Avila Beach, CA (140)

We spent March along the central coast of CA, and were blessed with lots of sunshine and mild temps.

A new park opened in Avila Beach (Flying Flags Avila Beach), so we decided to try it out for a week. It’s a beautiful RV Park nestled on the side of a hill overlooking San Luis Bay. Every site has a great view, as you can see.

We also loved the propane fire pit, especially in the evenings. Very nice!

It’s a short walk down the hill to the beach so we visited the dog-friendly beach often.

Lucy loved chasing the birds, even if they were in the water or on the rocks!

We also visited the Hanford Pier at Port San Luis several times.

The restaurant there, Merseas, is good and the view is great.

You can see the RV park in the background (ours circled in red). We also enjoyed watching the sea lions jockey for the best spot on the barge.

And we are definitely bringing our kayak next time!

In the distance you can see the town of Avila Beach, which we also visited each day.

On one of the days, I caught up with an old friend who moved there last year. Good to see you, John!

We took a death-defying bus ride to the Point San Luis Lighthouse. For the more adventurous, you can also hike or kayak there!

The lighthouse tour was really good. Lighthouses along the California coast each had a distinctive look, another way to help the ship captains determine their location.

A Fresnel lens and fog horn also gave a distinctive light and sound pattern which could be seen and heard from miles away.

The light and fog horn are now automated, and just don’t have the charm of the old lighthouses.

This lighthouse required a family man for the post, and he would live here with his entire family for many years.

This is the bedroom of the daughter of the last lighthouse keeper, and, as an old woman, she helped the association restore it just as it would have been when she lived there.

Here’s a picture of the lighthouse grounds on the treacherous 🙂 ride back to the beach.

While in the area, we also visited the Avila Barn, Pismo Beach, and San Luis Obispo. While in SLO, we stopped by a Frank Lloyd Wright commercial building. At one point I wanted to be an architect, so I’ll visit any building of his if we are nearby.

Wright paid particular attention to the interior space, designing most of the furniture and built-ins. It looks like this may be close to the original design.

We also stopped by Lokum in SLO for an assortment of delicious baklava and Turkish delight!

We had a whole week at Avila Beach, but all too soon it was time to move on. Our next stop was another Flying Flags location in Buellton. We’ve written about it before, but this resort is a great place to stop on your way south to visit Solvang and Los Olivos.

We visited both and then headed south to Ventura’s Rincon Parkway for some dry camping. I’ll look forward to sharing that visit next week, but here’s a sneak peek!

Al & Deb