Photo by Micheal Kidd
	The City of Pismo Beach just approved another $1.3 million to expand the new Boardwalk even further south.

By Jennifer Best

Every winter for more than a dozen years Steve and Susan MacDonald have traveled from their home in Martinez to Pismo Beach for a romantic getaway weekend, and every year they have trudged through the sand from their hotel to the pier, shopping and dining.

It's not as if it were a long walk, nor a particularly strenuous one. But thanks to the addition of a 550-foot-long boardwalk that stretches south from the pier parking lot, their walks to restaurants, shopping and the pier no longer involve dumping sand out of their shoes.

"There's still a lot of room on the beach, and it makes it easier to get to the shops," Susan MacDonald said. "We just love staying here. We love the ocean and we love Pismo Beach."

The new Pismo Beach Promenade is designed to match the Pismo Beach Municipal Fishing Pier which stretches into the Pacific Ocean about 40 yards further north. Benches are strategically placed off the 15-foot-wide pathway to provide rest and views. Half-round lights reminiscent of ship deck lights are mounted midway up the promenade banisters to continue the ocean theme.

While many visitors still enjoy walking the wide white stretches of Pismo Beach, the Promenade also comes in handy for those who enjoy the beach, but who do not travel well in the soft sand.

Doris Been of Bakersfield traditionally walks with a group of ladies during her visits to the coast. This year, a bum knee knocked her out of the surf walk.

Photo by Jennifer Best
Mid-winter visitors take a break on the new Boardwalk.

Instead, Been relaxed on one of the boardwalk benches, a romance novel perched on her lap, as she gazed at the ocean and awaited her fellow walkers' return.

"We've been coming to Pismo for years and this (walkway) is a great improvement," she said.

Plans already approved by the City of Pismo Beach all for the boardwalk to eventually stretch all the way from the Pismo Beach Pier to neighboring Grover Beach, past the Pismo State Beach campground and the Monarch butterfly grove.

Currently, the City of Pismo Beach and City of Grover Beach are working on the plans for building additional stretches of the Boardwalk. But the first 550 feet are open and ready for strolling and enjoying.

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Jennifer Best is a writer and Central Coast native who likes to take her new baby to the beach.