California Central Coast Weekend
The husband and I have not had the opportunity to get out of town a lot together in the recent past, but we took advantage of a quick weekend away that included a bit of work and play. First, we planned to head north to the Chumash Casino, just outside of Santa Ynez to see a concert, our first at that venue, and decided to stay local afterwards before continuing up Highway 101 to do various tasks at our cabin the next day.
After originally booking a room at the Chumash, I did that reservation spin thing . . . Nothing was cheap in Buellton on a Friday night, but after some thought, I cancelled my room at the Chumash and booked a night instead, for curiosities sake, at the renovated Sideways Inn, previously The Windmill Inn, now named after the 2004 movie “Sideways” that had a definite impact on the local Santa Ynez Wine industry. Highway West Vacations, who also own the adjacent Flying Flags RV Resort and Campground, bought the property in 2016 and immediately set about making improvements which are evident today.
Check-in was handled in the interesting windmill lofted lobby. Front desk staff was polite and explained that the room price included a door delivered breakfast in the morning. Before retiring for the evening, or prior to 2:00am, you leave a card clipped to your door with your food preferences. Choices included juice (apple or orange), yogurt, banana bread, and whole fruit. Kuerig style coffee pots are available in each room or a nice selection of pastries and regular brewed coffee/tea await in the lobby each morning (and throughout the day) if you prefer. After checking in, we were directed to a room on the backside of the complex, interestingly, where the helmet bashing scene from the movie went down.
Ouch, Ouch! Ouch
The room had been modernized, redecorated, was still pretty basic, a bit dark, but not bad as an overall impression. Rooms located in the “Courtyard” section, featured outdoor patio sitting areas abreast a pool, xeriscape garden and appeared to be generally lighter and brighter than our room which was more along the lines of typical motel room. Fire pits where scattered about and the one closest to us was started up about dusk as we departed for dinner and was off by the time we returned, as quiet hours are posted at 10:00pm and is most likely the bewitching hour. An arbored walkway serves as the pass-through to the Flying Flags RV Resort and Campground, and you are welcome and encouraged to enjoy amenities on that adjacent property as well. The Sideways Lounge and a really nice gym looked worth checking out if you have more time.
It was our first concert at the Chumash Casino and after reading online of possible parking availability issues, we arrived early, about 6:45pm-ish for the 8:00pm concert. No problems finding a decent spot, caught a golf-cart like shuttle at the bottom of the parking garage with no line or waiting, that dropped us off at the front entrance. We headed in, grabbed a drink just outside the Samala Showroom and had a bit of time to spare. Not bad. The concert was fantastic, Southern Rock Band 38 Special entertained with a bevy of hits from the 80’s and 90’s, sounding great and still going strong! The Samala Showroom is toward the back of the Casino and you are reminded immediately how lucky we are that non-smoking laws are in effect everywhere in California but on Tribal property. The smoke, not too horrible when we arrived, had crept into the epic zone (at least for us) by the time the concert let out. Any thoughts of hanging around to lose some money in the slots was quickly squelched, but no fear, they’ll get more money out of us in the future on music and drinks. Great venue! Click the link below for additional entertainment!
After waking in the morning our breakfast was indeed placed in a bag on the door handle. We nibbled, but opted to eventually head over to Ellen’s Danish Pancake House before continuing up towards Paso Robles. It was a glorious day to cruise the remaining miles up the 101, passing Los Alamos (love that town) Pismo Beach, Avila Beach, San Luis Obispo and Atascadero. Fall is my favorite time along the central coast. Mornings and evenings can be clear and crisp as the summer heat falls away and the vineyards glint burnished gold with their classic fall coloring. Upon reaching our cabin, I spent the remainder of the day leveling a 40 year old hedge, fertilizing, and hoping for a revitalization act in the spring . We’ll see . . . Husband did winterizing and began the process of replacing a rotted front porch post. Oh, the fun!
Later, feeling good about our accomplishments, we cleaned up and headed into Paso Robles with tickets to see the latest attraction, Field of Light at Sensorio. Created by British artist Bruce Munro, who is known for immersive large scale light based installations, this 15 acre walk-through artwork covers the gently rolling Paso Robles hillsides with over 58,000 stemmed spheres. We had bought and reserved tickets for the first “showing” of the evening, and gathered in line close to the entrance waiting for the gates to open, promptly st 5:00pm. Powered by solar each sphere begins its illumination with a gentle opaque white glow. Never having see photos or media of the attraction, Husband had a big question mark hanging over his head, like WTF? But we continued to stroll slowly along the trail, eventually arriving at what was probably the farthest end point of the exhibit. Here we posted up on a long bench to sit as dusk rolled in and the magic began.
Masterminding the Explore:
In Buellton:
Lots or accommodation options. Do a bit of online research. Prices seem to vary greatly based on specific weekends and local events. The Sideways Inn was fine, particularly for us and our needs. The price seemed a bit high for the accommodation style, but was completely in there competitively with other similar properties.
There’s probably a lot more to the Chumash Casino tip-wise but we popped in for a concert only. Good venue though for that. We’ll be back. Surprisingly inexpensive beers and wine at the bar just outside the Samala Showroom, (compared to other concert venue prices). Plenty of restrooms adjacent.
Field of Light at Sensario:
Get tickets in advance as it tends to sell out, particularily on weekends around holidays. This is one of those things that it does make sense to plan ahead. You can arrive ticket-less and wait in a different line to enter, but it’s a lot of wasted standing. Also, you miss the curtain raising of the sunset fall. But it’s probably better than not seeing it at all.
No outside food or alcohol. They bag check. A nice area with a lawn is set up with food trucks, beverages, etc if you need something during your visit. If we had gone with friends we would have probably hung out a bit longer in this area.
They’re super strict on photography. No Tripods allowed. This was a bit aggravating as I must have missed this info online and carried my tripod from the car to the entrance. I was able to leave it in a box there and retrieved it on the way out. How do you photograph low light without a tripod? I gave up and used my iphone. But once inside and it became truly dark ~ I got it. Tripods would have been a safety issue. It is DARK in there. One woman brought a mono-pod, aka, hiking pole kind of thing. She got in, but they were on to her . . .
‘Know your phone settings, particularly how to turn your flash off and keep it off. The “flash police” are polite but relentless! We got a few chuckles out of this.
Despite the tripod issue, photographers will want to get there for the first show time of the evening depending on the time of year. We noticed a “sweet spot” photographically that lasted about 10 minutes after sunset. Later ticket times would miss this during the winter and timing your entry might need to be adjusted as we get closer to the summer solstice. Pay attention.
The paths are compacted dirt and smooth. There is some minimal elevation, wheelchairs would do fine unless after a big rain. My parents in their 80’s would have loved it but it was very dark for old eyes. I would have needed to watch them carefully. The pathways are clear though, no getting lost.
Field of Light has now been extended to June 30th, 2020. Go.
