I ran into a man the other morning who told me he had five kids. This was in front of the Honey Girl Cafe on Ocean Avenue on Cayucos. Read More …

Tanya and Trudie lurk just outside the back door of cavernous, sewage-reeking Happy Jack’s, leveling me with malevolent eyes and at the same time trying to get Hubie’s attention along the bar. I have 86’d these two permanently on my shifts for mooching. Read More …

The holier-than-thou crusaders of Cayucos, who recently saw fit to tear off the empty beer cans decorating the little nondescript fir tree in front of the south lot, must understand that so-called ne’er-do-wells are sensitive people. I know this because, as a person long suspected of being a ne’er-do-well, and at times admittedly existing as a full-fledged ne’er do well, I become slightly incensed when being accused of being a ne’er-do-well. Read More …

Happily Homeless Dave, about whom I’ve previously written in this venue, received a citation for an “open container” from the police the other evening. Read More …

Celebrate the holiday season with a parade, a visit with Santa Claus,  a carousel and much more in San Luis Obispo. These events are family-friendly and open to the public. Read More …

Eugene has taken a week off from assisting sport fishermen and ladies at Virgil’s Landing down on the wharf because he has the gout. I guess he’s been in here all day, and now he’s chowing down on a chili cheese dog with massive heaps of onions and jalapenos that Estelle brought over after closing Big Bill’s hotdog stand across the street. Read More …

Smoker Jim Ruddell is no longer with us, but his smokehouse just off the seawall and the south lot is, a testimony to his creativity and passion to produce something unique and authentic and, lastly irresistible to the public. Jim’s big old van advertising his business is now driven by his wife Cathy, who has run the business since Jim’s death from cancer, a time during which Jim kept smiling and laughing and never complained. Read More …

Jody Langford couldn’t believe his eyes earlier this week when he spotted and photographed a large black bear on the Santa Margarita Ranch. Read More …

I was walking Wilbur down the uneven, puddle-ridden dirt alley behind the Cayucos Tavern, antique emporiums, and real estate offices on the main drag, a kind of no-mans-land, when this officious looking guy around 30 popped out from behind a wooden fence like a jack-in-the-box to ask me in a truculent manner if I was picking up the poop when my dog shit in the alley. I was somewhat flummoxed by the immediacy and stridency of his demand, and at first could not find the usual words of protest at such an accosting. Read More …

Editor’s Note: The following series, “Life in Radically Gentrifying Cayucos by the Sea,” to be posted biweekly includes the notes, thoughts, and opinions of an original American voice: author Dell Franklin.  Read More …