Visits to the Morro Bay area and Cayucos Beach in the summer following my sophomore year in high school mark a significant impasse in my teenage years, which I will explain more about in the Life Stories section. One of my mom’s friends “Tia Laura” had recently moved to this area from Upland, CA so we had the opportunity to vacation there and explore what the central coast has to offer.
But first, a little bit of history and culture about the area….
Morro Bay was named after its historic landmark “El Morro” (Spanish for crown shaped hill) by Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (no relationship) in 1542. The Morro Rock is a State Historic Landmark, a bird sanctuary and home to nesting Peregrine Falcons so it’s closed to any climbing, but you can drive around it (we have). It’s also sometimes called “Gibraltar of the Pacific”. It’s the last of a line of extinct volcanoes which include nine peaks ranging from San Luis Obispo to Morro Bay. The peaks are named the Nine Sisters because they are all in a row and close to each other. The Morro Rock is Morro Bay’s gateway to the Pacific Ocean and is the most photographed of all Nine Sisters.
It’s a quaint fishing town known for its seafood, especially the Abalone. It’s downtown restaurants along Embarcadero all have gorgeous views of the majestic Morro Rock. I’ve had the pleasure of eating at one of them although it’s been so many years that I’ve forgotten its name.
The movie Finding Dory was set in Morro Bay. Morro Bay is also mentioned in the Beach Boys song “California Saga: California” on the album Holland from 1973..
For more history of this charming seaside beach town, check out its historical society page: http://historicalmorrobay.org
As far as Cayucos Beach goes, this is a small, seaside fishing surf town 4 miles north of the Morro Strand State Park where Tia Laura’s house was or 9 miles from down town Morro Bay.
Its name comes from the Hispanicization of the Chumash word “Kayak” or “Canoe”. The early settlers where the Chumash people and they used these kayaks to fish in the bay. In 1867, Captain James Cass sailed his ship from New England and settled in Cayucos and he and his partner, Captain Ingals built the pier, a store and a warehouse known as Cass Landing. They recognized its potential of being a shipping port for items such as cheese, hide, beef and fresh water so they settled 320 of the 8845 acres of the original Rancho Moro Y Cayucos Spanish Land Grant. The land grant was then subdivided into town lots by a well-known real estate promoter C.H. Phillips and Cayucos was born! The land was perfect for fruit, dairying, berries, farming, alfalfa and beans because of its rich soil and Cayucos also prospered as a fishing town.
Cayucos is the home to one of the most spectacular bank robberies in the county during the 19th century (J.P. Andrews County Bank in 1892). And, during the Prohibition era 1920-1933, Cayucos was also one of the most active rum-running seaports where dozens of farm families earned extra money helping bootleggers..
What’s the culture of this area? “Just chill – Quiet, charming, family oriented seaside communities known for fishing, seafood, diving, kayaking and surf”
Life Stories –
As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, I spent some time in Morro Bay and Cayucos the summer following my sophomore year of high school. This was a difficult summer for me because my boyfriend had surprised me with a break up the night he graduated – he was a senior while I was sophomore. I accompanied he and his family to the graduation ceremony and once he received his diploma, I received a kick to the curb. I guess he decided he didn’t want to date a high schooler now that he was no longer one himself.
Needless to say, I was devasted. He was my first boyfriend, my first love, my first break up and my first heart break, which is why I coined this article “the summer of firsts”. The summer not only represented my first heart break but also my first visit to the central coast.
First experiences are interesting because you have no reference point to navigate the waves of emotion. There’s nothing to compare them to and you haven’t really built up any defense or coping mechanisms yet. The emotions are so raw and erupt just like the Morro Rock must have millions of years ago. The feelings that come with these firsts are just so intense and deeply felt at a frequency that is core to your being.
Well this breakup was definitely explosive to the point that I physically felt my heart hurt. Have you ever been so upset and cried so much that it just hurts to breathe? Well that’s what it was like and I thought the feelings would never go away until they did!
