Wednesday, 4/6/2011 - Rail Journey, Melodrama
After leaving from our departure points and a continental breakfast onboard, this morning we travel by motorcoach to Oxnard to board Amtrak’s Coast Starlight Train. We’ll embark on a memorable journey along California’s coastline and through fertile valleys to San Luis Obispo. Traveling to San Luis Obispo by rail will allow you to see much of the California coast and back roads normally hidden from the roads traveled by car. Enjoy lunch in the dining car, relax in the observation car, or take a nap at your seat. In San Luis Obispo, we will meet our motorcoach and travel the short distance to Pismo Beach. Known as the “Clam Capital of the World,” Pismo Beach preserves the spirit of early California with its 23 miles of unspoiled sandy beaches including Pismo’s dramatic rugged coastlines and the 1,200 foot Pismo Beach pier lined with fishing enthusiasts. The white, sandy, uncrowded coastline offers a perfect landscape for our two-night stay at a beautiful beachfront hotel. This evening enjoy dinner at the famous McLintock’s Dining House. Following dinner, enjoy an evening of fun and frivolity at the Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville. Enjoy a wonderful vaudeville revue, full of song, dance and comedy followed by a topnotch production. The comfortable atmosphere of cabaret tables with sawdust on the floor and honky-tonk piano music in the air makes for memorable experience.

Thursday, 4/7/2011 - Central Coast
Following an included breakfast at our hotel, we depart and head north to Morro Bay, a charming fishing village famous for its landmark, Morro Rock. This sentinel of Morro Bay is actually a volcanic peak over 21 million years old. This 576-foot-high dome-shaped formation now serves as a preserve for the spectacular peregrine falcons that nest on top. As a bird sanctuary, the city of Morro Bay and the Morro Bay National Estuary provide a nourishing habitat to more than 250 species of birds. We will visit Montaña de Oro State Park, which features 8,000 acres of rugged cliffs, secluded sandy beaches, streams, canyons and hills. We’ll continue our ride up the Pacific Coast Highway and the impressive California coast to the charming town of Cambria, “where the pines meet the sea”. This lovely village and artists’ colony provides quaint boutiques and great restaurants and you’ll have time to enjoy both at your leisure. This afternoon, for the adventurous an optional exciting tour of Pismo Beach’s sand dunes. Explore the famous towering sand dunes and beach as professional drivers show you the capability of the military-inspired “humvee”. This evening enjoy San Luis Obispo’s open-air Farmers’ Market which fills four blocks of historic downtown. Buy just-picked produce and sample a variety of barbecued specialties from local restaurants or stroll the many booths while you are entertained by local performers.

Friday, 4/8/2011 - Journey Home
This morning you may want to walk along the surf-line, explore pebbled coves and tide pools beneath steep rocky bluffs, or gather some shells along the white, sandy beaches below our hotel. Our morning departure will provide us plenty of time to journey along the back roads of the Central Coast as we make our way home. The Santa Maria Valley has some of the most fertile productive agricultural land in the state. You will have time at your leisure for lunch and shopping in the quaint Danish town of Solvang before continuing south. We will arrive back at our departure points this evening with great memories of Pismo Beach, the back roads of the Central Coast, our rail journey and the Pacific coast’s hideaways.