the getaway.

the grandparents even shooed us away while we were there so they could have the kids to themselves for a little while.  it didn’t take too much convincing (ok, ok, it didn’t take hardly any!) before phil and i hit the road toward pismo beach for a short little getaway.  in a word, it was AWESOME.  pure and simple.

we took our time getting to pismo beach, stopping first in san luis obispo to wander around, do a little shopping, and have lunch.

always gotta check yelp first to make an informed decision before ordering…

first came the jalapeno cornbread muffins.  yum.  also loved the deep blue plate i got.

we shared the vegetable spring rolls, which we thought were just so-so.  woulda been much better with shrimp.  but then, it wouldn’t be vegetable only anymore.  phil and i have accepted that we will never be vegetarians.  we’d always miss the MEAT that oughtta be in there.  : p

phil ordered “a really tasty turkey burger”.  that was the name on the menu.  turns out, they weren’t lying as phil said he was pleasantly surprised by how moist and flavorful it was.  the sweet potato fries were also good, but woulda been better if they were more thinly cut (and therefore, crispier and less mealy).

even the ketchup was organic!  very san luis obispo-y.

i went with the soup and salad– warm bacon, lettuce, and tomato chopped salad and a corn and white potato soup.

after a lovely, leisurely lunch with my best friend, we made our way to pismo beach.

and checked in to the pismo lighthouse suites.  and discovered a very pleasant room with cute little lighthouse lamps.

the view outside our room wasn’t too shabby, either.

there was a little gate in the patio to our room that led straight out to this walkway along the cliffs.  we decided to go for a walk down to the beach before dinner.

beautiful spot on a beautiful day.  how come i never noticed how nice this area was back when i was growing up here?

our hotel sat right across from the brown building in the top right corner of this picture.  i had wanted to come back at later in the evening to take pictures at this same spot since the sun would be setting near that gazebo on the cliff.

in the meantime, we fully enjoyed our walk which included navigating these old rickety, crooked, wooden steps that led down to the beach.

the effort was well worth it.

phil found a crazy thick shell in the sand and set to work scratching something on this white rock.

it was this.  aw…  🙂

so after our nice long walk, we went out to do some outlet shopping before returning to our room to get ready for dinner.  unfortunately, we took a lil’ too long and the sun had already set!  i was pretty bummed that we missed it but still managed to get a couple shots before all the nice light was gone.

that same gazebo from earlier in the day.

still my favorite person to be with.

rather unsuccessful picture of us.  there just wasn’t a good, level place to put the camera and no, i didn’t bring a tripod with us.  and that’s me cracking up cuz i knew it’d be a funky picture.

then it was on to the serious business of dinner!  we decided to try out marisol and started off with oysters on the half shell.  we agreed that it tasted fresh and nice with the lemon.  but had an unmistakable snot-like texture.  sorry for the tmi.

we also shared the six-pack of crab cakes.  i coulda licked this plate clean!  and kinda did.  don’t tell anyone.

phil had the pan-roasted local halibut.  sadly, it was a little too dry.  but those red dots of sauce were delicious!  i love that he automatically pushes the plate towards me and moves some of the other stuff on the table cuz he knows i gotta take a picture of it before he digs in, which he then appreciates looking at long after the meal is over.  we’re a good team like that.

i had the “duo of the sea”- grilled scallops and prawn served over linguine.  mmm.  but was a little too full to enjoy much of it.

the two of us.  had to resort to using the dreaded flash.  and we had wanted our entrees included in the pic but forgot to mention that to the server taking it.  aw well.

the next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel then took another long walk along the beach looking for sand dollars and found five unbroken ones.  then we browsed in the various trinket shops (you seriously don’t understand how much phil enjoys this particular pastime.  he’s definitely the shopper in our family!).  and ended up at the splash cafe for their clam chowder bread bowls.  my favorite!  this time we got two so we didn’t have to share.  yeah baby!  and we tried it with the seafood topping as well.  two thumbs way up!  since the restaurant was so crowded, we took our lunch to go and went back to the car where we could eat and enjoy the ocean view for a little longer before heading back to our munchkins.

time for just the two of us, relaxing, eating wonderful food, doing nothing in particular…  just exactly my idea of vacation.  🙂