A Road Trip with Susan

Larry loves to sail.  I do not boat.  When he proposed marriage to me, I told him two things:  1. If you run for political office, you should know that my time at the University of Virginia did not feature temperance and bible study, and 2. I do not boat.

Luckily, he has found people who love to boat.  He recently went to Croatia to boat, leaving me at home with Susan and Amy.  Amy had to be dropped in Santa Cruz for camp counselor training for a few days, so Susan and I decided to drop the dog at Sweet Doggies (I am not making that up) and take a road trip down the coast.

Traveling with one daughter is even better than traveling alone.  Two people, one of whom gave birth to the other, creates a great dynamic.  Susan and I have known each other for her whole life, so we have a good idea of each other’s likes and dislikes, and we are interested in making each other happy.  Also, we both have to pee a lot, so there is no eye-rolling about frequent bathroom stops.

Here’s a fun fact: The last time I was at Hearst Castle, I was pregnant with Susan.  Susan and I spent a day there on our trip, and a surprising number of people asked if we had been there before, and I was able to say, “Yes, and the last time I was here, she was inside me!”

We did the downstairs tour, which we enjoyed.  Since it was just the two of us, and we are inveterate plaque readers, we then spent another two hours exploring every inch of the gardens.  Then we went on the upstairs tour, because, Why Not?  By the time we left, ours was the only car left in the lot.

We had dinner in Cayucos and then spent a few hours in the Old Cayucos

Tavern, which has been serving up watered-down liquor since 1906.  There were only six patrons in the bar, and no one else seemed interested in the juke box, so were able to play pool while listening to all our favorite songs. 

The next day we planned to go wine-tasting, but we lingered over brunch so long that we only went to one winery.  After we finished our cheese plate on the winery patio, Susan scrapped some abandoned cheese off a neighboring table.  I was so proud.

I had noticed a nearby Cidery that was open late, so we took ourselves off to “Tin City” near Paso Robles.  Tin City is an enclave that looks like re-purposed old warehouses, the sort of thing that hipsters love, but here’s the thing: it’s all new construction, built to LOOK like old warehouses.

It had a very “If you build it, they will come” aura.  Susan pointed out all the hipster catnip for me.  Food trucks, live mandolin music, giant Connect-4 and Cornhole games, dogs in bandanas, tattooed bartenders, craft beer and cider.  It was surreal, but the cider was good.

On our final night, we stayed at Asilomar in Monterey, a resort designed by

Julia Morgan, the same architect that designed Hearst Castle, a completely unintentional coincidence. There is a great Craftsman-style common room with a big fireplace, pool tables, rocking chairs, bookcases, and – puzzles.

After a walk on the beach, Susan and I went to the common room and discovered, on a table, an unassembled 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle of book covers.  Umm, you know we stayed up until 1:30 am and finished it.