Over the weekend, my family and I went to Flagship for the very first time! We've lived in San Luis Obispo County for exactly a year now and it's just recently that we came here! 

Flagship is a seafood restaurant located in Pismo Beach, California (part of San Luis Obispo County). It has phenomenal views of the Pismo Beach Pier and the Shell Beach side as well. Check out these views from our seats.
(view of Pismo Beach pier from inside of Flagship Seafood Restaurant)

(view of Shell Beach from our very same seats)

If you get to sit right by the window, this place could be so memorable for a special lunch or dinner. They had a kid's menu that came with many options. They also have a boat in the middle where guests can sit in but our stroller wasn't going to fit up there so we sat at a booth by the window! It was chosen for us because of our big double side-by-side stroller and our kids were going to continue to sit in it during our lunch.

My husband chose the ahi tuna while I went big and went for the Dungeness crab pot boil!
(Ahi Tuna dish had a good portion)
(my crab boil was 1 lb of Dungeness crab with potatoes and corn in Cajun sauce)

The food was fresh and fantastic! I had four choices for sauce for the crab boil and I picked the original Cajun. It was delicious and I had no regrets!


Flagship has a unique atmosphere and service too. Their operations are efficient and the servers are prompt and friendly. When you are ready to order your food, you put this pirate flag up! That idea entertained the kids.

They also have a bar area and serve specialty cocktails, beer and wine. There were also local options too.

Flagship address: 1601 Price St, Pismo Beach, CA 93449

(Note: This restaurant review and many others are anonymous reviews by SanLuisObispoMom.com. They did not know I was coming and planning on writing a review. I was just a patron coming in to enjoy a nice lunch with my family.)

I was recently on a hunt for Grover Beach t-shirts and went to 5 different stores and called a couple of places before we found a local store that sold Grover Beach t-shirts. At the CVS in Grover Beach/Arroyo Grande borderline is a t-shirt section and they sold plenty of Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande and California t-shirts but none for Grover Beach! The same went for the 2 Rite Aids located on Grand Avenue. I went to a couple of t-shirt shops near the Pismo Pier and they had hundreds of Pismo Beach and Oceano Dunes t-shirts but none for Grover Beach as well. Grover Beach is located geographical between Pismo Beach and Oceano Dunes so it didn't seem fair to me that they didn't offer a single Grover Beach t-shirt! We finally found a few Grover Beach t-shirts locally at K J B Sportwear at 244 W Grand Ave. They seem to also do customized work if you have a business you need t-shirts for too.

If you want to be efficient and have a larger variety to pick from, your best bet is online. Amazon and Ebay have Grover Beach T-shirts. They have many vintage styles.


There are also more simpler designs too. Most of them are black or white.


There are also 805 area code t-shirts. This area code encompasses Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and pretty much most, if not all, of the Central Coast of California. There's also a local beer company that produces a beer called 805 so you'll see a lot of t-shirts made by them with that area code too. 


See all other Grover Beach T-shirts.

Blinds are so surprisingly expensive to buy. We learned this from moving into a home that did not have a single blind and had to go shopping for them. I have 13 windows and 2 sliding doors to find blinds/shades for!

Upon doing my research on blinds, I started getting ads from 3 Day Blinds on my facebook newsfeed (spies!). They were promoting their buy 1, get the second one 50% off. They also offered free consultation so I filled out the online form to request a date to schedule a consultation. Now, I had already gone to Lowe's and scheduled someone to come to my house and get my blinds measured for quoting too. Lowe's charges a $50 something fee to have someone come to the house and measure the blinds so that is an immediate cost if you want to get someone to come in and do a quote through Lowe's. 3 Day Blinds' quoting estimation consultation is free. However, besides for the initial quoting and measuring, everything else from Lowe's is much more inexpensive!

