Amtrak Adventure To Pismo Beach

Pismo Beach From Cottage Inn By the Sea



Cottage Inn By the Sea from Pismo Beach



Under the Boardwalk Down By the Sea

Morning Crowds

Early Morning Surf From the Pier

 As waves break a hundred yards offshore in the sea foam blue water, a lone surfer rises for a thirty second ride on the curl that develops gently like one from a Beach Banket Bingo movie in the sixties, but dozens of hodaddies would not be joining Frankie Avalon in the water after Maynard G. Krebs yells, "Surf's Up!"

Karen and Julie Gathering Sand Dollars

Strolling along the shore collecting sand dollars and shells on a sunny morning, however, you feel transported in time back to a bygone California era before Beach Boys songs lured the world to the California lifestyle and made the Orange County beaches where I grew up perpetually crowded on summer days.

Similarly, when you head into town from the pier, funky shops hawking souvenir sweatshirts, bracelets and coffee mugs emblazoned with "Pismo Beach" seem very much like old downtown Huntington Beach when "Strips" and Cokes from Jack's Beach Shack instead lured away all my  spending money.

Downtown Pismo Beach From Pier

Now that I've matured, of course, I have different tastes, although I have to say that I still spend my money on food and drink rather than trinkets.  My good-natured friend Randy, whom along with me  was pulled by our wives onto our "Amtrak Adventure," actually gave me a Cool Cat Café logo shirt (BOGO Sale) after a great lunch at an ocean view table there.

By the way, the Ali'i Burger for $6.99 was terrific, with 6.5 ounces of delicious Angus beef covered in melted cheese and grilled onions on grilled rye bread.  It came with a sweet pineapple as well as French fries on the side.

Why the pineapple and Hawaiian sounding burger name?  Because, there's also a Cool Cat Café on Maui.  Interestingly, a kite surfer or two like you'd find in Hawaii can be seen doing acrobatics when afternoon winds kick up on Pismo.  For casual beach fare, it's hard to beat Cool Cat.

North View from Ventana Grill




No need to panic over Ventana pricing!

The best restaurant in Pismo Beach, however, is Ventana Grill, with definitely more upscale décor and incredible views of the ocean at quite reasonable prices.

We went there for lunch our first day in Pismo Beach, and both the Carne Asada Nachos ($14) that Randy ordered as an appetizer for the table and my Ventana Burger (half pound Black Angus with chorizo, poblano peppers, aioli, carmelized onions and triple cheese on a Kaiser roll with seasoned potato wedges for $10) were sensational.

Jonathan Livingston at Ventana Grill's Southern View

We returned for Happy Hour the following evening, when the same huge nachos dish which we already knew would be more than enough for four was only $10 to go along with $4 Rum and Diet Cokes or other discounted drinks, but I nonetheless ordered a huge bowl of clam chowder ($5), which similarly proved to be fresh, filling and delicious.

Our hotel was only two tenths of a mile away from Ventana Grill, so it was convenient to return to this restaurant that recently won awards for Best Restaurant and Best Views in the area.

Cottage Inn Flower Garden Overlooking Ocean

Cottage Inn By the Sea was also perched on a beautiful ocean bluff, and we thoroughly enjoyed relaxing in the seaside garden overlooking miles of coastline.  A few bunnies added to the ambiance.

To the north are rocky outcroppings reminiscent of the coast by La Buffadora in Baja or even the Big Sur area. 

To the south are sand dunes, which must have been sea bed long ago in another age when the oceans were higher.  You can rent dune buggies and ATVs to tear it up on those sand dunes, or even drive your car along the beach.  It might have been a good opportunity for us to put our 4X4 Ford Escape through its paces, but as I mentioned above, this was an Amtrak Adventure.

Randy Relaxing With Karen on Amtrak Adventure

To begin our trip, we had arisen early Monday morning to catch Commuter Express Bus 438 from Redondo Beach up to downtown Los Angeles ($2.50), and then hightailed it a half mile to beautiful Union Station, where we boarded the Pacific Surfliner for Grover Beach ($84 pp roundtrip), making it to our train with 15 minutes to spare.

The train ride was relaxing.  Being in vacation mode, I bought a chocolate croissant for Julie and a bunch of decadent donut holes for me to go along with our morning coffee.

Cattle By the Railroad Tracks With Ocean in Distance

We enjoyed watching the scenery pass outside as we chatted.  Cattle grazing, horses and even a deer wandering in a meadow told us we weren't in L.A. any more.  At one point, the tracks went right along the coast line, and we saw what might have been a whale or large dolphin off shore.

When we arrived in Grover Beach, we found a wine tasting stand as we exited the train, and we split the $5 tastings while waiting for our taxi to take us the final three miles to our destination.

My Favorite Place to Read at Cottage Inn By the Sea

Every morning we enjoyed our hotel's complimentary breakfast, which expanded standard continental fare to include do-it-yourself fresh waffles.  We then walked along the beach, explored the town's kitschy shops or simply read while looking up occasionally to appreciate the gorgeous views.  For what it is worth, I've been slowly making my way through Sarum, a 1000-page plus novel about the history of England through the ages that my friend Pete recommended I buy at the Seal Beach library after our lunch at The Hangout a couple of months ago.  That turned out to be 10 cents well spent for hours of enjoyment.

Our Cottage Inn By the Sea

We were granted a late checkout on our last morning at the Cottage Inn, but at noon we headed for Grover Beach and had lunch at the Station Grill across the tracks from our stop.  Once again, the meal turned out to be great, which makes me think a lot of excellent cooks love living in this retro California beach community.  I enjoyed the Santa Fe Melt (grilled turkey, pepper jack cheese, tomatoes and onions on grilled sour dough bread served with seasoned steak fries for $7.89), and everyone else seemed equally pleased with their meals.  For whatever reason, the food stayed hot long after they served it, including the French fries.

Mural at Station Grill

The train served 22 ounce bottles of Stone Pale Ale and Arrogant Bastard Ale for $8.  Randy and I split a bottle of each on the 5 hour train ride home.

Back at Union Station, we arrived a little too late for the Commuter Express ($8), so we caught the LAX Express to Terminal 1 at the airport, where Randy, who had to be at his office early the next morning, flagged a cab for the twenty minute ride home that would have been three times that long by bus.

You can't return to your youth, but sometimes you can find places that remind you a lot of how it used to be.

Mural in Pismo Beach

Coastal View From Train

North View from Cottage Inn

Wes Reading By Train Depot

A Whale of a Tale to Tell You Lad!