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Earlier this month of July, we had a staycation in Atascadero in the Colony District area. Atascadero is an inland part of San Luis Obispo County and definitely has a different vibe from the famous San Luis Obispo City and Pismo Beach areas. They are known for their craft beer spots, wine tasting options and sometimes very hot weather in the summer!

I did some research before figuring out which hotel was best to stay in Atascadero. We narrowed it down to The Carlton. It's located in the middle of all the action and only a block or two (or across the street) from a handful of breweries. Uniquely, this hotel is a historic hotel and very luxurious in feel. Everything is of high class quality.

The Carlton

The Carlton is definitely inviting and there's a designated private parking area for hotel patrons. You can also park on the street as well. Since we're staying on a Sunday night, the two hour restriction wasn't in place and we parked on the street overnight as it was a closer walk to the front door of the hotel from our car that way. We're also glad that we brought our own water bottles. There were two water bottles in the hotel room but you'd have to pay for them. I was really impressed by their bathroom. There's a separate shower area and a separate big bathtub! All the fixtures are so fancy.


Once you get to the historic area of Atascadero, you won't miss the signs of The Carlton.


Wonderfully, staying at The Carlton came with amazing surprises.

There are two restaurants located inside The Carlton: Nautical Cowboy Steakhouse (now closed) and Back Porch Bakery! We tried out both of them!


These are both well known to the community. Back Porch Bakery is only open from the early morning though about 2pm. Their array of croissants are delicious! They also have breakfast sandwiches and make a mean craft coffee! The steakhouse doesn't open until 5pm. However, if you're hungry between the closing of the bakery and the opening of the steakhouse, there's a lot of restaurant options around the block within walking distance. This made our staycation so convenient and enjoyable. We really enjoyed the Santa Maria style BBQ at Nautical Cowboy Steakhouse (now closed) and the kids enjoyed the hot dog and chicken tenders that they ordered from the kid's menu. Both came with fries and a drink for the kids.

There were so many things we could walk to from our stay at The Carlton. Once we parked our car and checked in, we never had to get back in the car again for the entire time.

Places we walked to and visited during this staycation in Atascadero included:

1. Ancient Owl Beer Garden & Bottle Shoppe - This beer garden is super kid-friendly with an all outdoor space to drink. There's a creamery right in between the seating areas so you can go and get a treat for your kids. I brought my kids their own lunch boxes with snacks so that they'd have some snacks to munch on as my husband and I enjoy a local craft beer. I think they offer free juices to the kids but we didn't ask for them. However, I saw other tables with kids enjoyed them.
2. Tent City Beer Company - This is a smaller brewery but still a wonderful visit. They had a lot of different types of brews to taste from.
3. Wild Fields Brewhouse
   
   Of the list, this was the most kid-friendly visit! There's an arcade and free toys to borrow for the kids to play with! I was so impressed. The selection for beer was great and there's a good food menu for vegans and non-vegans. My husband and I ordered a banh mi to share while we were here to tide us over until our steakhouse later that evening. My kids were still full from their snacks from their lunch box munches earlier so spent of out time there playing games on the arcade.

I was happy to hear that Circus Vargas debuted in San Luis Obispo this summer and we got the chance to watch a performance the day before Independence Day at the beautiful Madonna Inn property.

I've attended a Circus Vargas show twice! Jump to a list of my tips on going to Circus Vargas with little ones. 

It was a sunny day and we caught the 4pm showing. Parking right by the circus tent was $10 cash, which we gladly paid instead of parking far away. I had an elderly family member with us and this makes a huge difference for him who has bad knees.

This was not our very first Circus Vargas show. We went to one 2 years ago and I have to say that this 2021 performance is much more organized and the sound is much better and cleaner. No irritating bass rattling!

I also enjoyed the storytelling of this year's performance as well. I think the grandparents in our family related to it well and I was so glad they enjoyed the circus with us. Best of all, they were so relieved to hear that there are no more live animals at the circus as they felt that was cruel when they had gone when they were much younger.

