Pillar to Post: TUESDAY TRAVEL / SAILING CENTRAL CALIFORNIA, AN IDYLL WITH JENNIFER SILVA REDMOND

Morro Rock as seen from Watchfire

First in a series of sailboat adventures from the author of "Honeymoon at Sea."

GUEST BLOG / By Jennifer Silva Redmond-- In June of 2020, my husband Russel and I sailed out of San Diego's Mission Bay and turned right. We stopped at a few points of call on our trip north, but, due to pandemic restrictions, there wasn’t much socializing along the way.

Then a Small Craft Warning kept us stuck in Oxnard for a week, so it was late in June when we sailed past Santa Barbara.

A few days later we rounded Point Conception on a calm morning, motoring north (one wants to avoid weather at that Cape, so we were willing to motor). We sailed into Morro Bay that evening and and pulled up to the dock at the always welcoming Morro Bay Yacht Club.

We both love the central coast of California, and were looking forward to spending time there with our dear friends Neil and Brad. Russel and Neil share a birthday week, so we four often meet up to celebrate together the second week in July. Sometimes that week’s activities are built around a fun staycation at Neil and Brad’s lovely home in the California desert, but this year we’d agreed to meet up in Morro Bay for a few days of touristing. They had reserved a waterfront hotel room so the four of us would be able to take turns being afloat or ashore.

Morro Bay (above, as seen from Watchfire) is surrounded by beautiful coastline and bucolic farmlands and there’s plenty to do—from galleries and shell shops to the farmers market and art shows in the city park—but I was still wracking my brains for a perfect big event when I saw an ad for Sensorio.

For those who have not experienced this “happening,” it is a multi-acre light show spread out in the rolling hills near Paso Robles, and promised to be a very unusual evening. Uniqueness is key when you are trying to choose a birthday experience for the guys who have everything!

Neil and Brad arrived late on the first day so we only briefly met up at their hotel room to make plans over drinks. They’d brought gourmet snacks as usual, so we nibbled on smoked salmon and soft cheeses with herbed crackers, and sipped the cool Italian white wine Brad had selected.

Brad—tall, dark, and striking with bright blue eyes—has a Texas twang and a booming infectious laugh. Neil is handsome in a more golden way, bronzed by the sun with long silver locks, given to witty throwaway quips that have us rolling. We all decided that the next day would feature a seafood dinner prepared on the boat, so we needed to include a trip to the local fish store to see what was fresh on offer.

The next morning we four strolled down the main coastal drag of Morro Bay, admiring the famous Shell Shop and peeking into many of the shops. They were suitably impressed with our favorite, a combination interior design gallery and plant nursery, with every kind of succulent, fern, bonsai, and cactus in every kind of colorful pot or vase.

The weather that day was perfect, as Morro Bay often is, sunny with clouds and a cool salty breeze. I pointed out our favorite restaurant, Windows on the Water, which was closed for a private event, and we told them the story of the two of us going there one year for our wedding anniversary.

At the fresh oyster bar we’d met another couple who were also celebrating their anniversary, and it turned out they’d also gotten married on May 27th, 1989. Astounding odds to have booked neighboring tables, since none of us were actually from Morro Bay.

The outdoor tables at Giovanni’s were thronged with diners but the fish market was bountiful as promised, so we bought a few tasty treats and nibbled on samples of tangy smoked fish as we strolled.

The afternoon flew by as we reminisced about previous birthday bashes at diverse locations. Neil and I have been friends since 1986, when we met while working at a new restaurant on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, so our humorous repertoire of “remember that day” stories runs deep.

Russel met Neil in 1993, and Neil introduced us to Brad just a couple of years later, so we four have over twenty- five years of hanging out and throwing parties together to draw on.

There was time to catch up on everything that had been happening in our lives, including some work drama and a few new pursuits. Neil has always been encouraging to me in my work, and Brad even hired me to edit copy for the company he runs when I was first freelancing. I pointed out the yacht belonging to a chef whose book I had edited and helped with publishing, including Russel shooting the perfect book cover photo.

