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We drove 1 hour yesterday to specifically go to the Lompoc Aquatic Center to enjoy their two hours of recreation time that the City of Lompoc reserves for families and recreational play each day in the summer! The kids really had a great time!
It had waterslides on either end of the pool area. On the far end, the kids would have to be at least 48 inches to ride those waterslides. If they were not tall enough, they could go on the smaller ones on the opposite side. Even though it was a far drive, I felt that it was worth it since adult admission was only $5 and for youth is $4.50. So, the cost for me and two kids was only $14. My kids usually get tired of playing after awhile so I felt like two hours was enough water play!
It was busy day there when we came. It's a Friday during the summer break and the day after 4th of July. When I was doing my research on Google Maps, they said the place is only open on Saturday and Sundays but when I went to the City of Lompoc's official website, it stated that it's open every day for Recreational Swim from 1PM - 3PM during the summer until early August, except for 4th of July, of course. I'm glad I checked the City of Lompoc's official website for that info or I wouldn't have taken my kids there and missed out on some fun!
Sitting areas were limited there but I saw a mom brought her lawn chair and I thought that was smart. I just laid a towel on the ground and sat with our stuff while the kids had some play time. There was a shallower end there at the pool and they separated it with a rope to signify to the swimmers that the other side is the deeper end. On the shallow end, there were a lot of babies and toddlers with their parents. Typically, I would go in the pool for almost the entire time with my kids at other government-owned pools but it was so crowded and my kids are big enough to stand at both ends for this particular pool that I decided to just enter the pool when necessary to help my kids, which was very minimal. I was very impressed by the number of lifeguards that they had there! The lifeguards were very good about watching the kids and making sure that they followed the safety rules around the pool and down the waterslides.
Closer to my house, I've been to the Ravine Waterpark in Paso Robles (read my Ravine Waterpark Review) and Mustang Waterpark in Arroyo Grande (read my Mustang Waterpark Review) that are both located in San Luis Obispo County during the summer time for previous summers, but this Lompoc Aquatic Center in the next county over (in Santa Barbara County) is a great alternative for my kids. It's indoors, city-run and less intimidating than the water parks! I could find my kids across the way within a glance here. Even though it's only open for 2 hours a day for recreational swim, that's enough for us and it only costed $14 total for the 3 of us. It's definitely more centered for kids, especially with the water depth being shallow on pretty much half of the recreation pool. My kids enjoyed it so much that they want to come back to the Lompoc Aquatic Center again this the summer and maybe we could invite some good friends along, too!
Address of City of Lompoc's Aquatic Center: 207 W College Ave, Lompoc, CA 93436
Tips:
Even though the Lompoc Aquatic Center is indoors, the ceilings are see-through so the sun does shine through and I still applied sunscreen on my kids. I typically buy the mineral sunscreen that is made for sensitive skin because my older son breaks out in hives with the regular sunscreens.
My kids usually prefer to swim with goggles because the chlorine in the pool can sometimes irritate their eyes and they like to see under water. Don't forget to bring those kids googles if it gives them more courage!
Bring dry clothes to change into after they are done with the pool. I think having kids sit in the car in their wet swim clothes with just a towel while driving home is uncomfortable for kids and can make them grumpy. Taking the extra time to pack their dry clothes is a game changer! I usually have my kids pick their set of dry clothes and then I just put them in the same tote bag that I put their snacks in.
My kids always get super hungry after a couple of hours in the pool, even if they ate right before they went into the pool. I usually throw the following snacks into my bag for public pool days: Goldfish crackers, Ritz crackers, potato chips, granola bars and bananas. At the Lompoc Aquatic Center, I carried the snacks in my tote bag and I just had them sit out of the pool next to me against the wall so that the crumbs don't fall into the water.
If you're looking for a place that is a true waterpark that both adults and kids can enjoy, there is a waterpark in Arroyo Grande called Mustang Waterpark and another waterpark more north called Ravine Waterpark in Paso Robles. Both places have waterslides but the Ravine Waterpark is definitely bigger than Mustang Waterpark. I've rented cabanas at both of these waterpark before. Read my reviews for both places.
