San Luis Obispo Railroad Station, Museum, cafes

The surfliner train ends at San Luis Obispo Station. This station is right in the downtown near the historic Victorian houses, which makes for a nice stop. On Osos Street, by the station, there are some cafes, especially the popular Sally Loo's Wholesome Cafe (open daily 8-2), which is counter-service with healthy food, big windows, and pleasant decor. It is a bit noisy inside. There are other tiny (sometimes musty) cafes to try, some with back patios, such as Del Monte Cafe, My Thai, Cafe Roma, Bon Temps Creole Cafe, and Jan's Vinyl, a small venue for DJ/poetry nights. Next to Sally Loo's Wholesome Cafe is Triangle Park, a tiny park along a busy road with old trees and a picnic table with good views of Madonna Mountain. 

From the railway station, you can walk the Old Town Historic District, admiring the beautiful houses and gardens, and then shop and eat at youthful Downtown San Luis Obispo, with its shady, tree-lined streets.
The Coast Starlight train runs north from San Luis Obispo Railroad Station, taking an indirect and long (1 1/2 hours) route through beautiful hills to Downtown Paso Robles.
On the south end of the railroad station parking lot is the small San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum, open only on Saturdays 10-4. There are three sections to the museum. The yellow freighthouse has interesting exhibits with mannequins operating railroad machinery, old photos of SLO, a train simulator where you can brake and accelerate, and model trains kids are allowed to operate with assistance. Upstairs, there's an adorable model railroad (for looking not touching) with accurate scenes from SLO county, such as Harford Pier in Avila, the oil fields of Price Canyon, and the mountain pass to Paso Robles. It is a delight. The yellow freighthouse is very musty, so I couldn't stay long. The highlight for me was found outside on the tracks: La Cuesta, the gorgeous 1926 cafe-observation car, which has been wonderfully restored! It is so nice to walk inside and see all the details: the colorful signals outside, the striped awning, the fancy interior lights, and the stained glass windows. On railroad festival days you can see the china sets used in the cafe-observation car. Lastly, there's a caboose, which was located at the end of freight trains, where the conductor and machinist had a stove, fridge, chairs, bed, and bathroom.
In early October there is a model railroad festival, with live music, a historic photo booth, train sets for toddlers to play with, and tables selling model train supplies.
If you like garden nurseries, drive one minute to Miner's Ace Hardware, which has an inspiring garden section with many fountains, colorful ceramics, fruit trees, and flowers. 

Directions

SLO Railroad Museum is located at 1940 Santa Barbara Ave, San Luis Obispo. You park in the parking lot for the railroad station.
Open Saturday 10-4. 
Entrance fee to the SLO Railroad Museum is $6 per adult, $4 per child aged 4-15.

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