Here are the video clips that I recorded while I was there. These are just a bit of what we saw and does not do justice to the enormous talent and creativity the Circus Vargas team put together.

Parkour Performance:


Hula Hooping Performance:


Flying Trapeze Performance:


Blindfolded Performance:

If you did not catch a Circus Vargas performance in San Luis Obispo, they come to San Luis Obispo every year. 

All photos and video clips, including those via Pinterest are original content by SanLuisObispoMom.com.

Tips for Going to the Circus Vargas with Kids

• If your family is a veteran's family, they can request up to 4 free Circus Vargas tickets through VetTix.org. They must have a VetTix.org log-in showing proof that they are a veteran before they can get access to tickets available to veterans. You just have to pay a service fee which is $14.97 (for 2023), but it is considerably cheaper than buying the tickets at full price, especially for 4 people. The person picking up the tickets must be the veteran whose name matches the person who requested the tickets, as these free tickets are only offered to veterans in limited supply.
• After attending two different Circus Vargas shows in San Luis Obispo with two kids, I've seen a pattern. I feel that I enjoy watching the circus way more than my kids. If you have kids who don't like loud noises and can't sit still for more than an hour, this is not a great place to bring them as the noise level of this circus is very loud with a lot of sudden bursts of sounds. Halfway through, one of us had to sit with my kids in the car as the noise level was making them uncomfortable.
• The seats are hard and narrow so if you have long legs or the person next to you has supermodel long legs and wide shoulders, you'll get bumped into, probably more than once. Even when you picked your seats online ahead of time and there was an open seat next to you, that may not be the case by the time the show starts. No bumping and grinding here like the night club but your usual personal space bubble comfort level will need to shrink.
• They sell a lot of merchandise and food as you step into the tent and their knick knacks are all so pretty with many things that light up. Bring enough money and budget that into your trip as your family members may be very tempted to ask you to buy something at a Circus Vargas show!
• If you don't want to miss a second of the show, you're sitting down pretty much the whole time except when there is intermission. When one of my kids was a toddler, he had a hard time staying still as his attention span was very short. Even though children 2 years old and under are free, I don't know if you'll be able to sit through a show with them as the loud noises and rattling from machines that they use can be too much for mine and if your kids are like mine, this may be the case for your family too. It may be more stressful than you think.

Some of my most favorite gifts from my husband are experiences, like a local hotel stay in a nice boutique hotel or a nice stress-free cruise. Read more blog entries to read about my local adventures.

This past weekend, we went to LEGOLAND California to celebrate my son's 5th birthday. They had just opened the new The LEGO Movie World a couple of weeks prior so we're seeing a lot of cool new stuff!

Emmet's Flying Adventure Ride & LEGOLAND California's Waterpark

The priority on our list was Emmet's Flying Adventure Ride since it's their newest ride! The waiting time was about an hour for that when we were there. My older son had a melt down because he was getting really hot but luckily it wasn't too long after that we were able to get on the ride. It turned out to be his most favorite ride! We're so glad we stuck it out and did not get out of the line. It was well worth the wait!

We also took advantage of the clear and sunny weather to enjoy the waterpark at LEGOLAND California. I stowed my phone away in the locker since I was going to get wet so I wasn't able to take pictures inside but my kids were ecstatic and we enjoyed having some water fun. It was a busy crowd but not overcrowded. No one wore masks at the waterpark. However, outside of the waterpark, masks were required to roam around the resort. (This has changed as less restrictions are in place by California.)

There were many things that I've already blogged about in a previous LEGOLAND California Adventure. Read this older LEGOLAND California blog post to read about our experience at the connected SEA LIFE Aquarium. Please go to that link to also read more details about our other ride experiences at LEGOLAND in Carlsbad. Otherwise, I will dive into my first LEGOLAND Castle Hotel experience below! 