Scheduling
Before I show you my quotes, I wanted to touch upon the ease of scheduling for both companies. Lowe's called me the following day after I had paid my $50 something dollars at the Lowe's Store in Santa Maria to have a consultation and measuring. They were thorough with asking questions so that they can figure out if they needed to bring a ladder or not. I have two windows that are very high up so I told them they would definitely need one. We scheduled for them to come the next day on a Tuesday. So, so far the timeline is, I came on a Sunday at Lowe's, their blinds person called me the following day on a Monday and we scheduled for the measuring on Tuesday (day after the call). 

3 Day Blinds called me a day after I submitted the form. I submitted the form on a Monday and they actually allowed you to select a time and date. They called me on a Tuesday to confirm and that they're coming on Wednesday, as I had requested on the form. Therefore, the quote date from 3 Day Blinds is just a day after Lowe's in-house measurement session. 

Measuring & Consultation
When Lowe's came in and measured, I could tell the gentleman was a busy pro. He had a truck with a ladder ready to work and works for many companies and Lowe's is one of them. He used a traditional measuring tape and did it very efficiently and gave me pointers on my abnormally horizontally long window and we went with a fabric shade instead of faux wood horizontal blinds for that one. He also was the one who gave me an immense pointer that I could use 4 shades for 1 remote control if I wanted to have motorized blinds for 4 of the blinds. That way, I didn't have to order 4 different remote controls and save money. However, I realized quickly that motorized blinds are super expensive and only went with 2 motorized blinds because those are the only ones that I cannot reach.

When 3 Day Blinds came to the door, she didn't come in a truck. I noticed that right away because I was expecting her to come with a ladder but if she doesn't have a truck then she can't carry a ladder with her. I don't remember if she drove here in a small SUV or a small car of some sort, but it definitely wasn't a truck. Instantly I wondered how she was going to measure 2 of my really tall windows. When she came in, she introduced herself to me and we talked for a few minutes. At this point, I was really confused. I read online that 3 Day Blinds would bring in the samples for me to see during the consultation. She didn't have them in her hands. She was asking me what I was looking for in blinds and I told her that I don't have any blinds in the home and need new ones for all of them. I also mentioned that I am also comparing 3 Day Blinds with Lowe's. Then, she asked me if I was looking for the best price. I told her, not necessarily. I'm looking for the right blinds for my home. The truth is, of course I want the best deal but of course for the type of blinds I want to get and since I found their buy 1, get the second 1 50% off promotion, I figured that would help me somewhat. After chit chatting for a few minutes, she said she needed to go back to her car and get her binders and then come back. So, I'm thinking she wanted to feel me out before committing to a full session with me and walking through my house to see all the blinds. That was really strange and unprofessional. I felt like I was being judged and had to meet certain parameters or something. If she was worried about wasting time, she should have gotten a conversation with me over the phone first before coming here. Maybe 3 Day Blinds could do this a bit better.

After she came back, we started with the 4 windows on the first floor. Then as we walked upstairs, she saw my high windows and told me she doesn't have a ladder so she can't measures all of them but can give me an estimate. Lowe's did a thorough measurement session while 3 Day Blinds could only 'guess' for 2 of them. However, she did measure the ones she could with the battery-operated electronic measuring tool she had in her hand. After walking through the second floor of my home, she opened up the blinds' binders with all the samples and let me see which ones I was interested in. I felt like the selection was less than what I saw in the Lowe's binders at the Santa Maria location but she said that 3 Day Blinds builds and creates their own blinds so if I order with them, I could get my blinds in and installed within 2 - 3 weeks. Lowe's said they probably couldn't get the blinds ready and installed until a month after so 3 Day Blinds does offer a shorter timeline. After narrowing down my shade color, faux wood blinds and vertical blinds, she printed my quote out from her portable printer. Even with the buy 1, get 1 50% off offer (and do mention it to them in case they forget to apply it), my total was still over $6,000. Wow, I had no idea how blinds could be so expensive! Then I noticed that they also charge for shipping and handling, which is something Lowe's does not charge! The installation fee is also significantly more expensive.

