Our little fam had been cooped up since the beginning of quarantine so seeing as it was my daughter’s 2nd birthday and our 5 year wedding anniversary, we thought it was the perfect time for a (safe) road trip. Check out our itinerary below with links to places we stopped, shopped, ate at and stayed in! Happy trails to all!

Day 1: LA / Santa Barbara / Morro Bay / Cambria

We went from LA to Cambria on the first day with stops in Santa Barbara and Morro Bay. Any parent knows a lengthy road trip can be difficult to keep the kids entertained. For my two year old, my ultimate tip is getting this car seat tray - it features a strap that goes behind your seat so it’ll fit on just about any brand. It helps with keeping toys off the ground, stickers stuck, magnets on boards and water pens on pads.

Breakfast in Montecito, Santa Barbara:

We ate at Bree’osh Artisan Bakery. This is a seriously delicious french bakery. Check out their instagram and drool over their nom breakfast croissants, sweet tarts and brioche bun specialties. We had the Egg & Bacon Brioche and a chocolate croissant.

Explore Embarcadero, Morro Bay:

A week prior to our trip, I booked a Subsea Tour through Morro Bay Whale Watching, so I thought it would be great to get to Morro Bay an hour early to walk around the Embarcadero area and pop into a few places like:

The Shell Shop - super affordable prices for cute shell souvenirs and gifts
Ice Cream Embarcadero Fudge & Ice Cream - we had just eaten so didn’t get full scoops but stopped in because of the great reviews on Yelp
Rancho Olivos - bought the Rosemary & Garlic olive oil from this local maker and a small jar of Sage Blossom Honey. I’ve already made a salad using the oil and the honey… well, Mia and I just ate that straight out of the jar

At noon, we boarded a small boat with our two year old and three other adults for the 45 mins Morro Bay Subsea Tour. We saw otters, sea lions, seals and stopped to feed fish. We walked down to the sub sea area (one family at a time) to view the fishes at feeding. Everyone wore masks and gave each other space on the open air boat. The tour was $17 per adult and free for kids under two years old. Was it the best tour ever? No. Was my 2 year old happy to be on a boat with fresh air and sea critters? Absolutely (and so were we). They also have a whale watching tour which is super popular but it’s three hours long. If we had more time, I’d like to try this one in the future.

We had a super delicious seafood lunch in Morro Bay at The Galley Seafood Grill & Bar. It was all outdoors and felt safe and spread out. Our order? Clam chowder, crab cakes and lobster roll and shrimp tacos. Recommend it all!

Our drive to Cambria was beautiful (and thankfully quiet, as it was nap time!). I found a great deal on Travel Zoo to stay in Cambria at Cambria Pines Lodge. It’s so cute here. It sits among 25 acres of peaceful gardens & Monterey pine forest. The air was literally the cleanest I’ve breathed in years. The set up of the entire lodge feels safe as each suite has its own entrance, theres no internal hallways, our two bedroom suite looked like a super cute cabin and made us feel like we were at an adult camp. The heated pool was empty (yay!) and the dining outdoors was easy. The food at the lodge?… I’d suggest heading down to the village.

Day 2: Cambria’s Village Shops & Dining

In the morning we braved 257 steps down the Nature Trail from the lodge to explore Cambria Village Shops. My husband brought our toddler hiking backpack for when she got sick of walking (which was about 100 steps down).

Some cute shops & sweets we explored:

In the afternoon, we visited Moonstone Beach. It’s so beautiful. California coast at its best. The beach is full of diverse rocks and gems like jadeite and moonstones that locals and tourists cant help but scavenge for (guilty!). Mia had a GREAT time. There’s something so nice about frolicking on the beach with a sweater on. it was the perfect spot for family pics so I came equipped with my tripod/selfie stick (don’t judge me).

We grabbed a quick lunch at Sandy’s Deli - highly recommend any sandwich of theirs that has bacon in it.

And then after a quick dip in the pool, we had an early dinner at Robin’s Restaurant. YUM. This was our favorite meal on the entire trip. The prawn and pork belly fried rice was something I’ll dream about for a while. Highly recommend!

Day 3: More Around Cambria

We grabbed an easy and quick breakfast at Lily’s Coffee House followed by another thing Cambria is known for… antiquing!

Antiquing around Cambria Village:

http://www.richmanpoormanantiques.com/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/granny-had-one-antiques-and-collectibles-cambria?osq=Antiques
https://www.yelp.com/biz/cambria-antique-center-mall-cambria
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/antiques-on-main-cambria

After a good nap, we drove out to hike around Fiscalini Ranch Preserve. I wasn’t sure what to expect but this gorgeous area featured loops of different lengths for you to explore - all leading right to the edge of the bluffs with intricate wooden benches. It was absolutely stunning. I could see why so many locals take their evening walks here.

We finished off the evening with dinner at The Sow’s Ear. This was a really yummy spot. Clam chowder, BBQ ribs with homemade sauce, rack of lamb and the mudpie. OMG get the mudpie.

Day 4 Cambria / Cayucos / San Luis Obispo / Santa Barbara / LA

We checked out early, packed up the car and headed to Cayucos State Beach. I love rocks but I also LOVE beaches that have really tightly packed sand. The area of the beach we went to was lined with beautiful vacation homes that I’d love to

Take pics, shop & eat at The Madonna Inn. Here’s some things you can’t miss right now:

Afterward we went and spent the afternoon with friends at their lovely home in SB and walked with our kids along Ed Clark Trail to go feed horses some carrots at a private ranch. This trail starts at the end of Perkins Trail, it follows Garrapata Creek south for a short distance before it crosses to the west and joins a private driveway ending at Serena Avenue.

We finally had plans to stop at Thousand Steps Beach for a quick pic on the way home but (thankfully!) Mia was fast asleep the entire ride back home to LA…

Happy travels!

- Christianne

Note - If you buy something through our Amazon links, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. As always, we only recommend products that we know and love (or would buy ourselves). Thank you for your support!