Prior to “Lockdown 2.0” in December, my fall travels included a blissful wellness-centric escape up the coast. I was on a mission to explore the southernmost portion of California’s iconic Pacific Coast Highway that meanders through the charming small towns on San Luis Obispo County’s seaside. My solo adventure was crafted as a mini personal retreat to soothe my pandemic-rattled nervous system, and now that leisure travel is once again permitted (within 120 miles of home), I’m ready to do it all over again.
Day 1
En route to Avila Beach, I stopped for a tour of The Luffa Farm in Nipomo. As my guide explained, many people assume loofahs are sponges that come from the sea, when in fact they are dried gourds and cousins to cucumbers. At the farm, the multi-tasking veggies grow on vines in hothouses. I got back on the road armed with a few surprisingly soft loofah souvenirs that were nothing like the harsh, overly processed versions I remembered from my youth.