On Becoming a "Local" and not merely another "Just-Arrived"

Every August, on the weekend one week prior to the 3-day Labor Day holiday, the community of Grover Beach puts on quite a party called the Stone Soup Music Faire.  And it is truly affordable because there is no cost of admission, as in “Free”.  Two days of diverse music, a community health fair, children’s [...]

When summer comes to the Central Coast three things most assuredly come with it – morning fog along the coast, tourists congesting our roads and highways, and lots of free music. The various summer concert series are the events where locals tend to outnumber the tourists. Among them are:
Tuesday – “Tuesdays in the Park” at [...]

One relatively simple thing truly separates the locals from the tourists – when the orchestra of emergency sirens plays to full crescendo up and down the coast we take it in stride because we know it’s a test, only a test.
It might be argued to be a phenomenon similar to the 1938 broadcast of War [...]

Fran Lebowitz opined, “vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat. “ Personally, I enjoy almost every form of produce prepared most any way with or without a side of animal protein. This makes the Central Coast, with its year-round growing and harvest seasons, the perfect [...]

“Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.” Thus observed Mark Twain. And one might deduce that he had experienced our Central Coast after writing, “In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.”
So many people seek to move to the Central Coast primarily because of our [...]

Few would argue that fashion has changed during the past half-century. Unless one were to look at me. I’ve been wearing the same clothes – Oxford shirts, jeans, dessert boots – for the better part of the past five decades. In fact one friend commented the other day that he’s convinced I own only one [...]

Submitted by Pat and Pete Broderson
Note: The Brodersons divide their time between homes in Pismo Beach and Vermont, giving them the unique perspective of seeking out local activities that some of us fulltime residents might take for granted.
MONTANA DE ORO IN LOS OSOS
This State Park has to be the best coastal park in all of [...]

They are officially designated a number of different things, the Oceano Dunes and the Guadalupe Dunes being the most common. Locally, we just call them The Dunes.
They are breathtakingly beautiful, rich in unusual history and, in some respects, so controversial as to pit locals against tourists and even locals against locals.
The Oceano Dunes represent the [...]

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder then beautiful music must be in the ear. We all have our personal likes and dislikes and if your likes include really fine acoustical music performed by very talented singer/songwriters from throughout the nation, then here’s an unusual venue that remains a secret even from most [...]

One thing you can count on when living on the Central Coast is that people will come visiting. Friends, family and even some who aren’t exactly either love spending a weekend here. Now that you live here you’ve provided them with the excuse to visit more often. Get used to it. The day you received [...]