SLO Irresistable!

 

San Luis Obispo  - where we stayed for the last two nights - is located on the Central Coast of CA, roughly halfway between the Bay Area in the north and Greater L.A. in the south. It was founded by the Spanish in 1772, when Padre Junípero Serra established the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa as the 5th mission in the chain along the CA Coast. 

 

 The region was called the Valley of the Bears, and the local Indians were thankful to the soldiers for killing the bears. But, in 1776, an Indian fired a flaming arrow onto the roof of one of the mission buildings, starting a disastrous fire. Slowly, the mission was modernized and is still standing on its original site today, with walls, 50 to 60 feet high.

The town grew through the Mexican period and expanded even more when CA became part of the U.S.A. There are many nice, historic buildings from the turn of the century or beginning of the 20th century still to be seen in downtown (pics above). But, San Luis Obispo is not only known for its historic architecture, but also for vineyards in the surroundings, for the famous Madonna Inn (pic below)- the crazy utopia of a creative couple -, and, for being home to CA Polytech State University. 

 

An old creamery in downtown was transformed into a shopping mall, there is a bubblegum alley (like in Seattle), several museums (among them a Modern Art Museum, pic below), and, many quaint shops and restaurants. 

 

Lots of breweries, too, of which we tried two, one in walking distance from our hotel: Central Coast Brewing. Thanks to warm temps, they showed an open-air movie in the evening. SLO is another one, larger, where we enjoyed a beer at sunset yesterday.