Discount LEGOLAND California Park Tickets

Depending on the time of year, you can score cheaper LEGOLAND California Park tickets from arestravel.com. Even with convenience fees, when you total everything at end, you could save money for your LEGOLAND trip. It's worth taking the extra 5 minutes to compare before you buy. Sometimes they even offer a 2nd day free where you can go back within 5 days of your first LEGOLAND California visit! See more tickets of LEGOLAND California and Discount LEGOLAND California tickets from arestravel.com.

LEGOLAND Castle Hotel Review

We stayed at the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel for the very first time during this trip! It really made the whole weekend getaway so much more memorable. I was so impressed with everything inside of our room! I could hear the music coming from LEGOLAND California park and it really puts you in a wonderful mood. While people were walking to the park or to their cars, we were walking to and from the hotel. It is a great convenient way to maximize your experience at LEGOLAND.

We chose the wizard theme and each room had a bunk bed sectioned off so the kids get they own area to play, build and watch TV while the parents can sleep on the other end (still very close), near the window. Here are pictures from our LEGOLAND Castle Hotel stay. It was wonderfully themed and decorated. There were LEGO figures throughout our entire hotel room. Breakfast came with our stay so it was very nice to come downstairs and enjoy breakfast right away without having to leave the hotel. We made reservations for breakfast online and then they just checked off our names before hitting the buffet line. This was a very efficient process.

LEGOLAND Castle Hotel Delayed Check In Process

The only complaint I would have about staying at the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel was the check-in process. There were lines of people around the lobby waiting to get checked in or getting their keys. Even though it said check-in time was 4pm, we had to wait another hour for our keys as they were still cleaning the rooms! I am glad they are spending the extra time to clean rooms thoroughly, especially in a pandemic. However, we were really tired from a long day at LEGOLAND, going on rides and traveling so it felt really exhausting to have to wait around. However, around 6pm, we were able to check into our hotel and from then on, everything was just awesome!

See my video clips from my stay here at LEGOLAND Castle Hotel and their newest section: THE LEGO MOVIE WORLD.

Pool at LEGOLAND Castle Hotel

There's also a pool at LEGOLAND Castle Hotel for hotel guests so if you didn't buy a waterpark ticket for LEGOLAND California's park, you still have the option to have some water play at the hotel if you're staying there. There's a large playground right outside and an itinerary with scheduled entertainment exclusively for hotel guests! These are all inclusive too with your resort fees.

Reading Suggestions:

• You can see more pictures of the rides that we went on from an earlier LEGOLAND California visit. Read about our LEGOLAND California visit before the pandemic happened. 
• See discounted ticket prices from arestravel.com. Depending on the season, their prices may be cheaper even with convenience fees factored in than the official website.

Read About Our Other Travel Adventures and Reviews:

• Birthday Weekend at LEGOLAND Castle Hotel Review and LEGOLAND California Amusement Park Review


• Birthday Celebration at Great Wolf Lodge in Southern California


• Alaska Cruise on Princess Cruise for 11 Days


• Ensenada Cruise on Carnival Cruise for 3 Days


• Ensenada and Catalina Island Cruise on Royal Caribbean for 4 Days


• Moon Palace The Grand Family Summer Vacation in Cancun for 5 Days


• Universal Studios Hollywood Family Trip During Spring Break


• Cabin Trip in Monterey


• Staycations at the Iconic Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo: Madonna Inn’s San Francisco Room Review OR Madonna Inn’s Antique Room Review


• Staycation at the Granada Hotel & Bistro in Downtown San Luis Obispo


• Staycation at La Quinta Inn in Downtown San Luis Obispo


• Staycation in Atascadero at The Carlton Review

Read our blog entry about our recent experience watching Circus Vargas perform on July 3, 2021 via this link.

Read my tips and experiences on going to Circus Vargas in SLO with kids.

