48 hrs IN CAMBRIA,CA

What I wore, where I ate and what I did

Cambria, Sweet cambria

The pandemic is finally loosening its cold grip on N. California. The eternal fog that we've been dwelling in for the past 18 mos. has finally begun to lift and with that travel restrictions as well. My husband Josh and I rarely had a chance to get away (alone) pre-pandemic. He has a demanding work schedule and I'm home with the children full time. Sadly our idea of a vacation has become a sweet 5-7 mins of unbothered bathroom time. This year marked our 7 year anniversary and we wanted to change the tide, both literally and figuratively, so we packed up the car, dropped the kids off, and coasted down the PCH to Cambria, Ca. Here's how it went.

What I packed:

After triple checking the weather (a mild 60 degrees all weekend long and low 50's at night)

I decided to pack cozy, but light. Here's what I brought.

Polka dot wide leg pant || Navy Long lined quilted coat || Vintage neon pullover || Leo print button up || Cream message tee || Nike Sky High Dunks || Tie dye sweat suit || Leo Scarf || White Arizona Birks Eva || Vintage Dooney and Burke Crossbody || Rose gold watch || Gold oblong hoops

We rolled into Cambria around 8:30 pm. This was to our own detriment. The fog was thicker than Cardi B, it was pitch black and everything was closed. So we checked into our adorable hotel, put on our pajamas and popped open a bottle of wine. (we did not keep it fancy)

Day 1:

What I wore:

Polka dot wide leg pant || Navy Long lined quilted coat || Vintage neon pullover || Cream message tee || Nike Sky High Dunks

What we ate:

hidden kitchen

I love a good hidden gem, and was not disappointed to find The Hidden Kitchen. Hidden Kitchen is a 100% gluten free café featuring all-organic, sustainably-sourced fare. Sourcing their food organically, as locally as possible, and as bio-regionally as they can, much of their menu is sourced at the local farmers markets, or from items that are capable of growing naturally and natively in beautiful California. Specializing in bioregional blue corn waffles, hand pressed blue corn tacos, and superfood the menu is simple but delicious. This tiny slice of heaven is nestled in an alleyway behind Slabtown Mercantile a sweet local multi vendor just down a short dirt road! We shared the Weirdos Waffle with fried banana, Niman Ranch bacon ends, peanut butter, grass-fed butter, and maple syrup and the Cayucos Cowboy with free range fried egg, smoky black beans, hidden kitchen special sauce, house tomatillo salsa, cilantro, and avocado. Delicious!

What we did:

Cambria has a slew of the sweetest vintage and antique shops and I had a list at the ready. Our1st stop was Rich Man, Poor Man Antique Mall With two locations on the same lot (the mall and a show room) we were lost for hours weaving our way through room after room of the cheekiest vintage home goods, carton upon carton of dusty records and case after case of jewelry. The staff were extremely knowledgeable and were more than happy to let me try on anything I set my eyes on.

Our next stop was re•create thrift store. re•create thrift store is a non-profit thrift store run by Cambria Vineyard Church offering quality, affordable resale clothing and household goods while providing a resource for recycling to benefit others. As soon as we drove up I knew this wasn't your typical church thrift store. I was pleased to find a very cool chic and hip space with goods and racks of clothing set up in the parking lot in front of the space as well as a library of beautiful books. I love to see the church in this capacity.

The staff were so friendly and the customers just as chic and friendly as well. While browsing I struck up a conversation with vintage style guru Chevonne and her husband Bruce who love to eat, travel and thrift. Chevonne and I chatted about everything from kids to church and everything in between. Check out her posh-shop here!

By the afternoon we were exhausted and really had to rally if we were going make it to our evening plans, we grabbed an affogato ran back to the hotel to throw on some extra layers and tried our very best to make our reservation at Robins Restaurant in Downtown Cambria. Needless to say we did not make our reservation. BUT our next stop promised wine, a full kitchen and food trucks and so we hopped in the car and rode down the coast to Paso Robles to check out a light installation I stumbled upon while looking for "things to do in Cambria" the week before. Seeing absolutely nothing from the freeway we arrived at a large dirt parking lot surrounded by brown hills with a metal detector archway on one end. We walked toward it and stood in the whipping cold as a line of people started to form behind us for what felt like a lifetime. It was worth the wait, There are no words to describe the etherealness of Sensorio.

Fea­tured in The New York Times as #6 in ​“50 Places to Vis­it in 2020,” Light at Sen­so­rio

fea­tures two instal­la­tions by inter­na­tion­al­ly acclaimed artist Bruce Munro. Field of Light is a 15-acre walk-through expe­ri­ence, Munro’s largest art­work to date, com­prised of more than 58,800 stemmed spheres lit by fiber optics, gen­tly illu­mi­nat­ing the land­scape in sub­tle blooms of mor­ph­ing col­or that describe the undu­lat­ing land­scape. The lat­est instal­la­tion, Light Tow­ers cel­e­brates Paso Rob­les’ exten­sive wine coun­try and fea­tur­es 69 tow­ers com­posed of more than 17,000 wine bot­tles, illu­mi­nat­ed with glow­ing optic fibers whose col­ors morph to an almost tribal musi­cal score. All solar powered, these stun­ning exhi­bi­ts are other worldly. Smith­son­ian Mag­a­zine has called Munro’s art ​“stun­ning,” while The Guardian noted ​“This is art you feel, rather than art you view.”

Day 2

What I wore:

Nike Sky High Dunks || Tie dye sweat suit || Leo Scarf || Rose Gold watch

What we did

Yes more thrifting this time at a petite shop called Encore. This shop was tiny but the ambiance was incredible. Billie Holiday on the speakers, film noir movie posters on the walls, sweet gifts and beautiful vintage pieces, but the best thing about this store was it's owner Kim. Kim was so warm, friendly and helpful as I shopped for my mom. I spied a Cab Calloway poster on the wall and it immediately brought me back to my childhood most of which was spent watching film noir from the 40's and 50's with my mom. Stormy Weather was one of my favorites. I asked if the poster was for sale. Sadly it was not. But alas I found the perfect gift for my mom, a beautiful vintage tailored jacket that I just knew she'd love. That's when I saw Kim begin taking the Cab poster off the wall 'probably to make sure no one else tried to snag that precious jewel' I thought. But she let me know that listening to the fondness of memory about my mother reminded her of her own mother. She felt her mom wanted me to have the poster. So with tears in my eyes I accepted the beautiful gift. (It now lives in this little corner of my living room.)

What we ate:

central coast Meat Market

After the tears died we were off to the hustle and bustle of Pismo Beach famished as could be! Thank God for Central Coast Meat Market. We rolled up and within minuets were enjoying amazing Texas style BBQ brisket, and street corn. Definitely the best way to wrap up this trip. I slept the whole way home!

All in all Cambria was the most charming town I have been to in quite some time. Definitely worth a visit if you find the time. I hope you enjoyed reading about Cambria as much as I enjoyed being there! Maybe next time you can come along for the ride.

To schedule a shopping trip with me, click here.

Xoxo,

Shaunteé