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Every year, we have Mother's Day as a special day to celebrate. Sometimes I love this holiday even more than my birthday as I feel like I'm celebrating it with all of the moms in country.
(My sons playing a game at a local Mother Son Dance that they attended with me during Mother's Day weekend)

Here are some tips on how to celebrate Mother's Day in San Luis Obispo County for 2025:

1. Go to a special event. There are special Mother's Day themed events around San Luis Obispo County. You can check out each City's planned events but there are several notable ones. These include the following:
   • Mother's Day Concert happens every year in Pismo Beach on  Mother's Day at Dinosaurs Cave Park Pismo Beach from 1PM - 4PM and this year is no exception. You can see more details on the Family-Friendly Event List page when they are announced and added to the list. This is a free admission event.
   • Mother's Day Tea Party at Hambly Farms is happening this year on Mother's Day, Sun., May 11, 2025 from 1PM - 3PM. Ticket are $49 a person. Read more about this Mother's Day Tea event.
   • Every year, Grover Beach used to hosts a Mother and Son Dance in May but they changed it to a Family Dance. See the Family-Friendly Events Page to see upcoming events in San Luis Obispo County. Grover Beach is part of San Luis Obispo County. Here's a picture of the decorated table from the Mother & Son Dance that I had attended in the past below. I've been to 3 Mother and Son Dances. See my Pros and Cons Summary on Whether You Should Go To a Mother's Day Dance or Not by clicking on this blog link.
     
   • Every year, the City of Arroyo Grande hosts a Mother's Day Tea Party at Heritage House in Arroyo Grande from 1:30PM - 4PM. $50 for a couple and $20 for an additional guest in your party. Wide selection of tea, lemonade, tea sandwiches, scones and desserts will be served. Register at City of Arroyo Grande's website. Address: 201 Nelson St., Arroyo Grande, CA 93420
   • On Mother's Day, SLO Botanical Garden usually hosts a special event called Faerie Festival from 10AM - 2PM. Activities will be at the Children's Garden and includes nature activities and crafts, musical performances, faerie marketplace, storytelling and faceprinting. There is no admission cost. However, there is a $3 per car at the park's kiosk at El Chorro Regional Park. Limited parking and carpools encouraged. They will have a free shuttle from Cuesta College lot for overflow parking. Address: 3450 Dairy Creek Rd., San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
   • On Mother's Day, a popular thing to do is go to the Charles Paddock Zoo. See all pictures that I've taken at Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero. Address: 9100 Morro Rd, Atascadero, CA 93422
   • SLO Public Market is a very kid-friendly space and has a kid's area with toys upstairs in their main room. SLO Public Market has many restaurants that you can enjoy in a casual atmosphere. See pictures of the SLO Public Market that I took during our recent visit on Instagram.
2. Find a nice brunch spot! Many hotels and restaurants around the area offer brunch specials on Mother's Day. Usually they focus on Easter in April first but will immediately start promoting Mother's Day after that. If any of the restaurants is allowing reservations, I highly recommend doing so! Popular Mother's Day Brunch locations include:
   • Madonna Inn - Mother's Day Brunch takes place every year at Madonna Inn. It is usually a brunch buffet.
     
     I'm a regular visitor at the Copper Cafe at Madonna Inn and we've also had two overnight staycations there in the following unique rooms: San Francisco Room and Antique Cars Room. The above pictures are my personal pictures that I took during a couple of my stays there. See all of my blog entries about my visits at the Copper Cafe and family staycations at the Madonna Inn.
   • Cambria Pines Lodge in Cambria - Mother's Day Brunch takes place every year at Cambria Pines Lodge. Year round, Cambria Pines Lodge has brunch every Sunday, including Mother's Day so this is also a great place for brunch for any special Sunday. Reservations are recommended. We've had brunch here at the Cambria Pines Lodge for Mother's Day in the past. (See image of my buffet plate below on Mother's Day.) 
     
     Reservations are definitely recommended for Mother's Day. It was very packed, even with our reservation. There is a line to every buffet line station there but I really enjoyed my food. See pictures that I took of Cambria. After my brunch on Mother's Day, we went to their gardens and gift shop. See my video below of how beautiful this place is.
     
