Day 20: San Luis Obispo
Nau Mai
Yesterday we made a triumphant return to the crown jewel of middle California, San Luis Obispo’s Madonna Inn.
The gleaming pink bulk of our tour bus rumbled down US Route 101 yesterday morning as the Moccamaster burbled and splattered its way to a full carafe of a single origin Ethiopian brew. As we rode each bump in the road the coffee machine’s automatic stabilisation mechanism would kick in, a powerful gyroscope telling the hydraulically actuated gimbal exactly how many degrees of correction were required to prevent a messy and dangerous overflow of boiling water.
We continued up the Pacific Coast passing terracotta roofed beach towns and and rugged stretches of cliffs. As we neared the end of our journey the road cut inland and took us into a hilly part of this coastal region just outside the city of San Luis Obispo. We pulled off the highway and began up a long driveway, passing what looked like a twentieth hour hallucination of a Victorian era traveler’s inn and then winding our way through the middle of a small ranch, horses and cows poking their heads through the white timber fences that lined each field. Up at the back of this large property is the venue, the Madonna Expo Centre. Past the building’s frontal facade (another 19th century travel lodge but this one less harrowing) is a large hall that feels like an old school gymnasium with polished concrete floors and harsh fluorescent lights. It was in this hall that we began the work of the day, rolling in our cases and setting up the stage for a great evening of entertainment.
This is Smoke Boarder, one of the venue hands who I believe wasn’t even being paid but was showing up to hang out with his friends and maybe help them a little bit with their work. He skated around when he wasn’t carrying anything.
After load-in I headed down to the inn, a ten minute walk down the driveway, where I hoped to find some breakfast at one of the inn’s restaurants, The Copper Cafe. I sat at the circular copper bar and ordered a hearty meal, two extra-large AA eggs over a thick slice of ham and a grilled English muffin smothered in delicious house-made hollandaise sauce, with a fruit cup on the side.
This is the inn’s main restaurant, a great place to continue your hallucinations as you eat.
There were no green rooms in the expo centre but we were allocated a hotel room for the day. Every guest room at the Madonna Inn has a special, unique theme, things like the ‘Caveman Suite’, or ‘Swiss Chalet’. Ours was called Mountain View, and offered an up close view of the base of the hill our building was next to.
The school gym looks a lot better during the show. Once they erect a long black curtain behind the stage and and turn off the fluorescent lights it feels more like a cosy high school prom with three decent bands playing.
After the show we headed down to the hotel bar to enjoy a drink with some New Zealand friends who had come up from LA to watch the show.
The Pink Cloud, the Madonna Inn’s signature cocktail, a delicate and subtle concoction made with strawberry vodka and whipped creme.
An attempt at a group photograph.
This is the urinal in the restaurant bathroom. It was a restroom experience that was somewhat icky, akin to pissing on someone’s nice water feature, which hopefully I didn’t do.
Here are the points for the day, a strong collection of achievements.
