Roadtrip (During Covid-19) - Walking Around San Luis Obispo and Revisiting Firestone Grill 7 Years Later

After yet another nice meal at Madeline's in Cambria (and that beautiful sunset), we slept well. And after a wonderful night's sleep, I got up early, and just as on our previous visit walked on over to Cambria Coffee Roasting Company to get the Missus Her pour over and a Cold Brew for me.

Like Paso Robles; there's something about Cambria that is very comfortable and on this, our second trip here within a year, it all felt familiar.

Cambria Coffee Roasting Company
761 Main St.
Cambria, CA 93428

We just relaxed and took our sweet time. We had one more stop before heading home and it was basically a 45 minute drive South. Finally, fully awake we headed off....to San Luis Obispo. We had made a stop in SLO years back, but I had wanted to stay for a night. But man, those hotel prices in the downtown area....over $300 a night! Yikes. So, I booked what was basically a motor inn right off the 101 and a short 15 minute walk into the heart of "SLO". Of course we had gotten in quite early; check-in wasn't until 3pm. So, the motel was nice enough to let us park in the lot and we decided to stretch our legs and grab some lunch.

We basically walked up Higuera Street then took a left on Broad Street. We were playing by ear.

   The Missus had decided that She wanted to see Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, so we headed off in that direction. We meandered along, crossing over San Luis Obispo Creek; stopping to check out some of the public art.

The creek has nice green spaces and a creekside trail. And some of the restaurants and bars have what seems like serene creekside seating.

It was such a bright and beautiful day in May.

We passed the History Center and headed up to Palm and the garden area of the Mission.

It was a nice, peaceful area to take a break. The Mission is well known for the bells and bellringers.

After a short break we headed off to the front of the Mission.

And the bells went off just as we turned the corner.

   The Mission was founded in 1772 by; you guessed it; Junípero Serra. The site itself is fascinating as the area was called Ilano de los Osos (though some say it was La Cañada de los Osos - "Valley of the Bears") "Plain of the Bears" by Juan Crespí, a Franciscan Missionary who documented Gaspar de Portolá's expedition thru what is now California.

There was a nice art display in Mission Plaza and all along SLO called the May Flower Initiative, with some wonderful, colorful displays.

There was something I wanted to check out just a block over. You see; once upon a time, like many cities in California, SLO had a Chinatown (there's a great article here). A block over from the Mission are the remnants of that Chinatown. The most well known being the Ah Louis Store.

Ah Louis is probably the most well known and most successful of those that settled in SLO. The Ah Louis Store still stands; though it's now called "Karson Butler Events at the Ah Louis Store".

    Another business that still exists is Mee Heng Low; you can read a wonderful article on the business here. One can only imagine what challenges these folks had to overcome. The anti-Chinese sentiment, the Chinese Exclusion Act......and there are times...at least these days, where I think we haven't evolved very far from the racism and hate of those days.

By this time, the Missus was getting a bit hungry.....after a short discussion....a very short discussion, we thought it would be kinda cool to revisit Firestone Grill, which we really enjoyed over 7 years ago! My how time flies......

So we walked on over.

They were doing great business; but folks were all wearing masks and distancing and other processes were in place.

We placed our order at one counter; found a table outside. They had closed tables in order to distance diners....a nice job overall.

Soon enough our number was called and I headed off to another area to pick up our food. We had ordered the exact same items as on our previous visit.

The Missus got Her massive Steak Cobb Salad ($11.99), which She plowed thru like there's no tomorrow.

Yes, that tri-tip does well on this; but man, it's the bacon and blue cheese that makes the salad in my opinion. And with all that flavor, who needs dressing.

I got the Trip-tip Sandwich (no BBQ sauce please).

They still gave me BBQ sauce; but at least it was on the side....that sauce is way too sweet and for me doesn't bring anything to the sandwich. Not quite as much tri-tip as I recall; but it is still moist and tender, beefy with mild smokiness....I do like the roll they use; lightly toasted, a bit of garlic butter...yeasty. This was quite good........even 7 years later!

Firestone Grill
1001 Higuera St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

We were happy with lunch and were looking forward to dinner....but first; a nap of course. I got a text telling me our room was ready so we headed back.

There was one additional stop I wanted to make; Bubblegum Alley....but when we got there, the Missus was so grossed out that She told me I'd be napping in the car if I walked in.....

I dunno; we had been to the Gum Wall in Seattle......but maybe being surrounded by stuff that's been chewed...saliva and all that....in the heat of mid-day?

That's fine......at this point in time, that nap in air conditioned goodness was more important to me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Comments

[kat]

what a cute town! love the buildings :)

[Soo]

Nice road trip! I wanna visit Mee Heng Low next time I visit.

[Kirk]

We enjoyed the public art Kat!

Hope you enjoy it Soo!

[Junichi]

I'd be more interested in the craft beer alley!

[Kirk]

I'm sure you would Junichi! ;o)

[MrZ]

I went to school there! Your photos sure bring back memories. My roommates and I used to go to Firestone's every time it was someone's birthday, and buy the birthday person a sandwich. Our friend group started getting bigger and bigger to the point where it seemed like we were going every week. I got tired of the same sandwich all the time so I started getting chicken fingers or something. And we always would forget how big a portion of fries were and get too many fries.

After seeing Gum Alley for so long I found Seattle's gum wall to be weak sauce.

[Kirk]

Lol on Gum Alley MrZ! I recall you emailing me about Firestone Grill all those years ago! It's great to hear from you and hope all is well.

[The Office Goat]

We're going through SLO and staying in Cambria on the way up to Santa Cruz. The gum alley will be a must-see for the GoatTeens. We'll probably be lunching in SLO or maybe further south, taking the scenic route up.

[Kirk]

I hope you have a great time ToG!