Port San Luis and See Canyon Apples

Let's keep this secret between ourselves: Weatherwise, September and October are a couple of the most beautiful months of the year here. The temperatures are often warm during the day and cool at night, the skies are clear and the summer vacation crowds have disappeared. In celebration of our "Indian Summer", we hopped in the Mustang for a cruise up our coast to Port San Luis and See Canyon.

Port San Luis adds a rich history to the Central Coast. This natural habor was used by Spaniard and Portuguese explorers many centuries ago. In 1873 John Harford built the original wharf which helped establish the port as a major shipping center for retail goods, passengers and mail. In the 1880's, the the Pacific Coast Railway ran all the way from Los Olivos to the Harford Pier.

Today, commercial and sport fishermen use the pier as their base of operations and many pleasure boaters tie up in the harbor year-round. Local fishermen may be seen cleaning their catch at the base of the pier and numerous pelicans can be spotted in the area just waiting to tussle over the remnants.



There are several fresh fish markets on the pier which sell wholesale to local restaurants and retail to the general public. The Old Port Inn Fish Market is probably the largest and is certainly our favorite. The Old Port Inn restaurant (right next to the market) at the end of the pier is also one of our local favorites for a fresh seafood dining experience.

Today we stopped into Fat Cat's Cafe (at the base of the pier) for a quick lunch on the patio. I'd been hankering for a bowl of their great clam chowder ever since I'd tasted a sample at the Pismo Beach Clam Festival last year. The chowder was as excellent as I'd remembered and certainly satisfied my craving. Ann had a crab cocktail which was loaded with fresh crab and perfectly seasoned.

For "dessert" we drove up See Canyon to sample and buy some freshly picked apples from the Gopher Glen apple farm. See Canyon provides the perfect climate for growing apples: it's cold enough for frost in the winter and warm and sunny in the summer. There's enough fog-shrouded mornings and moisture in the summer that many of the apple farms don't need to irrigate their orchards.

We've been buying Gopher Glen apples for about 20 years now. There's always a large selection of apples and today there were 12 varieties to choose from. These apples are crisp and delicious..they've got to be the best in the world!

Gopher Glen also presses and sells their own cider which is available in container sizes ranging from 16 oz to 1 gallon. Apple season usually runs from late July to early December. This year though, the See canyon apple season is running about 3 weeks early so most varieties will trail off around the end of November. Better hurry!

Silver Strand Beach

Silver Strand Beach just barely falls within the geographical limits of what we consider California's Central Coast AND it's about a 2 hour drive south of Santa Maria AND it's nearly within the urban expanse known as Los Angeles. BUT - Silver Strand Beach is a great getaway which we've been visiting for several years now.

Silver Strand Beach is a one-mile-long by one-quarter mile wide slice of shoreline and homes along the western edge of Oxnard; bordered by Channel Islands Harbor (think fishermen, sailboats and million-dollar yachts) on the north and Port Hueneme (think Navy SeaBees and commercial freighting port) on the south and east.

Silver Strand is well known among surfers for it's great winter swells and is the birthplace of several hard-core punk bands during the mid-80's. The beach community itself is extremely close-knit but friendly and ranges from year-round locals to vacation homeowners to folks who just need to escape the hustle of the big city and/or have retired into the laid-back lifestyle.

On our visit this weekend, we we're fortunate enough to have met Tillman the Skateboarding Bulldog. Tillman is the sweetest, friendliest bulldog you could ever hope to meet. He loves grownups and kids and other dogs and he loves to say hello. He also loves to play. Tillman's idea of play is a little different from most dogs'. You see, in the laid-back Silver Strand Beach lifestyle; Tillman grabs his skateboard when he wants to play. You may have seen Tillman's video on YouTube or you may have seen Tillman in Apple's iPhone ad. Either way, Tillman's got his own website...check it out.

Here's a Tillman update: Tillman the Skateboarding Bulldog now has another talent. Presenting Tillman the Skimboarding Bulldog.

For more about Silver Strand Beach, check out this Wikepedia entry. It's pretty accurate.

For cheap eats - we highly recommend Pepe's for their outstanding Mexican takeout (try any one of their huge burritos or the fish tacos).

Another popular spot is the Jetty Surf Cafe (right across the street from Pepe's). The Jetty Surf Cafe serves up an awesome breakfast or lunch (and during the Summer is also open for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays). We often enjoy the Hawaiian French Toast for breakfast (3 slices of Kings Hawaiian sweet bread rolled in crushed corn flakes and almonds; served with sliced bananas, powdered sugar and cinnamon). There's also a huge selection of eggs, omelets, scrambles and breakfast burritos. Lunch is served from 11AM to 3PM Mondays thru Fridays and from 12PM to 3PM Saturdays & Sundays. The lunch menu ranges from a Sourdough Swiss Avocado Bacon Cheeseburger to Grilled Ahi Tacos to a Hawaiian Style Plate Lunch to Philly Cheese Steaks to Subs and Salads.