We went on a summer vacation to Alaska and Canada by a going on a cruise ship on the Crown Princess Cruise Ship that traveled from San Francisco Pier between June 17 - June 28, 2024. It stopped at 5 different ports; 4 of them in Alaska and one in Canada.
It was a wonderful way to travel for our family without having to hop on a plane since San Francisco is just usually only a 4 hour drive from San Luis Obispo (county that I live in) on a smooth traffic day.
This was my 6th cruise vacation within a span of 12 years! However, this was my very first time on a Princess cruise ship. I couldn't help but compare my experience on my first Princess cruise to the other 5 cruise vacations that I've been on. Thus far, I've been on a Disney Cruise once, Royal Caribbean Cruises thrice, and a Carnival cruise once before I went on this Princess Cruise so I have a lot of things to compare to. All in all, I would say the other cruises that I've been on before were more kid-centered. To be clear, this Crown Princess Cruise Ship was still kid-friendly with a kid's club, pools, and some family friendly activities on the itinerary. However, this Princess Cruise definitely had a higher ratio for adult per child. The cost and the length of this cruise could also be factors because it's an 11 day cruise!
While hanging out on this cruise ship, there were a number of things that we missed from our typical cruise vacation. However, the beautiful nature views of our destinations in Alaska supersedes any negative points about this cruise and it is my favorite destination by cruise among the others I've been on, by far!
Noticeable Differences Between this Princess Cruise Compared to My Other Cruises on Other Cruise Lines
There were definitely a few obvious differences between this cruise compared to the other ones that I've been on.
First and foremost, there was no lifeguard on duty by the pools on the Crown Princess Cruise! As a matter of fact, there was no personnel monitoring safety around the pool areas and no one was enforcing the rules that were listed along the walls near the pools. Kids were jumping and diving in the pool and some were in the pool without parent supervision. There were obvious "No Jumping" and "No Diving" signs up and it seems like the parents did not reprimand any of the kids when they did that. It was appalling as Carnival Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises were both very strict about enforcing these rules when we went on those cruises. Therefore, please be wary of that. If your child gets hurt, there would be no staff to be there to be ready to help them. Now, I don't know if that is the same for Princess Cruises or if it's just on this one cruise (Crown Princess) that did not have a lifeguard on duty. I still had fun sitting by the pool and ordering drinks from the Princess Cruises app without leaving my seat so that I could keep a good eye on my kids. This was the very time I used a cruise app to order drinks on any cruise as I'd usually just go to the bar. However, since there was a lack of supervision due to no lifeguard on duty and other parents just leaving their kids at the pool and wandering off, I wanted to glue myself to be as close to the pool as possible so it encouraged me to utilize the food delivery system that they already had as a great service on their app. When you order food and drinks form your phone for delivery on the Princess Cruises App while you're on your cruise, they will bring your order to you using your medallion as a tracker.
There were no water slides nor a toddler-friendly splash pad on the Crown Princess Cruise Ship. The other cruise ships had water slides and a designated area for babies and little ones to play in as a great option. My kids are not so little anymore so I wouldn't have been able to utilize a toddler section for water play but I thought I'd note this for readers of babies and toddlers so that they know that they didn't have it on this particular cruise ship. So, if your little ones want to be in the pool, you'd have to hold on to them or have them use a provided life safety jacket that were hung by the pool areas and watch them closely.
I don't know if it's because it's post-pandemic but the Crown Princess didn't have a self-serve ice cream station on the Crown Princess ship. If you want a serving of vanilla or chocolate ice cream, you'd have to go to the counter, next to the pizza area, and ask them for an ice cream treat. A simple serving of ice cream for vanilla, chocolate or a swirl of both is complimentary but unlike the other cruise ships that I've been on, you can't use the machine yourself. I actually like this process better. Sometimes kids leave a mess on the self-serve ice cream machines on other cruise ships and it makes it less appetizing.
There was no sushi restaurant on board on the Crown Princess Cruise Ship. I remember always seeing a sushi or a Japanese restaurant with sushi on the menu on the other cruise ships so I was expecting to see sushi offered here as well. I was very surprised! I know that I could have looked at the map and studied all of the menus beforehand but I didn't realize how much I missed having sushi on a cruise ship until I got on the ship and realized the option wasn't available to me. **Read about my sushi review on the Carnival cruise ship on this blog entry.
