San Luis Obispo is a small city located halfway between LA and San Francisco. The name is Spanish for St Luis the Bishop. It is one of California's oldest communities and it is the home of the California Polytechnic State University.
We arrived there in the evening and my cousins, Chuck and Lois, met us at the station and immediately took us on a tour of the town. It is a lovely country, university town. We were taken to dinner at the famous Madonna Inn. It has 110 rooms all themed differently and a waterfall in the mens restroom. For some great shots of this quirky Inn visit Pat's blog here and Bill's Blog for the men's bathroom.
Chuck and Lois have a lovely home and they are the best hosts. The next day they took us sightseeing to many different places.
Firstly, Chuck took us for a morning walk through the local park, which was very pretty.
There were pretty gardens and I loved these Californian poppies. This poppy is the state flower emblem.
There was the cutest chapel.
Big enough for the whole population of the town.
After this Chuck and Lois took us to see elephants on the beach. (next post)
That chapel has to be one of the best I have ever seen! I love the intimacy and look at that beautiful shiny wooden floor.
ReplyDeleteHarmony sounds like a nice place to visit. A beautiful little chapel.
ReplyDeletewhat??? no photo for us of the waterfall in the MENS restroom? LOL. love that little chapel. the WHOLE population? ha ha on that one.
ReplyDeletethe men's restroom is on Bill's blog see link at the top of my post.
Delete'Chuck and Lois' sound like the perfect American names, especially for a couple that took you to Harmony.
ReplyDeleteThe gorgeous little chapel looks like somewhere a beatnik Hobbit might worship at! :)
Well for crying out loud. All these years I've known about San Luis Obisbo and have been there and stayed there all the while not knowing what the Spanish translation was/is. I never even thought about it. It was just the name of a town I'd known. Duh on me. So thanks for the info. I'll look at it a little differently now. I try to pride myself on finding the history of everywhere and I missed that one. Cute town. And I could live in a town of 18 people. :)
ReplyDeleteI love that little chapel. Harmony looks sounds a neat little town, but SLO must also be very pretty. I'm looking forward to hearing about the elephants on the beach.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE poppies. Such a bright and happy flower! So much of California is named for saints or religious figures of some sort. Thanks to the Spaniards and the Catholic Priests that started missions there. :-) What a lovely little chapel that is. I am curious to know what the stained glass windows look like. I might have to look the Harmony chapel up online and see if I can find out more.
ReplyDeleteAh, the Madonna Inn...quite an experience with all those unusual rooms. Harmony looks quaint and fun; I've never been there. You and Bill have seen a lot more of the USA than I have after your previous tour around the country! I'm looking forward to the elephants on the beach too.
ReplyDeleteThe polytechnic university at SLO (as we call San Luis Obispo around here) is part of the state university system (CSU) of 23 campuses for which I worked for 35 years.
What a nice place ! I think it is often more interesting when you go to places which are not so well known !
ReplyDeleteWhat a great place and a sweet little chapel! Thank you so much for sharing these photos.
ReplyDeleteWow Harmony has a cute chapel...I like the water pic too
ReplyDeleteLooks like a wonderful place to spend a day.
ReplyDeleteWow, only eighteen people, they must know each other very well.
ReplyDeleteAh - no waterfall in the rest room for the boys! I agree with Sandra. If we can be shown photos of the signs and instructions in the "boys" room at Hog's Breath Cafe at Cleveland, why not waterfalls in Harmony but who knows, maybe Bill will have a photo on his blog?
ReplyDeleteBetsy would be able to compare the Harmony waterfall with her and Bill's photos in her area?? ha ha.
That is sure a cute, clean chapel.
Great shots of Harmony.
Cheers
Colin (HB)
I saw that Harmony sign and smiled. There is a little town called Harmony in the county here where I grew up.
ReplyDeleteThat chapel is small but lovely and I really like the doors leading in.
Diane, you poppy shot is beautiful!
Diane, what a lovely town. It was great that you had a chance to visit with your family. I love the cute chapel and the poppies are just beautiful. Wonderful photos.
ReplyDeleteElephants on the beach? Can't wait for that post. What a beautiful area your cousins live in. I remember seeing the California Poppies when we were there last, I love poppies. Sweet place Harmony and as always I loved these photos. Have a great weekend Diane.
ReplyDeleteWasn't the Madonna Inn a fun place to see? ALL PINK!! LOL! I blogged about it last year. It looks like you had a wonderful time in SLO, Diane. The chapel is so sweet!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me. I've added a link to your great post on Madonna Inn.
DeletePopulation of 18, huh???? How neat!!!! Love that little chapel.
ReplyDeleteGlad you met up with some cousins. They obviously live in a great area of CA. It's nice that they took you all on a tour of their area....
Thanks for sharing. Can't wait for the next post!!!!
Hugs,
Betsy
Yes that chapel looks really lovely and it would be great to visit such a small town........
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely little chapel, in fact the whole town looks lovely. That is a beautiful part of California. We have been down that way several times but somehow we missed Harmony, maybe on our next trip.
ReplyDeleteLoving Harmony! That's my sort of town. Just by the by, I've nominated you for the 'Versatile Blogger' Award. You most definitely fit the bill for that title and I'm only too pleased to shine a light on your blog.
ReplyDelete