The sub-total was $5,975.00, package & handling was $353.76, installation fee was $944.33. The discount I got for the buy 1, get 1 50% for 3 Day Blinds was -$1,180.00 and sales tax was $399.03. The quote total came out to $6,492.12! I was starting to feel really dizzy when I saw all of this. Then she said if I ordered today, I would get them completed within 2 - 3 weeks, before Christmas. I told her Lowe's has not called me with their quote yet so I am waiting on that before I can move forward. I thanked her for her time and never heard from her again. 

Lowe's Great Customer Service
After the measurements have been submitted to the Lowe's Santa Maria, a lady from Lowe's at the Santa Maria location called me a couple of days after to let me know I could come in and finalize my blinds selection in person. I told her that I had looked at some patterns already and if I gave her the model number, if she could do the estimate over the phone, that would really help me out. She said "yes" and took all the model numbers from me and promised to call me back the next day. She did and the estimate came out to be just a bit over $3,000. I asked her if that included any shipping or handling fees. She said there are no shipping & handling fees when I'm ordering blinds from them. Score! Then I asked about the installation fee. She quoted that it's only $200 something. 3 Day Blinds' installation quote was over $900! It's such a huge difference. After she gave me the quote, she said I can come in and finalize the paper work because she would need me to sign a lot of papers and get my signature. I asked her if I needed to ask for her. She said anyone under the blinds department could help me. I love that flexibility because I couldn't come to Lowe's that very day. 

Lowe's Blind Selection
Even though I had thought I knew what I wanted, after seeing the blinds' folder again in person, I realized I needed to change some things again. I'm so glad they asked me to come in again to fill out the actual paperwork so that I can make sure I made the right selections. I ordered 3 types of blinds: 9 horizontal faux wood blinds (pretty standard), 2 vertical blinds and 4 shades. Because my vertical blinds were already stock blinds, I saved so much money! It just so happens that the design I liked the best for my sliding doors were stock blinds they had! Thank God! I found out that what will be delaying my installation is the shades. The shades take them longer to make because they're made out of state. Anyway, for the price, I was willing to wait a week longer and went with Lowe's instead of 3 Day Blinds. Here's the receipt of my Lowe's blinds order: 

I took advantage of their 20% off sale on certain brands for a limited time so that also contributed to the price as well. Subtotal for blinds: $2,542.77 (Combine Invoice 76761 and 76762; Invoice 23352 on the receipt was for a Gatorade my husband bought so don't count that). Tax is $219.45, no shipping and handling fee, and the installation fee (Invoice 76760) is 212.99. I want to note that since my husband is a veteran, there was also a 10% off discount added too. The total for our blinds, including all blinds and shades, taxes, installation fee came out to $2,975.21. If our family were not a veteran's family, it would have been roughly about $3,300, still significantly cheaper than 3 Day Blinds!

So there you have it:
3 Day Blinds: $6,492.12 vs. Lowe's: $2,975.21. 

It was a no brainer for me. I was willing to wait a week or 2 longer to get my blinds if that meant I was saving over 50%. In the mean time, I installed temporary paper blinds in our bedrooms so that my family have a bit of privacy until then.


I bought my temporary paper blinds from Bed Bath & Beyond but you can find them at Home Depot or Lowe's too. If you want to see them online, you can find these temporary paper blinds on Amazon online. I personally bought then for less than $10 each but prices may be different for you. Best of all, you don't need any tools to install them! It's basically just a long sticker on the top. They stay intact pretty well in the bedrooms and when you're ready to remove them, they don't seem to strip the paint off. I got the gray ones but they also offered them in white.

We went to the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum today since we were in the area for a Lowe's visit. Santa Maria is part of Santa Barbara county but since we live in South County area of San Luis Obispo county, it's only a 20 minute drive for us. 

