Central Coast - California - page 1219

Shopping
20 Finders Keepers B3
21 Hands Gallery B3
22 Mountain Air Sports A4
Almost midway between LA and San Francisco, at the junction of Hwys 101 and 1, San
Luis Obispo is a popular overnight stop for road trippers. With no must-see attractions,
SLO might not seem to warrant much of your time. Even so, this low-key town has an en-
viably high quality of life - in fact, it has been named America's happiest city. CalPoly
university students inject a healthy dose of hubbub into the city's streets, bars and cafes
throughout the school year. Nestled at the base of the Santa Lucia foothills, SLO is just a
grape's throw from Edna Valley wineries too.
Sights
San Luis Obispo Creek, once used to irrigate mission orchards, flows through downtown.
Uphill from Higuera St, Mission Plaza is a shady oasis with restored adobe buildings and
fountains overlooking the creek. Look for the Moon Tree , a coast redwood grown from a
seed that journeyed on board Apollo 14's lunar mission.
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa CHURCH
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 805-543-6850; www.missionsanluisobispo.org ; 751 Palm St; donation $2;
9am-5pm late-Mar-Oct, to 4pm Nov-mid-Mar)
Those satisfyingly reverberatory bells heard around downtown emanate from this active
parish dating from 1772. The fifth California mission founded by Junípero Serra, it was
named for a 13th-century French saint. The modest church has an unusual L-shape and
whitewashed walls decorated with Stations of the Cross. An adjacent building contains an
old-fashioned museum about daily life during the Chumash tribal and Spanish colonial
periods.
San Luis Obispo Museum of Art MUSEUM