Hometown Beauty

Yesterday I spent some time just meandering around my town.  I got a new camera for Christmas and had a few free minutes in the afternoon so I hit the streets.  I wanted to practice some of my camera's settings and my town offers great photo ops.  What I wound up accomplishing was a simple photo essay of my hometown's beautiful downtown area (please forgive the beginner photography - I'm working on it).

By California standards, I live in a small town.  My hometown is Paso Robles which sits on the georgeous Central Coast of California.  I wasn't actually born here but I moved here one week prior to my 10th birthday so I consider it my hometown. 

One of the many oak trees on our property

Paso Robles (or its complete name El Paso de Robles) translates to pass of the oaks.  So when I think of Paso, I automatically think of oak trees.  We have thousands of oak trees.  Years ago people cleared large parcels of land to plant crops and build houses but oaks are still everywhere you look. There are now restrictions on cutting down these iconic trees.

The other thing that pops into mind when I think of my town is the beautiful downtown center.  We have a very active Mainstreet Association that has won awards for what they have accomplished with our downtown. I will take you through a few of my favorite stops on my walk.

I started out by grabbing tea at my favorite coffee house in Paso.  Amsterdam Coffee is on 13th Street between Spring Street and Park Street.  I come here every week to sit and chat with some other locals.  Visitors to our town are always hanging out on the comfy couches.  I love chatting with them about what we locals recommend about our town (wine tasting isn't the only pastime).

I left Amsterdam and headed south on Park Street. This street has many restored buildings housing restaurants, clothing stores, and wine tasting rooms. 

This building houses a restored ballroom and can be rented out for events.  On the street level is western-themed McLintocks Restaurant which offers my favorite happy hour in town.  For under $15 my husband and I can do a date night that includes dinner and beer.

When you walk around downtown, the center is dominated by two "icons" if you will.  The first is the clock tower on the corner of Park Street and 12th Street.  This clock tower was actually destroyed in the 2003 earthquake but was quickly reconstructed. 

Across 12th Street from the clock tower is the downtown city park.  This is the social hub of Paso life.

So many things happen in the park.  We have year round farmers markets, free concerts every Friday evening in the summer, Christmas tree lighting ceremony, numerous festivals, car shows, etc.  Its actually hard to find two weekends back to back where nothing is happening in the park.

At the center of the park is the second "icon" of downtown Paso, the Carnegie Library.  This no longer serves as the city library but it did up until fairly recently. 

Fooling around with black and white - still needs work.

I remember walking down the outside stairs to the basement to attend story time in the children's section.  Now it houses the local historical society.  From here I headed northeast along the path in the park and crossed 12th Street.

I turned west along 12th Street and walked down one of my favorite blocks in town.  This block has been largely restored and is one of the older commercial sections in town.  It used to house the town's mercantile and still did when I moved here in 1989.  Now it is home to many yummy restaurants and boutiques.  I walked up this block and turned north on Park Street.  I walked two blocks up to one of my absolute favorite restaurants in town. 

Panolivo is on the corner of Park Street and 14th Street.  It offers french cuisine and what I consider to be some of the best coffee and deserts in town.  For date nights, my husband and I love to come for a decaf and a pastry.  Try their Cafe Au Lait and pair it with their Pear Belle Helene.  Heaven!!  Unfortunately the restaurant is undergoing renovations but should be open again very soon.

Great sign on this clothing store.

 I crossed the street to walk south on Park Street.  I love the little boutiques that line this street: clothing, olive oil, crafts, jewlry, etc.  In November the downtown holds an event called Elegant Evening.  All of the stores offer up finger foods and drinks for free.  Its sort of a town-wide open house.  My family and I always attend and its fun to see the stores lit up for the holidays.

I made my way back to my car on 13th Street and it was time to go pick up the kids.  If you haven't been to my town, please consider paying us a visit.  It is a great place to walk around, have a cup of coffee, and get a good meal.  There is so much I didn't put in this blog but maybe I will do a part two because I could go on and on about Paso.  Hope to see soon!!