It's the holiday season so the inside of the museum was decked with Christmas decorations! To our surprise, Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus were there too! We came on a special holiday event and were able to get our kids to take a picture with them!

This children's museum is one story and also had a craft area. Because it was a special event day there, the kids were also able to decorate their own sugar cookies in the back private room. The lay-out of the entire space looked very organized and well-kept.

I especially liked the fresh garden area where it seems that you can scoop a plant in a cup and bring it home.

We didn't bring home a plant because our boys were so busy exploring every station and I thought we were going to come back to it at the end and had forgotten about it. I also thought the treehouse was very neat; which is where kids can pick a book from a bookshelf and enjoy some reading time up there.

There's also an area for the little ones aged 0 - 3 years old to enjoy age-appropriate toys and stations.

They offered military and veteran's discounts on admission to the museum so do mention it if you are active-duty or a vet. Address of Santa Maria Valley Discovery Center: 705 S McClelland St, Santa Maria, CA 93454

We had our very first PSEA camp experience at one of the cabins at Camp Del Monte over the weekend to visit Monterey! It was such a neat experience and we felt like it was an appropriate place to stay during our 3 night vacation. The cabin had a full kitchen, 1 bedroom, a bathroom and also two twin beds and a futon in the living room. It was a great set up for 6 people and we maximized our space. We're a family of 4 and also invited a couple to stay one night during our weekend. Here are the pictures that I took below from our trip.

(front of our cabin)

My husband booked on the PG&E's PSEA website for our cabin a few months ahead of time and there were only 2 cabins left that were not reserved for Veteran's Day weekend so we chose Cabin #7 among the last two that were left. They had parking spots inside near the transformers and some of the cabins had room where you could even park right next to it. We opted to park on the street facing the front entrance as it felt like a more homely welcoming. Cabin #7 didn't really have enough room to park behind it. However, parking parallel to the street was perfect for us.

As we were entering through the sub-station driveway to get to our cabin, it felt like I was part of the movie Divergent where we're fenced off from the world around us since we arrived around 6:30PM and with the time change, it was pitched dark when we checked in. 


But I assure you, it is a completely feel during the daytime. See the pictures above to see the difference between the look of the sub-station near night time and then seeing it during the day. There's also a Santa Maria grill and a picnic table outside for campers to use.

A great amenity for families with kids is a playground on the camp with a baby swing, 2 normal swings, a long slide and a couple monkey bars. It was great for the little ones. 

There were also plenty of plastic shovels and toy buckets you can borrow from the main check-in cabin for the kids to play in the sand with. That was a nice surprise for us. We also saw that there were horseshoes that you could borrow for the grown-ups to play with and even DVD's. Just remember to return them back there when you're done using them.

Inside of the cabin, it felt more like a true cabin compared to the blue exterior of the cabins. Inside, the brown wood of the walls and roof surrounds us. It was a comforting feeling and truly made our experience much more original.
(living room area with futon)
(futon pulls out to become a double sized bed)
(kitchen had dishwashing detergent and scrubber left behind or maybe provided by the camp hosts)

The kitchen was fully stocked with utensils, dishware, pans and even a wine bottle opener and of course, for loaning, during the stay. We were reminded to wash everything and stow them away at the end of our stay for the next campers to use.

There were also paper towels provided but I also brought my own kitchen towel to use during the stay so that helped me keep the kitchen space cleaner.

(twin beds also located in the living room)

The twin beds were perfect for the kids and with the cold nights, the portable heaters in the room (provided by the camp hosts) were lifesavers to make our evenings more comfortable. There were 2 portable heaters in our cabin: one large and another one smaller. We put the large one in the living room and the smaller one in the bedroom. Remember to bring your own linens, blankets, pillows and bath towels to stay here. You're supposed to bring your own for sleeping and bathing.


The bedroom has a full sized bed, a dresser, nightstand and also leads to the bathroom. There is only a shower and no bathtub.

