Anniversary Road Trip: MORRO BAY

We arrived in Morro Bay on the evening of our anniversary. We didn't know much about this place, except that it was the last stop on National Geographic's suggested route down the PCH and the home of the famous Morro Rock. I just had a good feeling about this place. From the photos and description, it looked like it had a rugged charm about it. We found a cute hotel with some great packages for dinner and breakfast and made our reservations.

Our expectations were definitely surpassed. Everything was lovely.

We LOVED our room. It was cozy, beautifully decorated, and even had a fireplace.

They also left us some champagne for our anniversary. Unfortunately, we do not drink alcohol, but we appreciated the kindness! Hopefully, some of the housekeeping ladies got to enjoy it.

Next stop was Dutchman's for dinner. We got an amazing deal for two 3-course meals through our hotel. We ate like KINGS!

My favorite part of dinner was sitting by the windows and watching an otter playing out in the foggy bay. It was my dream to see an otter!

bring on the appetizers! Popcorn shrimp and garlic fries.

We ate some fancy seafood.

dessert!

After dinner, we bundled up and a took a long walk past all the shops and restaurants down to Morro Rock and the beach. The fog made everything look eerie and enchanting, and the whole town seemed so quiet. I'm almost sure that we were the only ones at the beach that night. A very romantic setting for our anniversary.

night at the beach

The next morning, the fog started to lift and we took some beach cruisers (provided by our hotel) out to explore.

We stayed at the Beach Bungalow Inn, and absolutely loved it. Free beach cruiser rentals was one of the awesome perks of staying there.

Through our hotel package, we received free breakfast at a cute diner down by the water called Frankie & Lola's. They seriously had the most amazing breakfast menu I have ever seen.  Again, we ate like kings and only had to tip the waitress!

I ordered the "ABC" scrambled eggs. DELICIOUS. (sorry for all the food pics. This is mostly a reference for myself in case we ever go back to Morro Bay. I'll definitely want to eat here again!)

Jacob got the "Chillaquilles" eggs. AMAZING.

We rode our bikes down to Morro Rock,  the big volcanic monument.

We saw a family of otters chillin out on the kelp forest! Do you see the baby with its mama?

Me with the otters in the background. I couldn't have been happier. I could've watched these guys for hours.

waiting for free willy to jump over.

Carousel Taffy. This place was a dreamland.

So much taffy! We bought ourselves a nice colorful bag full of the stuff.

At the last minute, we decided to go kayaking in the bay!
We are spontaneous and adventurous sometimes.

Jacob had to do the hard work in the back and keep up with the rotations of my short arms.

Beached on a little island. Morro Rock behind me.

We got up close and personal with the Morro Bay sea lions. They were a riot. 

We had fun listening to them roar and fight over their own place to sleep on the little dock. 

They all held this pose! so funny.

 After leaving Morro Bay, we headed down to Pismo Beach—Jacob's ol' family reunion destination. We ate lunch at the Splash Cafe and ordered the famous clam chowder. Afterwards, we strolled down the long stretch of beach and searched for sand dollars. We even found one!

In line at Splash Cafe.

I really loved exploring all these new places in an area of California that I had never experienced before. 

And of course, celebrating our anniversary at the same time just made everything even more dreamy.

I love being married to this guy.