By Susan McDonald

	The Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo

So, you're visiting Cal Poly and wondering what there is to do with your college kid after the prerequisite tour of the campus. Here's your guide to fun adventures, great eating and super shopping throughout San Luis Obispo. But first consider a few tips from this college-visit veteran (Two Grown Sons. Two College Degrees. Lots of College Visits Under the Belt):

1. Be prepared to eat out a lot. Or at least watch your kid and his roommate and various assorted friends eat out a lot. Oh, and be prepared to pay. None of these young folks ever seems to have any money. But, boy do they have huge appetites when parents come to visit. Guess dorm food hasn't improved much over the years.

2. Ignore the condition of your child's dorm room or apartment. Yes, it definitely looks like the closet exploded, but just don't notice that all those new clothes you bought a short time back are now moldy lumps spread across every square inch of the floor. You will especially want to ignore the beacon of empty beer cans towering near the window. My advice is to take one quick peek at the place, mumble something vague and then never return.

3. Don't be too shocked by major changes in your child's appearance: Purple hair, nose ring, large red rose tattoo on the shoulder. These are just a few possibilities. Seems the more preppy the child is when he or she leaves home, the more outrageous their new look becomes at college. Just don't burst out laughing when you first see them.

Now that we've established a few ground rules, here are some ideas for making the most of your visit. These are the places to go for "sure bet" dining, shopping and sightseeing experiences.

San Luis Obispo County is full of original restaurants, shops and boutiques - not the chain stores or restaurants you can find back home. Enjoy the difference!

FOOD
Breakfast is the best meal for hosting a horde of starving students. You can fill 'em up with pancakes and eggs, and the cost is relatively cheap. Bagels are a great way to go, and the best place to buy them is at The Bagel Basement, 673 Higuera St. A chewy, tasty bagel - choose from a variety of flavors daily - costs just 65 cents. Or you might splurge on the Breakfast Bagel ($3.75), a sandwich of egg, cheddar cheese and ham or bacon. Bagel Basement has lots of sweet or fruity or spicy spreads for your bagels, and the Bagel Basement also bakes up muffins, scones and breads. The place is very casual, with an exposed brick interior, open beam ceilings, a few wooden tables and chairs and a long eating counter against one wall. Check out their changing display of local artwork.

At the other end of the breakfast scale - and at the other end of town - is the Apple Farm, 2015 Monterey St. A true ranch hand would be happy to start the day here, and so will you and your college kids. You'll almost feel like you're eating in the dining room of Grandma's farmhouse. Oak tables and chairs, fancy lamps and country decorating invite you to sit and stay a while. The food is good and filling with lots of egg dishes ranging in price from $6.95 for eggs "any style" to $9.95 for Eggs Benedict. Other egg-y meals come with apple sausage, corned beef hash and biscuits and gravy. All egg breakfasts include potatoes or fresh fruit and a crate of fresh baked muffins, biscuits or scones with homemade preserves. The Apple Farm also serves omelets, pancakes, Belgian waffles and French toast ($5.25 - $8.95). Don't forget to check out the gift shop.

Breakfast at Bon Temps Creole Cafe, 1000 Olive St., will definitely spice up your day for just a few doubloons ($3.95 - $7.50). The Ash Wednesday Omelet is filled with creamed spinach, artichoke hearts and melted cheese. French Quarter Omelet cranks up the heat with spicy Cajun sausages, ham and melted cheese in a Creole sauce. The Cajun Breakfast is a dish of Creole red beans topped with two poached eggs and Hollandaise and is served with grits and buttermilk biscuit. Or you might sample the Fried Green Tomato Benedict. C'est bon!

Hanging out downtown on the patio at Cisco's, 778 Higuera St. (in the Network mall), is a San Luis Obispo tradition. This creekside cafe is a great place to people-watch, soak up some sun, share a pitcher of beer and groove to many of the same tunes you enjoyed in college. It's also a great place for lunch. Popular choices are their huge sandwiches and beer, their huge salads and beer and soup or chili and, you guessed it, beer.

This is a place where you stand in line to order. Most days, around noon, the line is long so you have time to create the sandwich of your dreams as you survey the long case of deli meats and cheeses. The chef salads are piled high. The soups are homemade and change daily. After filling your tray with food and drink for a very small price - $3.75 for the Mini Cheese Salad (not at all "mini") to $4.95 for a gigantic sandwich - head out back to the large brick patio. On a sunny afternoon, with the guitarist cranking out oldies from the shade of the small bandstand, you just might drift back a few decades.