The only night that we had a fun animal towel art in our stateroom was on the 2nd to last night of our cruise. This was drastically different from the other cruises that I've been on. I think we received an animal towel art in our stateroom every night or at least every other night. I guess I was spoiled by my past cruise experiences, but if this was the very first cruise I've ever been on, I wouldn't care about it so much. However, the kids enjoy the 2 animal towel art that we received from our stateroom attendant. One was a bald eagle and the other one was a polar bear! Very appropriate for this Alaska cruise!
Instead of a key card to access the stateroom and charge for additional services, Princess cruises gave us and all the other tourists there a medallion to wear on a lanyard. It felt like everyone was a convention or trade show attendee. It was hilarious to me when I looked around the room and my kids looked like they're going to a trade show meeting because of the lanyards they were wearing with their medallions! I do like the medallion on a lanyard idea because if you don't have pockets, this is very practical when moving around the cruise ship and it's less clunky than a plastic card.
Beautiful Alaska Stops on Crown Princess
Although there were some amenities and services that I wished the Crown Princess had, I still had a great time visiting Alaska! My most favorite sight was the Glacier Bay Natural Park & Preserve (our third stop on this cruise)! It's so beautiful and too perfect that my pictures looked photoshopped when I snapped pictures, but it's all real and unedited! Alaska is pristine and was exactly what I imagined it would look like and more! Here are more videos and pictures that I took during our cruise through Glacier Bay Natural Park & Preserve in Alaska. The blue iconic ice is what most people came on the cruise for!
I also especially enjoyed my day at Juneau, Alaska (our first stop on this cruise) very much as we went on a whale watching boat trip and saw many humpback whales, large sea lions, cute sea otters and majestic bald eagles. Here is a video that I recorded while watching a humpback whale in Juneau!
The whale watching excursion in Juneau was the only excursion we took for this cruise and I'm so glad we picked that one for that particular stop!
I loved that we were given a lot of time to explore here in Juneau, Alaska. After whale watching, we got quintessential king crab legs at Tracy's Crab Shack 2! We originally went in line for the original Tracy's Crab Shack but the line was so long that we decided to walk another 15 minutes to go to their second location. It was a smart move because we were literally next in line when we got there to order our crab legs. I think that if we had stayed in the original line at the original location near the cruise ship, we would probably still be in a long line. It's pricey but it's so worth it! We ordered 3 pounds of king crab and ate all of it!
My least favorite stop was Skagway in Alaska. They replicated the streets to look like the older days and it definitely had a western feel but there wasn't a lot to do besides look at shops or go on a train ride. I felt like I could do the same thing in California. I live by the train tracks on the Central Coast of California and we have many nearby cities with an old western look. At Skagway, we stretched our legs and walked around for about an hour and then just walked back on the cruise ship. It sprinkled on and off that day. Here are a couple of pictures that I took at Skagway.
Ketchikan, Alaska definitely had the big town vibe. With a lot of restaurants, bars, shops, hotels and blocks of exploring in downtown, I felt like a tourist could spend the whole day there without going on an excursion and still have fun. As mentioned earlier, we only went on one excursion trip for this cruise and it was a whale watching activity in Juneau. There were many excursions to pick from in Ketchikan, but we decided to not do any of them. My kids were getting really exhausted on this day so we bought some souvenirs, cut our walk short and walked back to the cruise ship after walking several blocks. I was really glad that I waited until I got here at Ketchikan, Alaska (our 4th stop on our cruise) to buy an "Alaska" cap as a souvenir for myself because it was the best hat that I liked and It was under $20. Here are a couple of pictures of Ketchikan that I took during our visit here.
Overeating on the Cruise
I typically gain 10 pounds after going on a cruise vacation. However, with this cruise being 11 days, I not only gained that weight but I also started feeling like my blood sugar and cholesterol were hugely affected by the second day on the cruise. I could feel the buffet food creating a reaction to my body as as as I was digesting it and eating breakfast. I wonder if there were any MSG added to the food? Anyway, with the kids being much bigger and more mature now, my husband watched them without my help during this trip so, to my surprise I was actually able to go attend three different Zumba classes, 2 pilates classes and walked on the treadmill a couple of times during the duration of this 11 day cruise. They were all in the morning before my kids woke up. Being able to make a bigger effort to be more active on this cruise than the previous cruises made a difference to my body. It helped reset my day and get my digestive system working better since I was able to allot time to do something active in the morning, before intaking more food again on the cruise!
