 3 hours west. It doesn’t matter which town you leave from though; either way, it’s a beautiful drive. Unfortunately, when leaving from Ventura, you don't want to leave on a Friday afternoon heading north on Hwy 101 due to the traffic. Leaving from Tehachapi for Morro Bay on a Friday was much easier because the route doesn’t have the traffic that Ventura has.
We haven't been in quite a while. I think last spring was the last time we went, so we are way over due. :)
Morro Bay is a very quaint little town and at times can be a very touristy town. It sits in a harbor along the beautiful central coast of California and is only 20 minutes south of Hearst Castle. The marine life that live in the area consist of our favorite; the Sea Otters. There are also lots of jelly fish, birds, many seals that wait for the fishermen to arrive from their morning fishing trips to get food.
Down along the harbor is the embarcadero which is full of little touristy shops, restaurants, and a few clothing and sports shops. There are only a handful of places to stay on the water and most of the hotels and inns are a block or more up a hill overlooking the harbor, coastline, Morro Rock, and the embarcadero. It's a beautiful view.
We haven't experienced much of downtown Morro Bay, but there seems to be a variety of small town shops. There are a lot of places to stay in the town including campgrounds, hotels, inns, and bed and breakfasts. The town also has a golf course, museum, a very small aquarium, boating, whale watching during the summer, harbor tours, etc. The Fish Hut is one of my favorite places to eat and is an outdoor type place which works well for our situation.
One thing we really love is driving the car down to the embarcadero and park, so we can walk along the harbor, look at the shops, eat either breakfast or lunch, and search for the otters. After we spend some time in the area, we head off in the other direction walking along the waterfront out to Morro Rock where there are a lot of seagulls, squirrels and an otter or two, sometimes as many as four. They hang out in that area a lot, eating, sleeping, and bathing. It's just inside the break waters of the entrance to the harbor. The road leading out to Morro Rock has a south side which is the harbor and the north side is the ocean with surfers, beachers, and the start of the coastline again.
Lots of people go out to the rock; bird watchers, fisherman, otter viewers, surfers, and many other people. If we are going to spend more than an hour out there, we will drive the car and park right beside the rocks, just above the water where the otters are. Kayla loves to lay in the back of the car with the door open to look out. She lays there and plays with her toy, looks out at the excitement that is going on, watches mom take photos of the otters, and really enjoys her time there.
Morro Bay is a perfect place for us to go to. The town is quite accessible keeping us from having to drive everywhere we want to go. It allows us to walk all over, has beautiful weather, gives us both something we enjoy doing, and allows for us to spend quality time together.
If you have any questions or want some recommendations, please feel free to email me at creativephoto2@gmail.com.
Hope Everyone is doing good and has a GREAT weekend! :)
