Morro Bay by the Rock

We are in Morro Bay tonight.  This is one of our favorite destinations on the Central Coast of California.  The small and quaint fishing town, striking scenery, the Pacific Ocean roaring against the shore and Hearst Castle just up the road make this a great stop.  The locals will also encourage you to take the winery tour and play a round of golf on the town’s public course.  There are galleries and antique stores to peruse and fishing boats and kayakers to admire down by the bay.  If we were to hang around for next weekend, we could even take in a vintage car show.  This weekend there is a kite festival.  The consistent wind here down by the ocean makes flying a kite predictable.  But we’ll be gone by then.

We are about twenty miles north of San Luis Obispo and roughly 200 miles south of San Francisco at this location.  En route today, we passed California Polytechnic Institute just north of San Luis Obispo and something called a Men’s Colony (a fancy name for a men’s prison.)  I don’t remember either of these from last year’s trip through this area, so each day presents something new to see.  The Morro Rock is predictably the same. 

As tourists, we obviously are not the first to travel to Morro Bay.  We viewed an old photo today of those who preceded us to see the volcanic Morro Rock in the 1800s.  Archaeological studies have shown the Chumash Native Americans preceded these individuals as early as 47 centuries before the birth of Christ to hunt and fish along these shores!  The Spaniards came in 1587, claiming the land here for Spain.  No doubt over all of these centuries, many have come to this harbor and gazed at the 576-foot Morro Rock and longed to know the others who passed by these shores before them.

We’ll hope for some sun and a little more warmth tomorrow for some additional photos.  A supply of taffy from the waterfront is in order.  Maybe even a cup of hot coffee down by the beach before we start work.  If we come back this way in the fall, I hope to linger here and explore a little longer.  Then I may be able to tell you more precisely what it is that draws both of us to Morro Bay.  Look carefully below and you will see two people on the beach.  Their size compared to the portion of the Morro Rock showing in the background will give you an idea of just how massive this rock sitting in the ocean here is!