Activities on the Crown Princess Cruise Ship
Fortunately, the ship's daily itinerary was packed full of things to do from morning to night. There were less activities planned when we had port stops but when we were out at sea, there was always something to do. My family attended several trivia games and took a couple of origami classes. I had mentioned above that I was able to have some "me time" and went to a few Zumba classes and utilized the fitness center. Here's a couple of pictures that I took while enjoying some exercise. Working out at the fitness center on Deck 16 on the Crown Princess was memorable and special because I got to see the view of Alaska through the windows as I was walking on the treadmill one morning. It was incredible! See my view of the snow on the mountains above.
For kids activities, my kids went to The Lodge, a kids club for ages 8 - 12 years old, every day on the Crown Princess Ship on Deck 16. They really enjoyed creating crafts and participating in active activities that they had every day on their itinerary! Here's a glimpse of our itinerary for the kids at the kids club. Like the other cruise ship, you need to register them there before they can participate. Because of my kids' ages, they were put in the middle group that was in between the little ones and teenagers. There were some special themed days too at the kids club. One day, they had a pirate theme where they created pirate crafts and costumes. Another day was a carnival theme day where they played different games to win raffle tickets. On the very last night, they had a Pajama Party where they wore pajamas and watched the Sonic movie. All of the kids activities that I mentioned took place in their kids club, which had great adult supervision by Princess Cruises' professional childcare staff. You drop them off, the childcare staff supervises them, then, you pick them up before they close for the session. In fact, parents are not allowed inside at the kids club once they are checked in so that their team could provide undistracted care for all the kids and the kids can socialize and play with each other. I really liked how the kids club had amazing organization but the staff didn't pressure kids if they didn't want to do a particular activity on their agenda. They had morning, afternoon and evening sessions that the kids could attend. You can pick one, two or all sessions. They close for breaks in between the sessions so you just have to make sure to pick them up before they close for each session. Kids club childcare is complimentary for kids on the cruise.
Besides the kids club, we also took the kids to the arcade on Deck 6 on the Crown Princess Cruise Ship. I didn't like to take them there too many times because it was located next to the casino and the casino was one of the few places where people could smoke, so it just smelled like cigarettes on half of that level! I could definitely smell some of the smoke while in the arcade that was overflowing from the casino. Nonetheless, it's a nice incentive for the kids to play some games there to promote good behavior so we went there a few times during our 11 day cruise.
Three Main Dining Rooms for Dinners on the Crown Princess
We typically go to the buffet for breakfast and lunch every day on our 11 day cruise but for dinners, we liked to sit in the dining room and enjoy the wonderful service for an hour to an hour and a half. The main dining rooms were complimentary on the cruise to dine as a great option. They had a few items that were extra charge but for the most part, I felt that it's usually unnecessary to spend extra on those since there were a lot of complimentary choices. On the Crown Princess Cruise Ship, there were three main dining rooms that you could pick from: Michelangelo Dining Room, Da Vinci Dining Room and Botticelli Dinings Room. My top favorite entrees and dishes in the main dinings rooms during this cruise included: beef wellington, creme brûlée, oxtail soup and more. Sometimes the servers would surprise us and bring us extra starters and desserts to try. See a few pictures of the dishes that I had from the main dining room below.
Specialty Dining: Crown Grill (Extra Charge)
With the premier package, we were able to pick Crown Grill as one of our selection for specialty dining. It's typically an extra cover charge but with the premier package, this steak house was included. We decided to take advantage of it and booked a reservation for a dinner there. Before entering Crown Grill, I thought that it probably wasn't necessary for us to go since the main dining rooms offered so many great selections every night. But after being seated, I knew right away that this was an elevation from the main dining rooms by many notches! Our server was professional, posh and bright. Everything that I ordered, from my appetizer, then steak and lobster (another $10 charge for the lobster, by the way) to an even better creme brûlée for dessert was superb. I was super impressed! Here are the pictures of my entrees before I ate them.
