Morro Bay, Thanksgiving weekend, 2008.

Pootled up CA-1 to escape LA and the lab. The main purpose of our trip was to hit the dog-friendly beach: Morro Strand State Beach, that we’d been to the previous summer. As memory served, it was very very long, and full of dogs and surfers. It had not, as expected, changed at all; the perfect dog beach.

Morro Bay is exactly the kind of small Californian town we’d imagined before arriving in LA. It’s like Elie and Pittenweem in Fife, Scotland, although parts of it felt more like Anstruther without the fish and chip shops. But much, much warmer and sunnier, of course. But from snippets of local conversation eavesdropped in the shops, its dependence on tourism may kill it sooner than later. Nearby Pismo Beach has newer, fancier, higher-throughput resort-style hotels, as opposed to the low-key motels that populate Morro Bay. But that, for us, was the very charm of the place. Bustling without being overwhelming. And it was pretty busy Thanksgiving weekend, going by the queues to get into all the breakfast places.

Many dog-friendly places in Morro Bay; lots of patio seating both on the main touristm stretch of Embacadero as well as in town on Main St. And as an added bonus, a street Christmas fair on our last day. What better way to spend the day than popping Kettle corn while strolling about town and The Rock. Morro Rock is one of those features that looks gorgeous only from afar. As you get closer, you can see where it was dynamited for building materials. Naturally, that has ceased and peregrine falcons are rumoured to live in the crevies. All we saw were the usual squaking gulls. And lots of crazy breakers.

I for one want places like Morro Bay to survive. Its aesthetic is the perfect salve to city life.