Anniversary and Babymoon Weekend 

As is his tradition, Matt didn’t tell me where we were going for our Anniversary and Babymoon Weekend trip. He did give me some hints along the way including that he didn’t think there would be bellhops and it might be too cold to swim, yet we packed swimsuits in case it was not. I enjoyed our trip and was delighted when we pulled up to the Cavalier Oceanfront Resort in San Simeon. It is one of his mom’s favorite hotels and we’d stayed nearby yet, this was our first stay together at this location. When we got there we were ahead of the four p.m. check in time, so we ate lunch at Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill Restaurant.

We had eaten there before, with Matt’s family the weekend we had attended Joe and Katki’s wedding in San Simeon. Matt enjoyed a spicy Blood Mary while I had lots of milk. We both enjoyed the fresh local seafood for our entrees.

After lunch it was time to check in so we went back to our hotel. We had a beautiful suite on the second floor complete with in room fireplace, large bathtub, and balcony overlooking this beautiful beautiful stretch of beach.

Matt had mentioned that the Hearst Ranch Winery was nearby. Though they were closing within the hour, I encouraged him to take us there so he could wine taste. The place had a fun Old West feel including having real horseshoes as purse hooks. Matt enjoyed a selection of reds while I explored the indoors a bit. Our bartender let us pet her adorable service dog in training, Vivian, remarking that though I couldn’t drink due to my pregnancy, I should get to enjoy the the company of the dog.

That night we went out for our official celebratory dinner at F. McClintock’s. This place had an Old West feel as well. We enjoyed live music, steaks (just steak for him, a surf and turf with lobster tail for me) and being together. This meal was made more special with a card and gift card from Candy and the stay singing Happy Anniversary to us. They even gave us a polaroid photo that we had the option of donating to their large collection displayed all over the front, yet we liked it so much we decided to take it with us instead.

After dinner we went to San Luis Obsipo. I was delighted to get to spend time looking at and taking photos of Bubblegum Alley.

Some of the gum was formed into shapes including hearts, circles and stars, letters spelling out sororities or fraternities and various words. I believe this one is a tribute to the late Heath Ledger.

I really love this portrait Matt took of me walking through and enjoying the alley.

We also tried two places to find one suitable for dancing that were adjacent to each other. The first was The Library, a smaller venue that was playing mainly techno music. After a bit we decided to try Mother’s Tavern which had a DJ above the crowd playing Top 40’s Pop. We enjoyed the music and the large dance floor, so we stayed there to dance. While we are definitely not great dancers, we had a lot of fun. The crowd stayed upbeat and included a girl celebrating her 21st birthday and a bachelorette party.

The next day I got to pick an activity and place to visit. I had seen signs for the Brown Butter Cookie Company along the way and having read online that they included free cookie tastings said we had to go.

After enjoying tasting many different flavors including their seasonal coconut lime we got a mixed pack and large chocolate chunk cookies to share and Snickerdoodles for his mom. Ironically Candy had been in the area a few days before, yet was unable to get there due to holiday traffic, so us buying them for her was very appreciated.

We enjoyed exploring many towns both on foot and via car. For lunch we went to Woodstock’s Pizza and we both had pizza and tater tots. They had two pinball machines and Matt played both, at one point looking like he was talking to the game.

Matt even gave me some good strategies so that when it was my term to play I lasted longer than I ever have before at pinball – yet that was still a brief amount of time. This will be good practice for the California Extreme video game and pinball event we will attend in July.

The resort features outdoor fire pits. Yet, all three were occupied. We decided to order room service and enjoy the fireplace in our room for a very romantic private dinner.

The next day was our drive home day. We took a few last photos to remember our vacatio by and drove home.

~ Danielle