(large heater)
(small portable heater)

Even though they had a Santa Maria grill that I could use, it seemed like a big task to heat charcoal in there for just roasting marshmallows and one of my goals during this cabin trip was making s'mores for the kids. I opted to experiment with the oven instead, using one of the pans that's already provided in the cabin.



It turned out pretty good and the bonus is it helped warm up our cold cabin as it was about to get colder. 


The first night at our cabin was tiring for the kids and my husband since our 2.5 hour drive to Monterey from SLO was right after school and work. My husband fell asleep around 8PM and one of my kids fell asleep around 9PM. So I opened a can of beer and sat next to my older son on his twin bed while he was on his tablet. It was a nice, relaxing first night at the Camp Del Monte. 

I sat there staring at the chandelier for a while. Even though one of the lightbulbs went out, I really liked it. It gave me inspiration for making something like that out of old parts of unused furniture.

One of our main things on our itinerary was going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (See pictures that I took of Monterey Bay Aquarium on IG.) We found a corporate discount rate from the PSEA website for PG&E workers and my husband's ticket was also free because of Veteran's Day weekend. The aquarium was giving all veterans a free ticket that particular weekend in honor of the holiday. That was a very nice promotion for our family.

However, we also stayed in for a good amount of time and watched some Disney movies that were on TV. We watched Finding Dory, Mulan, Captain America, and more. 


After coming here, there are a few things I would do differently. We opted to eat out for breakfast instead of cooking but I felt that it would have been much easier and enjoyable if I had cooked in the cabin for a couple of our breakfasts because it had been harder to get my 3 year old to sit still in the restaurants during this particular trip. Even if he grew up in a couple of years, I think it would still be nice to stay in our jammies through the late morning and just chill there and eat. It has all the cooking utensils you need and since the groceries were just a couple of blocks away, it would have been easy to get a carton of eggs, a package of bacon, a loaf of bread and bag of potatoes for our stay. 

(row of Camp Del Monte cabins in Monterey)
(our cabin from the backside)

Looking back, I really enjoyed our cabin stay at Camp Del Monte. It was super kid-friendly and also great for just a group of friends to get-together too. We'll try to get cabin #7 again in a couple years when we return here to Camp Del Monte to enjoy another trip in Monterey and hopefully start a tradition.
Address of Camp Del Monte: 401 Kolb Avenue, Monterey, CA 93940

See my latest and other adventures and blog posts by visiting the blog page: http://www.sanluisobispomom.com/blog.php

I'm a veteran's wife so every year I always go on a list hunt ahead of time to find free things for my special veteran on Veteran's Day. This will be the very first time we are here in California for Veteran's Day since my husband finished his last term in the military.

I've come to find that the major chains are usually very consistent with offering freebies for veterans and active military on Veteran's Day. Here is the list I've compiled for San Luis Obispo, California so far. I hope that this helps you and your veteran too. 

Veteran's Day is Mon., November 11, 2019. Please be ready to show proof of military service or veteran's status when requested by any of these companies for your freebies. *If there is a (To be confirmed) note next to the freebie listed below, it just means that I haven't seen the company's actual website publish their freebie announcement for 2019 but it is usually an ongoing annual offer that they do. 

