Up The Coast (Pt 1)

 

Over the past weekend,  Chris and I took a trip up to San Luis Obispo, which is about 3 hours north of where we live. We used to take more trips up north to visit friends, but that's pretty much slowed down lately, and I'd been dying to go back to the Madonna Inn for some time now (which is basically the coolest and most bizarre hotel on the way to San Francisco). It was built in the late 1950's by a man named Alex Madonna who built this hotel as a stop for people traveling along the coast. We decided to stay at a bed and breakfast and just visit the Madonna Inn on our way there, because I thought that would be more interesting, and it was! In fact, the B&B was super cute and cozy, which is exactly what I had been hoping for. I'll be posting pictures of the rest of our trip tomorrow!

We arrived at the Madonna Inn on the way to our B&B (they were about 10 minutes away from each other). Of course, the first thing I had to do upon exiting the car was to snap a million pictures of the infamous Madonna Inn sign. I looked around me and noticed a few other people snapping pictures of signs around the property; clearly this is the norm here. Once inside the bakery, we sat down at a table by the window and I happily ordered a slice of their famous Pink Champagne cake, with coffee on the side. This cake did not disappoint! It's pretty much the best cake I've ever tasted, and it probably helps that the whole cake is pink and has marzipan ribbons (mmm marzipan).

 

After only being able to handle a few bites, we had it boxed up to go and made our way around the hotel to take more pictures. I stopped into the gift shop and purchased a few of their pink wine goblets before heading outside to explore (which I'll share another time).

I should mention that if you come to this hotel, go to the bar, talk to the bartender (he's really sweet) and order the Pink Cloud. It's like drinking a strawberry milkshake, only with a little vodka mixed in ;)

We headed outside to check out the views (there are gorgeous mountains everywhere) and I was curious to see what the spa/pool area looked like. I wish I'd been a little bolder and peeked into a room that a maid was cleaning, but I didn't want to be weird. If you didn't already know, each room is themed and pretty much every room has an abundance of color and textures, and they all have fun names (like Sugar & Spice, Love Nest and Fabulous Fifties, to name a few). I hope someday to be able to stay in this hotel! For now, I'll just continue to use their bathroom on the way to wherever I'm heading, pick up a slice of cake, and admire the scenery (and the pink!!)