Best Health Club/Gym
Kennedy Club Fitness
Arroyo Grande • Atascadero • San Luis Obispo

Ah, the health club. To what bizarre lengths our society has gone to supplement these modern days so unfortunately lacking in hunting, gathering, and real physical labor. After a long day of pushing papers, balancing budgets, corralling kids, or typing textbooks, your body damn well needs a little hard work to make up for all that inactivity–and in the process, give your brain a good chance to rest, too.

So what better way to wile away a post-work afternoon than gettin’ sweaty with a bunch of red-faced, heavy-breathing strangers? You get your choice of a wide array of torture devices, and better yet, there’s enough free towels for everyone! So divest yourself of hollow garments, strap on a jock or slap on a jog bra, and mosey on down to the local sports and fitness megacenter–your heart, lungs, muscles, and mind will thank you for it.

According to all you calorie-conscious, fat-burning muscle mongers out there, the best place once again this year is Kennedy Club Fitness. It’s the biggest, the most up-to-date, and by God, the sexiest–in a good way, I mean. And for SLO county readers, Kennedy has been the top choice year after year after year. It must be something in the water. Or else the fact that Kennedy has the most modern equipment, the friendliest staff, and some of the best prices on the Central Coast. There’s also a huge team of ACE-licensed personal trainers ready to assist you in any way possible to reach your fitness goals–or else just whip your ass into shape when you’re being lazy. Nothing motivates quite like a 200-pound muscle-bound beach stud insisting you finish that last set of 10 reps or else, in the words of Hans and Franz, you’re a pathetic leetil girly-mon.

Seriously though, the staff and trainers at Kennedy are much friendlier (and less goofy) than that. Not to mention they know what they’re doing and will spare no inconvenience to share their expertise with you. Now get going! Stop reading this paper–you’re not getting any more in shape by sitting there, after all. Or, on second thought–have another latte and chocolate muffin and read on.

2nd: Cory Everson’s Aerobics and Fitness for Women
3rd: Pismo Beach Athletic Club

Best Surf Shop
Central Coast Surfboards
736 Higuera St., San Luis Obispo

Stereotypical surf shop employee: "Duuude, the waves were like so freakin’ rad out there today! You wouldn’t believe it, dude, you shoulda been there! They were breakin’ at like 20 feet and crap, like totally over my head, dude. It was excellent, dude, totally!"

Central Coast Surfboards employee, on their "surf line" at 544-WAVE: "Hey, here’s the surf report for April 10, Wednesday, updated about 12 o’clock. Don’t forget to check out our Web site www.centralcoastsurfboards.com. As far as surf goes today, high tide was at 9:48 at a reading of 4.5, low tide was at 4:04, with a reading of -0.2. Water is 54 degrees, with cloudy conditions, actually it’s pretty foggy down on the coast. There’s a southwest swell today in the two- to three-foot range."

Can you catch the subtle differences between the two? That’s right! At SLO town’s longtime favorite surf shop, Central Coast Surfboards, you get actual helpful advice, true expertise, an absolute lack of posing, and a virtual absence of the word "dude." For 10 years running now, Central Coast Surfboards has been SLO county’s favorite for quality products and the friendliest, most genuinely helpful advice you can imagine.

In fact, manager Mike Jacot is modest almost to a fault: "I don’t know, customer service is our best attribute, I guess. We have a mixture of different employees into different things, so that really helps customers find exactly what they want. Plus we have a huge selection of boards, surf, skate, and snow. But hey, I don’t want to say other shops don’t have that, you know, I don’t want to put them down or anything."

Clearly this is a shop brimming with friendly, unpretentious help. Tons of first-timers and veteran board enthusiasts are helped into new digs every day–with an absolute lack of condescension or snobbery. CCS also offers a daily surf report compiled by someone "who’s actually been in the water–it’s not just out of the paper or made up." With a resource like that and so much selection, why not make a detour to Central Coast Surfboards on your next trip to the beach?

2nd: Moondoggies Beach Club
3rd: Wavelengths Surf Shop

Best Sports Store
Copeland’s Sport Fitness Superstore
1144 Chorro St., San Luis Obispo

Copeland’s Sport Fitness Superstore is all that and a bag of golf balls. Everything connected with sports and fitness can be found in the super big store.

"We are just the best sports store in town," manager Charlene Williams said. "Mainly because we are really big and we really try to give customers personal attention."

Copeland’s really does pay attention to the customers. If you are even thinking about buying a golf club, they will analyze your swing, measure your arms and pick out the best one for you.

"The community is the reason we are here, so thank you for voting for us again," sales manager Alex Littlewood said. "We plan to continue our great customer service."

The store is also just fun to go into. The employees will let you play with the soccer and basketballs. They will let you snuggle in the sleeping bags or pretend to camp in the tents. You can try every exercise bike, swing every baseball bat and inspect every brand of golf ball. Although they probably do not appreciate it, they will even let you carry small children around in the big hiking backpacks.

"Everyone is welcome to come in anytime," Littlewood said. "Copeland’s is like a toy store."

For those who are not as fascinated with sport equipment and perhaps are more enamored with shoes and clothes, Copeland’s has this stuff too. Any shoe fetishist will be in heaven at Copeland’s, especially if they have a penchant for tennis shoes. The work out shoes range from trendy to basic and outlandish.