Another surefire bet for lunch is across town: Pete's Southside Cafe, 1815 Osos St. This is another local favorite for lunch or dinner because the food is delicious and the prices are reasonable. Meals run about $4 to $14. The cuisine is Latin American, with an emphasis on fresh seafood. But this is not your typical Mexican restaurant. The red sauce on the enchiladas is a dark, smoky mole. Black beans, not refried pintos, are served on the side. Fillings for tacos, burritos or enchiladas are legendary: curried lamb, langostino, crab, shrimp, duck sausage, chanterelle mushrooms. Check the blackboard for daily specials.

Your kids will probably know the way blindfolded to Frank's Famous Hotdogs, 950 California Blvd. And although they likely eat there all the time, they'll want you to go with them when you come visit. They might even pay the check. Frank's is practically a San Luis Obispo icon. It's served hot dogs, burgers, fries and shakes to generations of locals. Because of its consistent quality, low prices and friendly service, this small fast-food restaurant has outlasted the onslaught of major chains. For a few bucks, you can fill up on a chili-cheese dog, basket of fat, crispy fries (the best in town) and a real, handmade milkshake (try the fresh strawberry). The cheeseburgers are goopy with Frank's secret sauce. The chicken sandwich is a little different - a chicken breast grilled with olive oil and herbs. Delicious! With its fun food, cheery red and white interior and red vinyl booths, Frank's will restore your sense of well-being after most any "parents weekend" catastrophe - even when your daughter announces she's moving in with her boyfriend, the tattoo artist.

Finally, it's time for dinner. You must be famished by now. No, wait; you've just eaten your way across SLO (local speak for San Luis Obispo, pronounced "slow"). But, of course your starving students can always find room for dinner. Take them to Thai-rrific, 208 Higuera, for some of the best Thai food you've ever tasted. Prices range from $7 - $13 for spicy and flavorful a la carte dishes you can share. What a better way to get to get to know your child's new friends than with lively conversations over steaming bowls of Pahd Thai (chicken, shrimp, bean sprouts, egg, green onion, peanuts, and Thai spices) or Lemon Grass Chicken. The decor is Asian and the atmosphere exotic. The service is warm as the food.

If this is the weekend you're meeting the roomate's parents or taking your son and his girlfriend out for dinner, go for something special. An elegant restaurant meant for special evenings is Cafe Roma, 1020 Railroad Ave. Billed as a "Cucina rustica Italiana," or rustic Italian kitchen, Cafe Roma is the place to splurge in SLOtown (you'll hear your kids say that one, too.) Appetizers range from $6 to $10 and are great conversation starters. Try the escargot or calamari fritti. Pastas and main course selections change nightly. The cannelloni Maria Rosa is filled with chicken and spinach with a bechamel and tomato sauce. Branzino al Chardonnay pairs Chilean sea bass with a Chardonnay leek sauce. Cafe Roma has an extensive wine list. And be sure to save room for dessert.

Shopping
Buying stuff for your kids does not end when they leave home. Besides feeding them, the purchasing of shoes and clothes and other essentials is a parent's eternal responsibility. Or so it seems.

Luckily, shopping is fun in San Luis Obispo. And it definitely offers something other than the norm. This town has a couple of freeway-close, chain-store shopping malls, but its best known and appreciated for its lovely, bustling downtown.

Explore downtown San Luis Obispo and you will find interesting and unusual shops not found anywhere else. Oh, and there are lots of sidewalk benches all over town where dads and sons can bond while waiting for their loved ones to end their quest.

The college crowd shops downtown at The Gap and Barnes and Noble, but the kids also love to take the visiting folks into the eclectic Hands Gallery, 777 Higuera St., or funky and fun Decades, 785 Higuera St. Both stores are browsers' delights. Hands features contemporary artwork, hand painted furniture, whimsical ceramics, handcrafted jewelry and much more. Decades is jam-packed with hip vintage clothing and collectibles, and it has an ever-changing array of just plain fascinating junk. The lava lamps and Hula figures in the window are sure to draw you in. You could spend hours in Decades and never see it all

Off Higuera is Garden Street, a short block bursting with intriguing shops. It's also home to the ultimate coffee house, Linnea's, 1110 Garden St. Just across Garden is the SLO Brewing Company, 1119 Garden St., the county's first microbrewery. Both offer refreshments for tired shoppers and those ever-hungry students. But first, you need to check out Finders Keepers, 1124 Garden Street, for bargain-priced resale designer clothing, shoes and accessories - a fun place for mothers and daughters to gush over Gucci or rave about Ralph.