Specialty Dining: Sabatini's Italian Trattoria (Extra Charge)
Regrettably, I was so excited by my food and daunted by the classy atmosphere, I didn't want to be the one weirdo taking pictures of all of my food at Sabatini's when my husband took me there for an extra special dining adventure with 5 courses. So, I didn't take any pictures of my first 4 courses but I did take a picture of dessert! They were dessert samplers that my husband and I shared and the presentation was just beautiful. Sabatini's probably served the best Italian food that I've ever had. What I noticed as I'm navigating through life is that at almost all of the fine dining restaurants that I've been to in California and on this cruise ship, most higher class individuals typically don't take pictures of the food they have been served. It's definitely those who did not come from old money and/or are not used to this type of specialty dining (like me) who are inclined to want to take pictures to remember them. As a premier package perk, this specialty restaurant was also included to dine at under one of our allotment so the typical cover charge was covered by our pre-paid premier package on our cruise.
Is Premier Package Worth it on Crown Princess Cruise?
With two specialty restaurants dining experience included, up to 15 alcoholic or special beverages like lattes every day, a photo package, pre-paid tips to our attendants and more, I really felt purchasing the premier package for our Princess Cruise was worth it. Just a photo package is worth hundreds of dollars alone! The other cruise lines don't offer this type of elite package with this many perks so it was a real treat to be able to have a package so robust for the amount that we paid. Cruise ship amenities and cruise details often change over time so I'm hoping Princess Cruises will not change the premier package too much later on.
The Crown Princess Cruise Ship also had a wine bar called Vines and it had a bigger selection for wines, with many not offered anywhere else on the ship. While we were visiting there to try their special wines, we took advantage of the charcuterie board that you could only get there, and nowhere else on this cruise ship. If you order a charcuterie board there with a premier package, it is complimentary. Otherwise, it would be an extra charge. This is what the wine attendant served us for charcuterie. He also surprised us with chocolate truffles which were also complimentary for premier package holders!
We ate everything! And, we went to dinner a couple of hours after that! You can imagine how much I kept eating on the cruise!
Tips for Preparing for the Alaska Cruise
We went to Alaska in June, summer time, and there were times on our way there at sea when it got pretty cold. One day can be drastically different than the next. Check the weather in accordance to when you get there. Many weather websites and apps do 10 day forecasts so you can utilize that tool to figure out what to expect when you arrive at the stops. Even for the summer, I packed a lightweight Cotopaxi jacket and a beanie that I wore like a third of the time when I was on the cruise! Not only did my Cotopaxi jacket kept me warm for when temperatures got low as I'm walking outside on the deck but it was so easy to put in my backpack for when the sun comes out for a couple hours a day.
Don't be fooled by the cloudy weather, you can still can a sunburn if you're outside for hours at excursions in Alaska. Pack some sunscreen and bring a pair of sunglasses for when that sun does decide to make its appearance. For sunscreen, I like to pick ones that are made for sensitive skin because my older son does break out in hives from the regular sunscreens.
If you're a military veteran, you can get credit for your stateroom! I found out on Day 10 because an ad popped up on my instagram knowing that I talked about Princess Cruises and it mentioned that a veteran can get up to $250 credited to their room! I mentioned this to my husband, who's a military veteran, and he beelined to the guest services desk. The credit depends on the length of your cruise and since ours was just 11 days, they credited $100. We almost walked out of our vacation losing out on that credit! We got really lucky. So make sure you mention this to guest services when you are on board if you're a veteran. You do need to show them proof and thankfully, my husband had it an electronic version of his DD 214 on his phone and he just had to show it to them at guest services. Within a day, the credit showed up on our folio of our room!
Pismo Preserve is a great place for hiking and to get a wonderful birds-eye view of the Pismo Beach Pier! It's free to park there but there are only a few dozen parking spots available. During the spring time, be prepared for seasonal allergies as flowers and plants bloom and can create a reaction to your body if you're not used to the pollen here. However, Pismo Preserve has the best and easy-to-find hiking trail! I highly recommend this hiking trail to tourists and locals. I enjoy coming here to hike with my family and also with another friend while my kids are at school as I live only a couple of miles away from this spot. Here's a video clip of my ocean view after a 30 min hike in.
