My Home, San Luis Obispo, California

Dear Family & Friends,

I have lived in San Luis Obispo since 1969. I truly love where I live. Lately I have been going down town early in the morning and walking to get some exercise. The nice thing about walking at that time is the the town is quiet, the light is good, and you pay more attention to what is around you. So I have been taking photos of local landmarks to share with you. Hopefully some day you will come to SLO and I can show you around.

Jason

Our good friends Kim and Becky joined Bonnie and I for a local fund raiser. Notice the nice weather? This is the middle of December. Do you need any other reason to live here??

I thought I would include this photo of me by my Vincent motorcycle parked in front of the local SLO Mission. This was another fun raiser I organize.

Those of you who know me or follow me on Facebook know that every morning I go to the local coffee shop and meet a great group of friends and we talk about cars, motorcycles, politics, friends, weather, or whatever. It is one of the great parts of retirement.

The coffee group friends are also Porsche enthusiast so the parking lot can look impressive on some days.

SLO is a creative and artistic town. It is also old by California standards. The mission was built in 1770 and it is older than that. This sign leads to a garden dinning area behind one of the oldest buildings in town.

What could be cooler than a bar named after a motorcycle and sidecar rig?!?

Our local mission built in 1770, but actually this is not the original mission. There was one even earlier than this but it had a thatched roof and did not hold well to the local Indians shooting flaming arrows into it. (even the Spaniards were not welcome too) so the Catholic church built this new (1770) mission with a fire proof tile roof.

This is a great place for BBQ. I knew the original founder in the mid 1970s when he was a university student in town and he used to bring his Triumph car to me for repairs.. ;)

You can see the effects of the pandemic.Partial street closures so restaurants can stay in business by serving outside.

This the local creek that runs through town. In some parts it runs under the street but by the mission if flows threw a beautiful park area. When I moved to town this area was actually a dump used by the local merchants full of trash. In the 1970s the mayor had the vision to restore the area and make it a tourist attraction.

I took this photo around the end of December. I think everyone was happy to see 2020 go. Hopefully by the end of 2021 things will improve around the world.

The old Anderson Hotel. One of the oldest buildings in town. It is no longer a hotel but has residence units up stairs and stores on the street level.

A fountain in the Mission area. The bears represent the bears that used to be plentiful here (there are still a few) and the fist represents the salmon and steel head that come up the local creek from the ocean once a year.

Lots of interesting signs. When it is quiet I appreciate them more.

Window displays can be art in their own right.

This is the county museum. A great place to visit and learn about the wild west history of this area. Originally the building was a Carnagie Library. A lot of history there.

No explanation needed.

We even have a restaurant who's entire menu is chicken wings cooked various ways.. Something for everyone.

A good view of the SLO Mission. It is a historic site built in 1770 but still in active use by the Catholic church today complete with a beautiful church and inhabited by fathers and nuns.

A local placque with free wisdom.

If you do manage to come to SLO a visit to our local art museum is worthwhile.

This view is looking across the street from the mission. The street is the only place in SLO where there are still some of the original Spanish adobe buildings still in use.

Showing off Bonnie's Corvette at the coffee shop.

We are a warm city.. :)

A beautiful old Hotel and restaurant. 

Beautiful and interesting architecture everywhere.

How hard is it to make bikinis look interesting??

Parts of SLO are very eclectic.. 

These days it is hard to imagine how we every survived without Hemp is all its forms...

Even the local electrical boxes have a touch of art to them.

Even though SLO does not have a large minority population we still care.

The WORLD FAMOUS BUBBLE GUM alley. You can't believe how many tourist have come here to see this alley. It has been in town over 50 years since it was started before I moved here. I can say I did make a few contributions. When this started it was not an alley, it was a two lane street but the walls are far thicker today due to all the gum so it is just an alley now.. ;)

Do I really need to say anything?

Bonnie and my favorite dish at the local Thai restaurant.

The SLO spirit!

Lots of good Mexican food here! Thankfully the Mexicans settled here and brought great food with them!

Bonnie and my hang out. In the summer we have spent many an evening on the patio here drinking Sangrias and eating tappas.

This building was built in 1905 which is not particularly  old for SLO. Most of California is relatively new. 95% of all California buildings have been built since 1950 but SLO has plenty of old history back to the 1600s.

Loca lartwork. Is she being harassed or is the couple having a romantic moment. These days it is hard to say.. ;)

One of the oldest still standing buildings in town. The Sinsheimer family moved here in the 1800s. They were a Jewish family that later converted to Christianity but they were the first store in SLO county to sell Christmass trees.