Further down Garden are five great stores all in a row. Rustic Romance, 1129 Garden St., sells gauzy skirts, tops and dresses, pretty earrings, accessories imported from France and other "girl" stuff. Next door, the aromatherapy salon Raingrass smells wonderful when you reach its front entry. Don't miss the beautiful handcrafted jewelry and accessories at Lili Clever, the kitschy, decorative arts at California Blonde, or the classic home furnishings and fabrics at Traditions, corner of Garden and Marsh streets.

Other stuff to do
So you've dined and shopped in the Big City of San Luis Obispo, and now you're ready to go out and experience other adventures. A good place to start is The Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo. World-class performers take the stage year-round. For information about upcoming concerts, call the Performing Arts Center at 805-756-2787 or check out their website, www.pacslo.org.

If you're in town on a Thursday night, you can't miss Farmers Market in San Luis Obispo. Barbecues, local produce and entertainment abound along Higuera Street from Nipomo St. to Osos St., 6 to 9 p.m. Great fun and more good food! (Click Here to read more about Farmer's Market).

For hiking and beautiful ocean views, go northwest to Montana de Oro State Park. To get there, take Highway 1 north to the Los Osos exit. Take South Bay Boulevard from Highway 1 to Los Osos Valley Road. Turn right and follow Los Osos Valley Road through Los Osos to the Park. Bring hiking shoes, picnic, camera, drinking water and watch out for poison oak. (Click Here to read more about Montana de Oro.)

A truly local experience is the Great American Melodrama in Oceano, Highway 1 three miles south of Pismo Beach. Cheer the heroes and boo the villain at this entertaining live theater performance that concludes with a lively vaudeville revue. Phone 489-2499 for tickets and information. (Click Here to read more about the Melodrama.)

If you're in town for a three or four-day weekend, arrange a trip to Hearst Castle. The famous newspaperman's palace turned museum is a 45-minute drive north of San Luis Obispo on Highway 1. Call the Hearst Castle ticket office at 1-800-444-4445 for tour times and ticket availability. (Click Here to read more about Hearst Castle.)

And there's always the beach. (Why do you think your kids came to Cal Poly in the first place?) Morro Bay offers a lovely Embarcadero and town full of great seafood restaurants. Plus famous Morro Rock. Atascadero State Beach just north of the rock is perfect for a romantic stroll without the kids - or a beach trip with. (Click Here to read more stories about Morro Bay).

Avila Beach is just a short 10 minute drive south of San Luis Obispo. (Take Highway 101 south to the San Luis Bay Drive exit). The south-facing cove and beach are almost always warm and sunny even when everywhere else is fogged in - something your students have surely already discovered. (Click Here to find out more about this great little town, including places to stay).

Only 15 minutes south of San Luis Obispo is Pismo Beach, a funky beach town with a fun boardwalk and pier, and a long endless stretch of white sand. If your kids have turned into surfers (a not-uncommon side effect of attending Cal Poly) they already know the way there: Highway 101 south to Pismo Beach. (Click Here to read about Places to Stay in Pismo Beach and nearby Arroyo Grande).

For some truly adult fun, drop the kids back at their dorms and head to the Edna Valley for some excellent wine tasting (just 15 minutes east of San Luis Obispo on either Orcutt Road or Highway 227). Edna Valley Vineyards on Biddle Ranch Road offers a tasting room and gift shop with a spectacular view. The tasting room at Seven Peaks Winery on Orcutt Road is an old one-room schoolhouse. Try the Chardonnays at either. (Click Here to visit our Central Coast Wine section and check out a Wine Tasting map).

With all this going on, you just might decide to visit your kids at Cal Poly more often - whether they like it or not.

Writer Susan McDonald is an award-winning journalist and the mother of two sons who have thankfully already graduated from college.

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