Anniversary Weekend in Paso Robles and up the Central Coast

A wonderful weekend trip exploring the wineries and state parks of the central California coast.

My husband I I had a wonderful anniversary weekend last weekend at Paso Robles. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died during the day that we were wine tasting, but Paso is just gorgeous in February and well worth visiting at that time. The wines were excellent! We went to Opolo, Zenaida Cellars, and Steinbeck wineries and there was something wonderful about all three of them. I am kicking myself that my camera died this day, because it was really wonderful to drive through the hilly vineyards when everything is lush and green from the winter rains.

Montaña de Oro State Park

The morning of our wine-tasting day we drove into the lovely town of Moro Bay and checked out one of their two state parks. We went to the larger of the two, Montaña de Oro State Park and we hiked the Bluff Trail. After our hike we had lunch at the Galley in Moro Bay, where we had an excellent view of Moro Rock, which is the focal point of the whole town of Moro Bay as well as Moro Bay State Park. The pictures of Montaña de Oro below focus on Spooner's Cove, at the heart of the state park. There is a really cool historic ranch house there that is worth checking out for the history buffs!

Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument

Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument comprises both Hearst Castle up in the Santa Lucia Mountains and the beaches down below. You have to purchase tickets to go to Hearst Castle, but it is worth it to see this crazy house, owned by the publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst. The beaches are home to a colony of elephant seals, and February is a great time to go. You'll see nursing mother elephant seals with their growing pups and bull elephant seals. The male seals have mostly finished fighting for harem rights, but you might see a little bit of a tussle.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

We drove up through the Big Sur coastline and stopped back at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. I have written about this park before and I probably will again. It's an amazing park with a very quick, accessible hike to the overlook for McWay Falls. Do not miss it.