After seeing me so upset, my mom decided it would be a good idea to get out of town for a bit so off we drove to the central coast to stay with Tia Laura who had made the move from Upland to Morro Bay and settled into her new home by the beautiful Pacific Ocean.
My mom allowed me to bring a friend and it was Shellie who was able to accompany me. Shellie and I met our Freshman year of high school and we were like Arnold and Danny in the movie “Twins” – except she was Arnold Schwarzenegger, measuring in at 6’, blonde and blue eyed and I was more like Danny DeVito, the 5’4” petite brown eyed brunette. But we enjoyed twinning – same hair style tied back with bandanas, izod polo shirts, plaid checkered shorts and we even sported the same bathing suit – her’s pink and mine purple. We both wore our dolphin shorts proudly, and had our fingernails painted with black and white checkers. We doubled pierced each other’s ears in her bathroom with a needle, potato and ice. To this day, I have that 2nd piercing although it’s a little uneven ;-). We also enjoyed sharing each other’s clothes although I don’t know how we managed to wear the same size! During that time at the beach, like the clever 15 year olds that we were, we used deodorant spray (I think it was called Babe) to freshen them up since we had to keep wearing them without washing. We had not planned on meeting anyone on this trip so failed to pack enough outfits and had to get creative with what we had.
Morro Bay was quiet, and the beach was so private, almost abandoned. It wasn’t like the crowded SoCal beaches we were used to. This was definitely a seaside residential community and we enjoyed the walk down to the beach from the house and exploring the little sand dunes before making it on to the shore line. This is the kind of beach you fall in love with as an adult but not so much as a teenager looking for distractions. So, my mom and Tia Laura decided to take us to Cayucos Beach one day which was a 4 mile drive from the house for some good ‘ole beach time. When we got there, although the beach was small, we were so excited and looked at each other saying “Now this was more like it!”. It had a pier, concession stands, shops and a children’s play area with swing sets, etc. We settled ourselves down on the sand for a day of sunbathing and beach fun.
So there Shellie and I are sunbathing in our matching suits working on our baby oil inspired tans, when some local boys decided to start chatting us up. They were nice and spent some time sitting with us and getting to know us better by asking questions like “Where are you girls from?” “How did you get so tan!?”, etc. etc. We certainly enjoyed the distraction and finally some excitement! They invited us to a local party that evening and my mom even agreed to let us go! I don’t know what she was thinking other than she probably felt bad for me after watching me sob over the high school boyfriend and just wanted us to have some teenage fun. So, we arranged for the boys to pick us up at Tia Laura’s house, and I clearly remember singing and dancing to the song “Whip it” by Devo over and over again as we got ready for an evening out.
So just like any local group of kids in a small town, we went to a house party and just hung out with their friends for the evening, but what happened next was the perfect antidote for a broken heart. I was introduced to one of the local boys that was somewhat of a celebrity due to his pro surfer status. We hit it off and hung out together. He gave me a koala bear stuffed animal from one of the surf competitions he had won and I felt like Gidget when she met Moon Doggy. I was completely smitten! I couldn’t believe that this golden boy of a surfer was interested in me! This quickly helped me forget about the high school break up and when I returned home, I was much more equipped to navigate the void I had felt at the beginning of the summer. And although my little fling with the pro surfer wasn’t destined for long term relationship status, when certain people come into your life for a season, it’s also for a reason! This was exactly what I needed to transition in to my Junior year of high school as a single young lady. However, I won’t lie and say that I didn’t hold out hope for that long distance relationship with the golden surfer boy and my teenage girl infatuation drove me to buy surfer magazines and hang his pictures on my bedroom wall for a while… or shall I say, a “season”!?
So, whatever happened to that golden surfer boy? He moved to Hawaii and has remained a prominent figure in the surfing community and married a pro surfer himself… a perfect match! I’m sure if you asked him now, he probably wouldn’t remember me. But, I certainly remember him and if he were standing in front of me right now, I would want to thank him for helping a teenage girl mend a broken heart during a summer of “firsts” all the while with her toes in the beach!
Toes in the Beach 