Even from the parking lot, you can see an amazing view of the coast line. Before you start your hiking journey, I recommend taking a picture of the trail map, in case you lose reception, so that you can still access a map from your photos. There are many lookouts along the trail and it doesn't matter where you start, they are all enjoyable views. Don't forget to bring enough water in a reusable water bottle (more environmentally friendly) as some parts of the hiking trail have an incline and you can get easily winded on a hot day. Sunscreen and a hat are also very helpful to have for this hiking trail. Come prepared. From my adventures here at Pismo Preserve, I've had a group of people come up to us before to ask us for help because they were lost. It didn't look like they brought enough water so please be prepared and bring water! I've also seen a man on a one-wheeler trip and fall right in front of us because of the rocks on the hiking trail. Be careful!
Pismo Preserve Address: 80 Mattie Rd, Pismo Beach, CA 93449
Other Local Hiking Suggestions with View of the Ocean:
When the weather isn't nice or it's rainy, staying indoors is the safest thing to do. When you have kids, trying to entertain the kids without a playground or outside activities can be tough. Fortunately, there are options for indoor activities for the kids.
Here Are Some Suggestions on What To Do Around San Luis Obispo County on a Rainy Day:
MUSEUMS.
Take the kids to the museum. There are two children's museums in San Luis Obispo County: one in Downtown San Luis Obispo (SLO) and one in downtown Paso Robles. There is also a railroad museum in downtown San Luis Obispo called San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum that is all indoors. It is very kid-friendly.
LIBRARIES.
Take the kids to the local library. There are about a dozen libraries in San Luis Obispo County. Our two favorite ones are in Downtown San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande. They both have a nice kid's section with Legos and other activities. Sometimes they even have free special events for kids. During the school year, they have preschool story times during the week days.
RESTAURANTS WITH A KIDS PLAY AREA.
If you want a place to eat with a kid's play area, I've taken my kid's to SLO Public Market and McDonald's with a playhouse, Pismo Bowl for bowling and arcade fun, and Hot Shot Billiards and Family Entertainment Center for arcade fun as well.
See pictures that I've taken at the SLO Public Market. The kid's play area is upstairs on the second floor in the main building. If my husband is there with me, then he would wait for the food and I'd bring my kids to the play area so they could play for awhile longer. I'd say the toys are more appropriate for preschoolers or little kids.
When they have special events, they do close the entire second floor so keep that in mind.
For the Mcdonald's with a playhouse, I only know of one McDonald's in all of SLO County that has it for kids and it's located in Arroyo Grande. Here is their exact address: 410 E Grand Ave, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420. It's located close to The Village of Arroyo Grande.
Pismo Bowl is a really great place to have fun bowling but my kids especially like their arcade area. They serve food and drinks there. They are located only a block away from the Pismo Beach Pier.
AQUARIUM. Take the little ones to the Central Coast Aquarium, located in Avila Beach. It's a small aquarium and I could probably walk through the whole place in 15 minutes, but for the little ones, if they like to observe, they might be able to stay around for awhile longer than that to see all the sea animals there.
My kids have also gone to this aquarium for field trips in Elementary School. I've chaperoned for a field trip at this very aquarium before. Read my full review and see pictures that I've taken at the Central Coast Aquarium in Avila Beach.
There is an indoor bounce house in San Luis Obispo County located in Atascadero called HOPS Bounce House. They are open every day except for Mondays. I've never been there but once I have I will take a picture and add it here.
My husband and I had a recent date night at Bell's in Los Alamos and our date night experience was completely elevated when compared to all of the date nights we've ever had. I'm still on cloud 9 when I look back at all of the food that I enjoyed there with my husband. Bell's Los Alamos is located in Santa Barbara County and attracts many visitors from other parts of California and even outside of California for their renowned farm-to-table French cuisine experience. They earned a Michelin star! I highly recommend coming to this Central Coast restaurant to celebrate a special occasion or for a romantic date night.
