Deciding where to meet Topper and me was an easy choice for Elsie Louis. I had asked her to pick out one spot in all of San Luis Obispo County that was special to her. She invited us to see a tree. A young Camilla-stewartia grows in the garden at the Dallidet Adobe in SanContinue reading “Walking Topper: Elsie Louis”
Tag Archives: San Luis Obispo
Poly Canyon
A few hundred inspired souls spent Sunday morning scrambling up the narrow paths to the top of Bishop Peak. I opted for a more solitary journey with Topper. Our destination: Poly Canyon. For people in the university community, Poly Canyon is old news, as much a Cal Poly fixture as Kennedy Library or Mustang Stadium.Continue reading “Poly Canyon”
Walking Topper: The Trail to Paris
Molly May enjoys walking almost as much as Topper. On any given day, the 25-year-old Cal Poly graduate can be found hiking along the trails that blanket Cerro San Luis, the mountain directly overlooking Highway 101 and the city of San Luis Obispo. Molly has walked the mountain regularly for the past eight years, theContinue reading “Walking Topper: The Trail to Paris”
Rick and Bob
On the eve of my first day of high school, my father gave me some advice that altered my life. We were living in suburban Chicago and I was at that age where, when Dad spoke, I listened. “Join the debating team,” my dad suggested. “I tried to tell that to your brothers, but theyContinue reading “Rick and Bob”
1 Out of 350
In a perfect world, this would be an easy story to tell. After all, Lori Atwater is a young woman of considerable talent and achievement. Bright. Articulate. Hardworking. Playing a major role in the shaping of our community. As the information coordinator for the city of San Luis Obispo, Lori’s directly responsible for getting theContinue reading “1 Out of 350”
Topper Meets the Material Girl
Author’s Note: Topper (1983-1997) was a one-of-a-kind dog who started with me back in Indiana and spent the last ten years of his life on the Central Coast. In 1990, while a reporter for the San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune, I used Topper as the basis for a series of popular articles called “Walking Topper,”Continue reading “Topper Meets the Material Girl”
Drink. Drank. Drunk.
He was to meet his friend for a birthday drink at McCarthy’s downtown. Another friend joined in. The three drank and drank, and then drank some more, until they decided it was time to stop. Well, at least, to stop long enough to wander down Higuera Street to McClintock’s and drink some more. He hadContinue reading “Drink. Drank. Drunk.”
Nine O’Clock Town
Dear John Linn, I was simply delighted when I recently read that you and your wife Renee are planning to open up a new Linn’s restaurant in downtown San Luis Obispo. While some skeptics have called this move half-baked, I applaud your decision. The location at Marsh and Chorro has great potential. Your culinary reputationContinue reading “Nine O’Clock Town”
A Dream Comes True
Editor’s Note: “Mean Mike” Veron was a true character of the Central Coast, the first non-Cal Poly friend I made after arriving in San Luis Obispo in 1987. Mike was a psych tech at Atascadero State Hospital and fledging standup comedian. From 1982 until his death from cancer in 1998, Mike tried just about anythingContinue reading “A Dream Comes True”
The King of Chorro Street
The 1300 block of Chorro Street sits along the fringe of downtown San Luis Obispo. Ten separate buildings occupy the block, almost all of them older houses. They are houses that used to be homes, places where people returned to at night, places where people ate their meals, raised their kids, and contemplated life onContinue reading “The King of Chorro Street”
Dave Congalton Stories 