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Girl's Weekend: Cambria
By Erin Riordan

It was a glorious summer afternoon as I turned off Highway 1 onto Main Street and the anticipation of seeing my three best friends was overwhelming. I know how lucky we are to have this time together and I never take it for granted. Ten years ago, we planned a long weekend getaway to Napa Valley. Just the four of us-friends in our early thirties, leaving husbands, boyfriends and children for some rest and relaxation. It has continued through the years with trips to Las Vegas, Phoenix and Lake Tahoe. This year Brenda, Marcia, Melody and I met in Cambria located in the heart of the California Coast.

This small seaside community turned out to be the perfect anecdote to our busy lives. Because Marcia had been to Cambria several times, we took her suggestion and booked two rooms at the Bluebird Inn built along the Santa Rosa Creek in the quiet east village. After unpacking and settling in, I poured some champagne and we toasted to ten years of celebrating our friendship. Our self-appointed historian Brenda brought out a scrapbook filled with pictures and souvenirs from the last decade. We laughed until tears rolled down our cheeks at all the different hairstyles, hair colors and fashions we had sported over the years.

We continued the merriment as we took to the streets to explore this side of town before dinner. We may disagree on some things, but shopping isn't one them. Cambria is a renowned artist's colony and the galleries showcase everything from local pottery to wearable art. The village also has a vast array of specialty shops carrying antiques, garden art and jewelry. Our favorite stop of the afternoon was at Fermentations, a wine shop where we tasted five local vintages and had a laugh with our pourer, Marjorie. "It’s wonderful that you girls get together every year," she said. "I guess I don’t have to tell you to have fun, it looks like you already are!" Indeed, we do spend most of our time together in stitches.

For dinner, we dined on fried brie, lobster ravioli and parchment baked salmon at The Hamlet at Moonstone Gardens. Every year we email each other three or four thought-provoking questions to answer before we arrive. The questions are sometimes serious, sometimes funny and always interesting. Many of the topics spark conversations that can last for hours.
This year’s questions ranged from "What is your favorite girl's weekend memory?" to "What is something you wished you knew how to do but never learned?" Sitting together enjoying a delicious meal and a bottle of wine while listening to live piano music and watching the fog roll in seemed like the perfect time to start sharing..

The next day we visited California's answer to royalty, Heart Castle. This would be Brenda and Melody's first time to this Mediterranean gem perched on a hill high above the San Simeon coast . Once the home to billionaire William Randolph Hearst, this magnificent estate with its Renaissance art collection and Neoclassical sculpture left us all breathless. Two miles north of San Simeon lies another awe-inspiring sight. Over 14,000 northern elephant seals call the protected beaches of Piedras Blancas home and come here to mate, birth and molt.

Later, we found ourselves at home at Leffingwell Landing off Moonstone Beach Dr. This grassy area with picnic tables and clean bathrooms (very important to us girls) is an ideal place to enjoy lunch, a glass of wine and a dramatic view of the rugged coastline while just enjoying each others company.

With so many choices for dinner, Marcia and I decided to ask for a recommendation. Our hotel clerk was happy to help. "Rachael Ray was at Chenoa last month," he said. "She did her show 'Tasty Travels' from there." Well, if it's good enough for Rachael Ray, then it's good enough for us. The restaurant, two doors down from the Bluebird, is billed as "Progressive American". What? I still don’t know what that means but everything on the menu is organic.

We shared a few different dishes like grilled asparagus, spring risotto and chicken apple sausage.
It was all fresh and tasty. This Tasty Travels episode will air on July 28th on the Food Network.

Our final day together arrived much too soon, it always does. Before long we'll be leaving each other, returning to our families and busy lives. For our last lunch together, we chose the popular Moonstone Bar & Grill which features an ocean-front outdoor patio. It was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

These girlfriend getaways have become a no-holds-barred time for bonding. We share stories, laugh, act terribly silly and sometimes even shed a tear. And although the destinations may change from year to year, one thing never does-we are four very different women with four very different personalities who for three days year are able to leave the chaos and mayhem of everyday for these much needed short sabbaticals.

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