With a prix fixe menu offer only for dinner, I actually like this format from Bell's very much. The first three items on the menu were not choices but the last three items were choices that you can pick from three different options. I think Bell's Los Alamos does this right and it makes the dining experience really fun! I ordered a nice port and tonic to accompany my meal. It was refreshing and the ingredients balanced well together for a nice and sunny early evening.
What We Ate
First to eat and as noted on the menu, we were presented with the Santa Barbara Sea Urchin with caviar. Delicately put together on top of a small crepe, it was so fun to eat and the different textures danced well in my mouth. It was delicious and a new adventure for my taste buds! Next, we were presented with a nice salad and their freshly baked seeded sour dough bread. I didn't take a picture but have taken a video of it on my instagram reel of my Bell's Los Alamos dining experience. The salad was simple but you can tell the salad was locally sourced and the dressing was extraordinary. The sourdough bread was also very wonderful with the cultured butter.
For my choices, I chose the French Omlette (sic) and it was plated so beautifully! The greens and sauce accompanied the omelette so well and I liked it better than my husband's choice: Wild Mexican Shrimp Pain Perdue. For my next choice, which I liked to call my "main course", I picked the Petrale Sole (fish) while my husband picked the Steak au Poivre. Both would be excellent options if you are torn between the two. I decided to stick to a more pescatarian diet this time, even though I did have a couple bites of his steak.
For dessert, I chose the Mt. Tam as I've been on a very big cheese kick lately. I enjoyed the savoriness of my dessert. My husband chose the Chocolate Bouchon which he absolutely loved. It was very decadent. I also took a couple of bites of that. (Please excuse the dotted mess on the tablecloth below. I thought about editing it out but decided to be more real because sometimes we are a little bit messy.) At the very end, the server gave us a Mignardise which were some chocolate bites and I loved them. It was a great finale to our romantic date night.
We hadn't planned to dine at Bell's Los Alamos until a few days before and when we had initially checked their reservation times for Saturday, it was all booked up! So, I decided to put our names on the waitlist. Then, on the very morning of Saturday, I decided to check their reservation availability again on Tock and saw that they had an opening! So I took myself off the waitlist and snatched the 6:15PM time! Since each reservation dinner was allotted 2.5 hours for dining at dinner time, it closed out the other times and I basically took the very last reservation availability. I knew this because when I checked back a few minutes later after depositing for our reservation, there were no times available for other patrons anymore! In order to reserve our reservation, we were required to deposit $25 for each person and it went towards our bill. I think this is a good move to avoid customers from flaking out as much as possible. They only have so much room and a good business like this would know how to capitalize every space.
I was concerned about how long our dinner was going to take so I emailed Bell's later that day (they don't have a telephone number) and I asked if there was a possibility that our dinner could take shorter than 2.5 hours because we had another commitment and if not, we'd like to see if we could box up our desserts to save time. It's a 5 course prix fixe dinner and I didn't know what to expect. Surprisingly, they emailed me back shortly after and said that we could finish up dinner before the 2.5 hour allotment and that if we were cutting it close, they'd be happy to box our desserts! I was so impressed by their proactiveness and communication! We didn't have to box it because we decided to show up earlier than our reservation time.
Los Alamos is not located within the same county as San Luis Obispo but it was close enough for us to have a special dinner. As mentioned, we got to Los Alamos early and decided to walk in to see if Bell's could accommodate us early. If not, we would just roam around and explore the area a bit. So, we walked in at 5:30PM with a 6:15PM reservation. We asked if they would be able to accommodate us earlier than our reservation time. With smiling faces, they checked our names in the system. They were more than happy to seat us right away! I was so impressed with their quick responses and eagerness to make it easy. I'm definitely coming back here again! With incredible food and fantastic service, it is no wonder that they have a Michelin star!
Originally from San Diego, California, I'm a San Diego State University alumna, veteran's wife and mom of two kids who were born two years apart. After living on the East Coast for 6 years, we now reside in San Luis Obispo County and here, the exploration continues. In between work and momming it, I like to exercise.
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Originally from San Diego, California, I'm a San Diego State University alumna, veteran's wife and mom of two kids who were born two years apart. After living on the East Coast for 6 years, we now reside in San Luis Obispo County and here, the exploration continues. In between work and momming it, I like to exercise.
@sanluisobispomom