Santa Maria

My "annual" trip to SLO was canceled due to the pandemic. Instead the Santa Maria tourism board decided to copy SLO’s promotion and created their own visit Santa Maria campaign. Of course, I think there were concerns for the city if anyone would use the $100 visa gift card within city limits. It was a fair issue as I wandered around the area but not necessarily stayed in city limits. But ultimately, I would think that at least the hotels would benefit and that was good as well. 

I checked into the Fairfield Inn & Suites Santa Maria and was glad to see I was upgraded to a studio. I had noticed earlier in the day that the rates dropped by $6 per night but I wasn’t willing to try to get the cheaper rate at the front desk. The agent did tell me that the city promotion was finished within 48 hours of announcement and that they had a very good month of January because of it. Made me feel good to have submitted my request as quickly as I did. 

Fairfield Inn & Suites Santa Maria Studio Suite

I was going to work from hotel on this trip as well as get some much needed car repair from family. I was able to convert the living room area to a zoom meeting setup. The internet speeds were fine for my all day zoom meetings, I didn’t need to opt in to the higher speed network (complimentary for gold+ members). The hotel was still offering hot breakfast by giving out the food rather than allowing for self service. The pool was open by appointment only made the day of so I can’t see that as a huge draw for guests (the pool is also tiny). Overall, this particular area of Santa Maria seems to be developing a small transit business hotel area as there are a number of similar branded hotels within the mile. I did find it funny to see either alpacas or llamas outside my window view.

Farm with alpacas? across from the Fairfield Inn & Suites Santa Maria

In lieu of the visit SLO promotion, San Luis Obispo was offering a buy local promotion of 20% back on $100 purchases of services and eateries, redeemable three times. Technically, the $20 is given back as a gift card to a local business. I don't think it is a super easy or popular promotion to follow but I opted to go north for food when given the chance. 

Dining

At Bites - Vietnamese fast casual eatery in trendy SLO neighborhood. The prices reflect the locale but the taste is on point. If I wanted gourmet Vietnamese food, I would go here and take family. I ordered the spring rolls, hot garlic grilled chicken, and ice coffee.

@Bites Spring Rolls

@Bites Hot Garlic Grilled Chicken and Viet Iced Coffee

McConnell Ice Creams - Cruised through downtown to grab scoops of mocha fudge & smoked almond and earl gray shortbread. I'm usually not a tea flavored ice cream fan but this was doable. The smoked almond was really good.

Nipomo Ranch BBQ - the hotel was super close to this bbq restaurant and I had to make at least one stop on this stay. I was introduced to Nipomo by family and their tri tip nacho fries are addictive. I generally only order tri tip so I can't make much comments on the other items on the menu.

Joliene Bakery - Not too many bakeries make kouign amman and even less so around Santa Maria. I wasn't able to get some on the first visit but I did score some on my second visit. I tried the bread loaf, kouign amman, macarons, kanelbullar, and chocolate au pain. The kouign amman reminded me more of morning buns than my favorite bakery (B. Patiserrie). I enjoyed the macarons with the strawberry being my favorite. I liked that they put a little jam in the filling, it really rounds out the flavor. The chocolate au pain is essentially a croissant loaf with chocolate twisted through. Eaten at room temperature or warm, it was delicious either way. The kanelbullar was good but I would not opt in again.

SLO Cider - I didn't want to consume cider on site but the bartender was nice enough to let me taste some ciders before buying the four pack cans to go. I was curious about the cider as I only knew of the vineyards locally. I opted to try the lemon ginger and hazy to see if I would want a can home. The lemon ginger vaguely reminded me of Ola Brewery lemongrass ginger seltzer with a milder after taste. I wasn't too keen on the hazy so I opted to get the Dry, Hopped, Tropical, and Rose flavors in the can.