It had been a while since my wife Luisa and I went on a day trip to one of the many towns or cities within California. Last week we decided to cruise south on Highway 101 over to San Luis Obispo, only this time it was a party of three with the addition of our son, Elias.
About five minutes into our stroll, flashbacks of walking alongside my alma mater at UC Berkeley came about. Only, the traffic wasn’t as dense and the streets were amazingly clean for being ranked as one of the top college towns in the state.
As anticipated, we came across the big retailers, such as Apple, CVS and Starbucks, which were part of the Downtown Centre plaza.
But one of the first stores we stepped into was Bricks & Minifigs, an unofficial aftermarket LEGO toy shop at 863 Marsh St. with just about every imaginable tiny plastic part one can imagine.
It was like setting foot into a museum, only these works of art were for sale. They had full sets featuring Star Wars characters or more intricate pieces, such as race cars. Another neat feature was a set of tables they had set up with a “landfill” full of loose pieces, such as bricks, wheels, various components and other accessories for the minifigs. It’s all sold in bulk, which is great when building the next masterpiece.
Speaking of minifigs, there are glass cases full of assembled ones. Or there’s the option to build a custom one by choosing from different bins with assorted heads, bodies and legs.
It was tempting to sort through it all and start a new project at home, but we were already short on time.
So, it was off to Higuera Street, where all the hoopla was supposedly happening.
There we walked into Tails pet shop, where we bought Fillmore, our German Shepard, an assortment of well deserved treats.
One interesting thing on the counter was a display case full of birthday cakes and other baked goods for dogs, which is something not seen everyday. At least not for me.
The decorative cakes ($8) are made with peanut butter, honey or molasses and flour, then topped with a goat milk yogurt mix. They also have a rice cake with peanut butter, which runs at $7 for a small cake and $15 for the larger one.
We proceeded to walk down Higuera Street just past the Mission Plaza and the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, a Spanish mission founded by Junipero Serra in 1772.
With no events scheduled for that Wednesday night, that area was mostly quiet except for the enchanting bell tolls from the mission at the top of the hour, echoing into the early dusk.
Not too far was Old San Luis Barbecue, which is well known for serving Angus beef tri-tip, pulled pork, chicken and linguica sandwiches. According to their website, they specialize in Santa Maria-style barbecue that dates back to 150 years.
Old San Luis BBQ also offers some unique side dishes, such as the Cowboy Corn Pie—corn bread made with diced jalapeños and cheddar cheese. We decided to keep it light by ordering just one slider ($5.95) with their award-winning tri-tip on a sourdough roll and dressed with tangy barbecue sauce.
Looking back, we should’ve just went with a full size sandwich because it was mighty scrumptious. The meat was tender, the roll was soft and that sauce complemented it well.
We continued our early evening walk when all of a sudden we ran into a group of thrift stores. Yet, for whatever reason I was really drawn to Cheap Thrills—a used record shop at 563 Higuera St.
Nearly every bit of space was occupied by used compact discs, vinyl records and tons of audio equipment. There’s also a huge selection of used video games and consoles, including accessories I didn’t even realize existed. It was like stepping into a time machine, a very unique experience.
Finally, we capped off the trip with a stop at Flour House pizza bar and pastaria. That was probably one the best decisions we made.
For starters, we tried the arancini ($18) — Sicilian fried rice balls stuffed with ‘nduja (spicy spreadable pork sausage), provola cheese, saffron and topped with an herb garlic aioli. The combination of those flavors were a bit quirky at first, then it all comes together once the chewing process starts.
That was followed up with a wood-fired Americana pizza ($24) with San Marzano (DOP) tomato sauce, salami piccante, fior di latte cheese and basil. They bring the pizza unsliced the way it’s served in Naples, Italy. Let’s just say these guys are serious about the dough.
According to their website, “At the heart of real Pizza Napoletana is the naturally leavened dough, left to ferment overnight and made daily by our trained Pizzaioli with the highest quality of double zero imported Italian flour.”
Flour House also uses DOP San Marzano tomatoes, which means they are premium Italian plum tomatoes grown in volcanic soil near Mount Vesuvius. It is protected by Denominazione d’Origine Protetta (Protected Designation of Origin) certification — now that’s amore.
San Luis Obispo really left a great impression on my wife and I, and we’ll most likely return to check out the rest of this great town.