1. Free haircut at all Great Clips places for veterans on Veteran's Day. They do this every year and my husband has been able to taken advantage of it most of the time. If the veteran comes in that day and can't wait too long to get a haircut that very day, they will hand the veteran a free haircut card to use. 
2. Free ticket to a veteran and 1 guest at Knott's Berry Farm from Nov. 3 - 21, and Dec. 2 - 19, 2019. Now that we are here on the Central Coast, we can drive a few hours south to Knott's Berry Farm in Orange County. This is so great that they give you a date range. Show your Military I.D card or DD214 at the Knott's Berry Farm main gate to redeem this offer. Additional discounted tickets may be purchased at the ticket booth. Restrictions apply.
3. Free pancake breakfast to veterans and active duty at IHOP on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, 2019 at all participating IHOPs around the nation from 7AM - 7PM. 
4. Free wings for veteran's on Veteran's Day at Buffalo Wild Wings. They usually don't post it on their website ahead of time but will publish a PR announcement or post on facebook a couple of days before about this freebie. (To be confirmed)
5. Free meal to veterans and active military on Veteran's Day at Applebee's. They usually require you to show proof. Sometimes it's from a special list so do tell them upon order that you are a veteran or active military and they will let you know what's the freebie offer. 
6. Free meal to veterans on Veteran's Day at California Pizza Kitchen. They usually don't have an announcement until early in November about their offerings but it is usually an ongoing annual offer from a selected menu (like pizza, salad or pasta, etc) for the veteran to pick from. (To be confirmed)
7. Little Caesar's pizza will offer a free $5 hot and ready combo during the hours of 11AM - 2PM to any veteran or active military. Must mention offer and like the rest, be ready to show proof.
8. Free meal to veterans at Olive Garden from a selected menu. They usually don't market this freebie until a few days or during the first week of November but from my experience, it is not always on the actual Veteran's Day but close to it. (To be confirmed.)
9. All veterans and active duty get a free meal from Chili's from a selected menu on Veteran's Day. There's a list of 7 this year: https://www.chilis.com/restaurant-events/veterans-day.
10. All veterans and active duty get a free Build Your Own Grand Slam at Denny's. From what I've seen, it is not always offered on Veteran's Day. Sometimes it's offered a day before or after depending on the year. For instance, last year in 2018, the offer was a day after Veteran's Day. They usually won't announce which date until a press release is out early in November. (To be confirmed)
11. All veterans and spouses of veterans get a free tall coffee at Starbucks on Veteran's Day. To be honest, I've never taken advantage of this freebie on Veteran's Day as a veteran's spouse because the line is always so long! They always offer this freebie but don't announce it until the first part of November. (To be confirmed).
12. All Veterans & Active Military get 25% off at Fish Tales & Bar and 50% off any boat or water toy rental in the store at Lopez Lake from Oct 1 - Nov 15, 2019. No limit on days or amounts of uses. Lopez Lake is located in Arroyo Grande, part of San Luis Obispo county. 
13. Veteran's Day at the Vineyard: complimentary wine tastings at Riverbench Vineyard and Winery in Santa Maria. At Riverbench, past and present military service men and women receive complimentary wine tastings year round. For Veterans Day weekend, we're toasting to those who served. Visit either Riverbench tasting room anytime on Saturday (Nov 9), Sunday (Nov 10) or Monday (Nov 11) for a special library sparkling wine pour added to any tasting. Even though Santa Maria is part of Santa Barbara county but it is really close! Address of Riverbench Vineyard: 6020 Foxen Canyon Rd, Santa Maria, CA 93454
14. Free entry for veterans and active military at Aquarium at the Pacific between Nov. 9 - 15, 2019. FREE for veterans, military personnel with service ID. Otherwise, general admission, free for Aquarium members. Aquarium of the Pacific is not in San Luis Obispo county and located in the LA area (3 hours drive south of SLO) Address: 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach, CA 90802. See pictures of Aquarium of the Pacific.
15. Knott's Berry Farm is offering free entry to Active, Retired and Veteran U.S. Military Personnel themselves and one guest from November 3 - 21 and December 2 - 19, 2019. Must show proof by Military I.D. or DD214. Knott's Berry Farm is not in San Luis Obispo county but is about a 4 hour drive South from SLO. Address: 8039 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA 90620. See pictures of Knott's Berry Farm.
16. Monterey Bay Aquarium is offering free entry to veterans, active duty, retirees and reservists during Veteran's Day weekend (Nov. 9 - 11, 2019). Must present active military I.D. Address: 886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940

Sometimes I feel like my kids are not growing fast enough, i.e. delayed potty training progress, and other times I feel like they are growing way too fast! 

