New View in Pismo

For my money and a quick getaway, not much beats a run up California’s Central Coast--through the tunnel at Gaviota Pass, between checkerboard-square farms and vineyards, among the rolling hills and oaks of Los Alamos and Santa Maria.

When hunger strikes, try to hold off so you can enjoy the seafood served at the Quarterdeck in Arroyo Grande, just off the Oak Park exit. For years our teenage boys split the family-style fish and chips; then we’d scuttle the family diet with a “Shipwreck,” a white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie and vanilla ice cream topped with raspberry and chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

It was Friday night and, stuffed full of fish from the Quarterdeck, my husband, Norm, and I were eager to check in at the newly built Cottage Inn by the Sea, five minutes from the restaurant. We had noted the yearlong construction of this place on Pismo Beach’s motel row, built on a piece of breathtaking cliff between the Sea Crest Resort and Whalers Inn. It’s the third sister to two other Pismo lodgings: Spyglass Inn, an “on the cliff” nautical-theme resort, and the Sandcastle Inn, whose location down on the beach appeals to families. On the frontage road running alongside U.S. 101, the newest inn has thatch-style rolled roofs, stone chimneys and a curious peaked turret that suggest a romantic English seaside hideaway.

We were not disappointed. All the rooms appear to be decorated in an English country-style flower print that we quickly dubbed “hummingbird mecca,” and have the expected amenities: gas fireplace, refrigerator, microwave, ironing board, hair dryer, armoire-hidden TV and in-room movies.

Since we planned to spend as much time as possible on the beach when we were not visiting antique shops, we selected a non-view room for $89, a weekend rate that’s available through May. The 24 rooms that overlook the ocean and fenced cliff-side promenade command a higher price ($149 and up on weekends through May).

We donned warm sweatshirts and grabbed a blanket--in case the offshore breeze picked up later--and, with a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses, walked past the pool and glass-sheltered spa to settle into bluff-side deck chairs to watch the night sky. The flashing beams from Point Sal to the south and Port San Luis lighthouse to the north cut through the swirling mist, and as the fog rolled in and muffled the rhythmic surf, we could feel the cares of the outside world drift away with the tide.

Saturday morning’s sunlight filtered in, and we knew we had scored a glorious, short-sleeve California day. In the breakfast room a dozen tables in front of a fireplace were spread with pastries, bagels, homemade bread, yogurt, butter, cream cheese and jams, as well as cereal, milk, coffee and orange juice. Our only plans were to reserve tickets for the evening’s performance at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts (PCPA) in Santa Maria. We called and were fortunate that tickets to “Skylight,” a play by David Hare, were still available.

Since high tides were bringing pounding waves and an exhilarating spray, we decided to explore the bluffs first. Down the inn’s access stairs we went--70 steep steps to the first landing, which is as far as parents with small children will want to go--then down two more landings, 150 steps in all. Mounding sets of waves whooshed over the last few steps, and heavy surf swirling through a shoreline cave forced us back a bit. Shouting to be heard, we puffed our way back to the top, with frequent stops to gaze at the ever-changing motion below and a spectacular panoramic view.

Three clusters of shops in the area--the beach cities of Pismo, Shell and Oceano, the Old Village of Arroyo Grande, and Nipomo--offer acres of antiques and collectibles, limited only by one’s pocketbook, taste and stamina.

Our inclination was to mosey north to Shell Beach and poke around the small shops there. At Restored Antiques, owner Art Mesquit specializes in solid wood furniture from the ‘20s to the ‘60s, and his store was jampacked. In Oceano, A Pier at the Past has a little bit of everything; Gold Coast Traders specializes in furniture; and visitors to Daniel Boone’s Tradin’ Post go through a mine shaft with a 9-foot waterfall to find the jewelry collection.

Our light breakfast was becoming a faint memory, so we decided on an early lunch at the Klondike Cafe, five minutes away in the Old Village of Arroyo Grande. Locating the Klondike’s entryway in the 1907 Olohan Building, we slipped downstairs and right into an Alaskan outpost complete with taxidermy animal heads. A bucket held the menus, our salads arrived in blue enamel bowls, and we gingerly sampled our Alaskan reindeer sausage pizza, which was medium spicy and just plain good.

Surfacing into sunlight, we browsed along East and West Branch Street, with stores upstairs and down, and through Olohan Alley, until the smell of baking waffle cones drew us into Burnardo’z Ice Cream Parlor. Hard decisions were being made inside: 40 flavors; which one?

We made a 10-minute foray south on U.S. 101 to find Rich Man-Poor Man Antique Mall, about halfway between Santa Maria and Nipomo, where 70 dealers gather under one roof. To quote a customer, the place is “just awesome.” But with dusk approaching, we headed back for dinner at Rosa’s Ristorante Italiano in Pismo Beach and the PCPA performance at the Severson Theater on the Alan Hancock College campus in Santa Maria.

After a Sunday ranch breakfast at locally famous F. McLintocks in Shell Beach, we stopped on the way home in the railroad town of Los Alamos, where wares from 50 antique dealers fill the old Pacific Coast Railroad Depot building. I passed on an 1861 Civil War diary for $295, a pair of 1960s red leather hot pants marked at $40 and the coal-heated foot warmer made of brass-trimmed tin for $69--but finally hit pay dirt, shelling out $2 each for some fine tall, silver-plated salt and pepper shakers.

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Budget for Two

Cottage Inn,

2 nights: $195.80

Dinner, Quarterdeck: 33.63

Lunch, Klondike: 15.73

Burnardo’z Ice Cream: 4.25

Dinner, Rosa’s: 44.05

PCPA tickets: 32.00

Breakfast, F. McLintocks: 31.50

Lunch, Good Earth: 18.15

FINAL TAB: $375.11

Cottage Inn by the Sea, 2351 Price St., Pismo Beach, CA 93449; tel. (888) 440-8400, (805) 773-4617.