The conversation was comfortably rambling as we strolled further down the waterfront to see the wildlife the bay is justly famous for. There were plenty of sea lions—no surprise as we’d heard them barking off and on through the night. We soon stopped to gawk at a dozen or so sea otters basking atop the kelp beds. Otters in the wild are irresistible and we oohed and ahhed appropriately.

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting from our big outing, then we rowed them out to our boat for a festive happy hour and a dinner of grilled black sea bass and veggies. There are not many places where you can still buy fresh-caught black sea bass, but Giovanni’s is one of them, and the white-fleshed fish was flaky, smoky, and delicious.

We toasted to the perfection of the setting and to the “birthday boys.” The next day started with breakfast at the popular Dorn’s Breakers Cafe atop the hill overlooking Morro Bay. It was cool and gray but not raining so we sat outside and shivered in our shorts.

The day warmed up quickly as we drove up the coast to San Simeon. We skipped the Hearst Castle tour since we’d all been there before but we did hang out at the state park beach and ogle the elephant seals, and their Goldendoodle Otis got to run and play in the breakers on the beach. Our dog, Ready was more of the hang out in my kennel in the shady car type of canine, so she was happy to be brought back to the truck.

Leaving San Simeon, we drove south past Cambria and then directed them to turn east onto Hwy 46. This road is one of our favorite drives in the world, maybe second only to Highway One through Big Sur. The sun had come out and the scenery of rolling green hills along the winding road was as good as we’d promised.

We stopped at a winery our chef friend had recommended for some red wine tasting, while Neil, our designated driver, walked Otis around the gorgeous grounds. Then we headed east again through more incredible views to Paso Robles.

A vista from Denner Winery's Patio

By this point the mercury was hitting 90 so we were happy to retire to a shaded courtyard eatery for drinks and snacks. As the sun sank lower, we headed out to Sensorio, only a ten-minute drive out into the low hills outside of Paso Robles. The parking lot was already crowded but we found a perfect spot, our senior pet was happy to retire to her kennel in the truck in a shady location. Otis is a service dog so he was able to accompany us onto the grounds; having handed in our tickets we walked in the entrance gate and looked around.

Photos cannot do Sensorio justice, it really has to be experienced in person.

At first, with the sun not quite set, the sight of rolling fields studded with thousands of plastic light wands was disappointing, but as the sun set and the sky darkened, the hills came alive with the multicolored dots of glowing light. We strolled slowly around the loop and took a hundred pictures, then went around again and simply gazed in wonder at the dazzling vistas.

The next day we opted to show them some of our favorite places in San Luis Obispo. SLO, as the natives call, is a college town full of wonderfully dusty and jumbled bookstores, colorful art galleries, and quirky boutiques. We wandered the labyrinth of historic streets and alleys, taking tourist shots at the gum wall, and posing on the quaint bridges. We peeked into galleries and bookshops while discussing art and literature—holding forth about our personal favorite artists and authors.

Novo, San Luis Obispo, CA

Soon we were hungry again, of course, because we four share an appetite for life! Of course we suggested our favorite place for lunch or early dinner, Novo, right on the river. Fresh local foods, creative cuisine, and friendly service is the icing on the cake when you are sitting in an shady oak grove overlooking the rushing water; the views are fabulous and the tree bower makes it an oasis even on a hot day. it is dog-friendly, of course, so Otis could stretch out calmly at their feet and Ready could dance with excitement under our table (mealtimes always brought out her youth and vigor).

The tablecloth was covered with dishes and speckled with sunshine filtering down through the oak leaves, and we had fun dissecting every dish and sharing tastes of everything. I took a bite of my fresh grilled salmon salad and sighed happily.

Seeing these three dear faces, all digging in with gusto, I was filled with gratitude. Not only for the perfect setting and the days of summer fun we’d spent together, but for my friends themselves and Russel, my very best friend.

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Note: An earlier version of this essay was originally published in Womancake Magazine in 2024; it is reprinted here with the permission of that publication.

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