Some people want to micro manage my vacation. Well, the food part at least. They insist I try some favorite restaurant of theirs and convince me I’ll miss out if I don’t try the signature dish of a restaurant in a town I’ll be passing through. These well intended advisors actually threaten bodily harm if I don’t try some custard, olive loaf, or lima bean omelet.
Such was the case with Linn’s in Cambria – supposedly the home of the Central Coast’s most terrific pie, not sure about you, but when I’ve been strapped into a car seat all day, a cold pint of beer and something deep fried sounds much more pleasing than an Apple Betty.
Nonetheless, we pulled into Cambria and found Linn’s.
Actually we found the Linn’s store – a charming little boutique that offered up cookbooks, kitchen gadgets, and other stuff I had no intention of cramming into an already over-packed car. I almost bought a bag of churro bites then remembered the untouched assortment of snacks piled in our back seat. After buying the obligatory travel trinkets, the lady at the counter recommended we try the burgers and pot pie at Linn’s café. That sounded good, so ignoring the GPS we’d relied on all day, we navigated the parking lot and found a nice restaurant bustling with other road weary diners ,most of whom had consumed the spaces on the reservation list above us which meant a 45 minute wait for us.
So much for Linn’s.
The good news was that it was $2 beer night at JJ’s Pizza down the street. There we found a comfortable booth, friendly staff, and pretty darn good pizza – the sauce and cheese combo was delectable and made me happy I ordered a large at the last minute instead of a medium. The three of us ate the whole darn thing. 
We returned to our car which was still parked in front of the Linn’s store. I was fighting off a creeping sense of guilt when I noticed a sign reading Café 50 Feet which was about 350 feet less than the one we’d walked to earlier. Shoot! What a harsh way to discover there are two Linn’s – the 45-minute “fine dining” place (Linn’s Restaurant) and the hamburger-and-pot-pie place next to the store (Linn’s Easy as Pie Cafe). By now the store had closed; otherwise I would have just bought a darn pie. Now I’d have to face the wrath of myadvisors back home.
Ah well, Cambria is one of my favorite towns, so I’m sure there will be a next time.
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