The sleepy, almost "secret" city of San Luis Obispo serves as the commercial, governmental and cultural hub of California's Central Coast. One of California's oldest communities, it began with the founding of Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa in 1772 by Father Jun¡pero Serra. Today, besides still being an active church, the mission serves as the center of town alongside Mission Plaza. San Luis Obispo also serves as a good jumping off point to explore the other offerings of central California: such as the famous California Wine Country that stretches north and south from town and some very sunny beaches.

However, the town itself is well worth exploration. Mission Plaza is the community's cultural and social center. This historic plaza is complemented by a downtown bustling with great shopping, outdoor and indoor dining and night life. Don't forget San Luis Obispo's famous Thursday Night Farmers' Market, where you can buy locally grown fresh produce and enjoy an outdoor BBQ. Another interesting fact about San Luis Obispo is the preference of people to walk while downtown instead of drive, allowing for uncrowded streets - certainly a far cry from some of the urban nightmares to the north and south. Once you get tired of walking, you can always ride the free SLO Trolley, which operates Thursdays through Sundays.

Outside the downtown area one can also find some interesting and unique places to visit. Hearst Castle, for example, is the palatial estate of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and was donated to the state of California in 1957. The mansion's 165 rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, swimming pools, walkways and a private zoo are just a part of its grandeur, and it's now open for tours. If the Hearst Mansion is a monument to money, The Madonna Inn is a monument to unremitting kitsch. The color pink is seen throughout the hotel in everything from the carpet to the colored sugar in the restaurant. Each room in the Madonna Inn is uniquely designed and themed. Its rock waterfall urinal is a fixture along California's Central Coast and many tourists come to visit it, to the embarrassment of males who genuinely need to use the facilities.

San Luis Obispo is located eight miles from the Pacific Ocean, 231 miles south of San Francisco and 200 miles north of Los Angeles at the junction of Highway 101 and scenic Highway 1.