   • Lido Restaurant & Lounge in Pismo Beach/Shell Beach offers a 3 course brunch every Sunday, including Mother's Day. Lido Restaurant is located inside of The Dolphin Bay Resort & Spa in Pismo Beach. It is a beautiful resort with views of the ocean and cliffs. See an instagram reel of my experience at Lido Restaurant and Lounge.
   • Marisol at Shell Beach usually offers a brunch menu every day but often offers a few Brunch Specials on Mother's Day between 8AM - 3PM. They have a spectacular view of the ocean.
     
     In the past, I've enjoyed a lobster pappardelle dish (pasta picture above), a blood orange blueberry cheesecake dessert (dessert picture above) and their oysters. The images above are my personal pictures that I took of my food before I devoured them! Marisol Restaurant is located inside of The Cliffs Hotel and Spa.
   • Gardens of Avila Restaurant at Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort & Spa usually has a menu for Mother's Day every year but they don't announce it until very last minute. I've dined here several times. Here's a YouTube Short below that I captured of how the Gardens of Avila Restaurant and Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort & Spa property look like. It's a small restaurant but it makes it a convenient visit if you're going to soak in the hot tub there.
     
     I also came to Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort & Spa to celebrate a few other special occasions in the past. Read about our experience at the mineral springs at Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort & Spa during Valentine's Day weekend.
     
3. Take her wine tasting and/or brunch at a winery! San Luis Obispo County has hundreds of wineries scattered all around the county. Two top regions to go are: Edna Valley and Paso Robles. Edna Valley takes the San Luis Obispo city name as their address and is located just 10 minutes drive from Pismo Beach. Many of the wine tasting places have a wine tasting room (indoors) and a patio area to enjoy your wine outdoors so there's a great flexibility there. See my wineries' reviews throughout SLO County and pictures of beautiful tasting rooms that I took during my visits. A few wineries in the area also typically serves a Mother's Day Brunch Special at the winery. I went to a Winemaker Dinner recently and loved the experience but it is a for sure, a once in a long while thing for us.
   
   Here is a list of wineries or tasting rooms in San Luis Obispo County that usual offers a brunch menu:
   • Tooth & Nail Winery in Paso Robles has a food menu. The winery is a castle (see a picture that I took below at Tooth & Nail Winery)! Read my blog entry about Tooth & Nail Winery and see all of my pictures that I captured at this beautiful place. Address: 3090 Anderson Rd., Paso Robles, CA 93446
     
   • Rava Wines in Paso Robles has a nice food menu. We've visited here before and they have a walking trail (see a picture that I took below at Rava Wines). Reservations are recommended. Address: 6785 Creston Rd., Paso Robles, CA 93446
     
4. Take a fun class together! Local cities all around San Luis Obispo usually have cool art classes you can take for a really decent price. A few wineries and breweries around the area host sip and paints. Sip and paints, or sometimes as 'sip n paints' is where you sip on wine or beer while you paint. They usually provide all of the supplies and the wine so you just pay and show up! I really like sip and paints or paint nights (as some used to call it) because you get to keep that art you made as a memory of your celebration. You can find upcoming art social events in the SLO County area.
5. Cook her a tri-tip Santa Maria style! One of many things that we're known for in this county is that we love our tri-tip grilled on a Santa Maria grill. If you really want to wow her, you can buy that expensive hunk of meat, marinate it hours ahead and slowly cook it for your momma! Or better yet, take her to a bbq restaurant that has tri-tip made this way on the menu. My top pick (and Yelp's too) is Firestone Grill. They are located in downtown San Luis Obispo. See my reviews of restaurants throughout San Luis Obispo County on the Restaurants page.

Suggested Reads:

Read about my staycations at the famous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.

To see other pictures of restaurants that I've visited in San Luis Obispo County, go to the Restaurants Page.

See a list of free family-friendly events throughout San Luis Obispo (SLO) County for the year.

Some of my favorite gifts from my sons are Mother's Day crafts that they made in school and surprised me at home with. I really have to give the teachers a lot of credit for all of that. I also really like it when my husband encourages my kids to go to the store to buy flowers for me for Mother's Day. This always brightens up my day!