My five year old has just competed in his very first pumpkin contest. Since he is only five, there is no carving involved and we did it as a family. It was a fun activity that all of us enjoyed. My son got to pick what color eyes our pumpkin should have and other features too. He was very adamant that our lion pumpkin should not have ears! We left the hot gluing task to me, as his grown up, adult mother.

 (Lion pumpkin DIY no carve)

I think it turned out pretty cute. We used yarn for the lion mane, felt for the tongue, fuzzy balls for the eyes, nose and legs, pipe cleaner for the mouth area and black permanent marker for the whisker dots. 

We hope you're having a festive fall so far. To see free family-friendly activities in the San Luis Obispo area, go to: http://www.sanluisobispomom.com/family-friendly-events.php.

Today, we visited farms animals at Windmill Farms in Arroyo Grande (AG), California. (Arroyo Grande is part of San Luis Obispo County). We have farms all over this beautiful county which gives the kids many opportunities to visit farm animals.

Upon arriving Windmill Farms, I was instantly impressed by how well kept the farm is.

The place is so beautiful, I did not take a single bad picture! We were allowed to feed lettuce to the farm animals. Just ask the workers there at Windmill Farms if you could purchase some lettuce. We saw tortoises, goats, pigs, turkeys and ponies.



It was really amusing to hear the turkeys gobble, gobble every time we would pass by! It was so perfect to be around all of this during the fall season.

They also had a picnic area which got me thinking that this could be a very nice place to host an intimate wedding reception! Address of Windmill Farms is 1275 N Thompson Ave, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420.

Read about our visit to another farm called Avila Valley Barn in Avila Beach (also part of San Luis Obispo county).
Find a Hotel in San Luis Obispo.

Over the weekend, we attended a wine release party at Vina Robles Vineyards & Winery in Paso Robles, California. (Paso Robles is part of San Luis Obispo county.) I'm still daydreaming about it because the food and wine pairings were fantastic. It was free for wine club members and that is so wonderful because sometimes other wineries still charge a fee for these release parties.

Ever since we've moved here, we've became wine club members for two wineries, Vina Robles Vineyards and Tolosa Winery (Edna Valley). We haven't gone to a wine release party for Tolosa Winery yet so this one at Vina Robles Vineyards & Winery is our very first wine release party ever! 

The wine release party was from 11AM - 2PM. By the time we have arrived in Paso Robles, it was about 11:10AM and there was a line to enter already. About 30 - 40 people were in front of us. It was over 100 degrees that day so it was going to be a very hot day! The staff members there were very polite and professional. Now looking back, next time we will arrive at 1PM because we'll still have an hour to go through all 6 tasting stations and the line by that time to enter was non-existent!

Although there were 6 different wine & food pairing tastings, as a bonus, you can try their blind tastings and those were another 3 red wine tastes.

It was such a wonderful event with chef worthy dishes, fantastic Vina Robles wine and a wonderful ambiance outdoors during a summer day. I really can't wait for the next wine release party here!

If you're looking to go to a concert, Vina Robles also has an amphitheatre where many famous bands perform here!

We watched Counting Crows when they came here! As another perk as a Vina Robles Vineyards club member, they let you join their pre-concert party! Entry to this pre-show party is only exclusive to wine club members. All of the concerts have pre-show parties if they are performing here at the amphitheatre. The amphitheatre only opened a couple of years ago so the place is beautiful and new. My husband and I shared the braised beef entree at the pre-show party for Counting Crows.

If you're not a wine club member, the main areas of the venue also have many different stations of food to buy! This is for every Vina Robles Amphitheater goer and there were a pizza station, another area to buy sandwiches and burgers, desserts and of course wine! You can also get beer here! Address of Vina Robles Vineyards & Winery and Amphitheatre: 3800 Mill Rd, Paso Robles, CA 93446

Find a Hotel in Paso Robles.