Last month, my family and I decided to get away in Los Angeles after I received my second Covid-19 vaccination.
We find that we see a lot of visitors from Los Angeles coming to visit San Luis Obispo County and vice versa. However, it has been a really long time since I've really spent some time in Los Angeles. I'm a native San Diegan so usually I am just passing through LA to get to San Diego. I always dread the LA traffic and how everyone seems to be in a hurry. But if my destination is Los Angeles county, it really didn't seem all that bad and long!

Our main points of interest were Santa Monica Pier, eating some seafood and then a last minute visit to the Mattel store located at the Mattel headquarters.

They also have a Sanrio store in Los Angeles but you'll have to go to the downtown area in Little Tokyo to find it. It's worth a visit if you love Hello Kitty, Kerropi and other Sanrio collections.

Santa Monica Pier


The picture above was taken by me while we were buying cotton candy for the kids. As you can see, the Santa Monica Pier was still very busy for a pandemic judging by the number of cars. Most people wore masks so that was comforting. We stopped by the arcade there and as always, we'd win something and then I would have to be the one holding everything.

The kids had a lot of fun and I was very surprised with how long and large the pier is! Before we even reached the end of the pier, my kids were tired!


Eating Seafood
I didn't care which restaurant I was going to have my seafood fix at, as long as it was at a restaurant on the Santa Monica Pier. The most interesting place seems to be Seaside on the Pier, even though Bubba Gump is more well known. It has a second story and a lot of seating in the front, back and upstairs. Usually at a place this huge, there's room for us without a long wait and there was no wait when we asked the hostess! I ordered the fried calamari from their starters/appetizer section as my meal. 

The food was fresh and tasted great! They also serve California beers on tap!

Where we stayed at in LA

I had some points that I had accumulated as a Hyatt member so we used them to redeem a free night at the Hyatt Place/Los Angeles/El Segundo. It was only 20 minutes from Santa Monica Pier and I had the right amount of points to redeem for a one night stay at this very hotel. The hotel is located right by the LAX airport so traffic can be very congested as you get closer to the hotel location. However, I still enjoyed my stay even with all the traffic. I liked that the hotel was right there in the middle of it all, close to so many places and restaurants. Our hotel room was very clean and my view from the window was awesome! (See picture below.)

The check in process was easy and I discovered from my room that I could surprisingly see the Mattel sign and building! Mattel is the company that builds famous toys like Ken and Barbie and Mega Bloks. I did some research about it and it just so happens that Mattel is headquartered in El Segundo and they have a store that is open to the public on the ground level! So, we made an impromptu trip to their store right there at the headquarter the next morning!

Mattel Headquarters

When we decided to come 15 minutes before the Mattel Toy Store opens at their headquarters, I thought we were just too early. To my surprise, there were already 20 - 30 people there waiting in line already! I didn't know it was a popular place to visit! There is such great value for buying toys straight from the headquarters and there's only 2 Mattel Toy Stores in all of U.S., even though Mattel toys are sold is many major stores all over the country. I even saw two guys brought their Ken Dolls while they were waiting in line. I can see how this place can be an excellent photo op!

I'm a Game of Thrones fan so when I saw that there were Mega Construx dragon eggs I could buy, I snatched one of these Drogon ones. This is the very one that I bought at the Mattel Toy Store at their headquarter store. See the video clip below!

I highly recommend visiting this Mattel Toy Store at the El Segundo headquarters if you have the time and are already planning to visit Los Angeles county or El Segundo anyway!

Miyako Hotel, a Little Tokyo Hotel
Several months later after our initial Los Angeles trip, we decided to come back to explore more of LA as there is so much to see and stayed at the Miyako Hotel in Little Tokyo. It's right smack in the middle of all the wonderful Asian restaurants and shopping and notably, walking distance to the Sanrio Store. We had a window view from our room that allowed us to see all the action at night and people getting in line to order their ramen. 

Read about our Spring Break Trip to Universal Studios Hollywood after Super Nintendo World opened and our ride experience on Mario Kart there.