Copeland’s also has a wide variety of fitness clothes, and you can find some really stylish jackets there.

Copeland’s really does have everything–even foosball tables. So next time you need some sports or fitness equipment, or you just have some time to kill before a movie, go play around in Copeland’s.

2nd: Big 5 Sporting Goods
3rd: Bello’s Sporting Goods

Best Health Food Store
New Frontiers
896 Foothill Blvd., San Luis Obispo

When it comes to choosing an organic grocer, there’s just a few points to keep in mind:

Large selection?

Good service?

Non-outlandish prices?

With these considerations in mind, the choice is pretty clear here in SLO county. When it comes to yummy, healthy, nature-groovy food, readers head year after year for the millet-rich, wheatgrass-scented aisles of New Frontiers.

This is the store’s fourth consecutive year on top–not bad for a place that’s only been in town five years total! But where else you could possibly head for a selection this big, service this friendly, and a deli this delicious? Not to mention that the prices at New Frontiers manage the impossible task of staying competitive with the prices at mainstream grocers. Now that’s truly something unique in the often grossly overpriced world of organic and health-oriented goods. And unlike other organic snoot-fests, New Frontiers is open to any and everyone, with the same prices for all, and offers everything a major store offers. That includes a kick-ass meat department with the kind of tri-tip in California–herbivores be warned. So what gives at this place?

"We’re always price-checking with other stores so we can stay competitive a possible," explains assistant manager Tracy Berger–and from his intonation I realize by "other stores" he means Ralph’s and Food-4-Less. "We also have our own organic-certified farm in Buellton that supplies about 40 percent of our produce, so that helps keep prices low, too."

In the next few months, expect even bigger and better things from New Frontiers. The store has acquired the former laundromat space and will soon be expanding and remodeling their already huge deli counter, which offers delicious, healthy items of all kinds–from a huge variety of salads and to-die-for veggie lasagna to pastas and mouthwatering wraps to curries and Asian noodles and salmon fillets and organic potato dishes and so on and so on and so on. New Frontiers is something you just have to experience, and you should experience, ASAP. And shoot for a weekend, when there’s plenty of free samples out for all you armchair foragers.

2nd: Trader Joe’s
3rd: Questa Natural Foods Co-Op

Best Golf Course
Morro Bay State Park

Sheesh, we SLO County denizens are freaking spoiled! From the clean air to the magnificent scenery of Big Sur, Montaña de Oro, and the Seven Sisters to the lack of crime to the healthy (if smallish) economy, this part of the country’s got it all–provided you’re ready to buy it up quick. Lucky for area golfers, the splendor and idyll extend all the way down to the county’s best course. Year after year, readers have chosen the breathtaking course in Morro Bay State Park.

Now, I’m not picky when it comes to golf–clean fairways, well-kept greens, and a few well-raked bunkers here and there are all I ask. But after playing a few holes on this course, you won’t really want to go anywhere else–except maybe Pebble Beach. And that’s about the only course I can think of that rivals the absolute beauty of Morro Bay State Park–an area as wonderful for hiking as it is for knocking a few strokes off your handicap. The 6,360-yard course is the most popular in the area, so call ahead for tee times.

How many other courses offer a jaw-dropping views of the Pacific, a geological wonder like Morro Rock, the sandspit of Montaña de Oro (watch those drives!), the dense fragrance of eucalyptus groves, and Morro Bay itself, crowning the entire scene like a sparkling blue tiara? Sheesh, it’s beautiful almost to the point of distraction–remember this excuse when you’re in need of a few convenient mulligans. With scenery like this, you just might need ‘em. Not that you wouldn’t normally, too.

2nd: Avila Beach Golf Resort
3rd: Blacklake Golf Resort

Best Place to Ride Your Bike
Montana De Oro
3550 Pecho Valley Rd., Los Osos

Way to go San Luis Obispo County, you all know something super swell when you see it. This swingin’ state park that offers mountain biking, horseback riding, camping, hiking, and surfing– all with unparalleled views–may have been voted first place repeatedly for various categories over the years, but has never been subjected to a "Cool Cats"-themed description. So, without further ado, may Montana De Oro State Park be presented with the completely unofficial, undocumented, and editorially illegitimate first place award in the category of "Niftiest State Park."

Montana De Oro offers 8,000 super-dee-duper acres of cliffs, beaches, trails, eucalyptus trees, deer, wildflowers, prehistoric shale, grass, and a hodgepodge of other examples of Central Coast flora and fauna. The park’s name means "Mountain of Gold" in Spanish, originating from the many yellow spring-blooming wildflowers. For all you maniacal history buffs who would expect an article on a state park to contain relevant historical facts, the Santa Lucia chapter of the Sierra Club reports that Montana De Oro was originally inhabited by the Chumash Indians and first visited by Spanish explorers in 1512. Traces of Chumash Indian villages can still be found in the park. The land has changed hands many times over the years, but was bought by the state of California in 1965.

While hot-rodding is not allowed, there are many other activities that will keep any hepcat’s attention occupied. Cool Cats have the option to go mountain biking along the Montana De Oro Bluff Trail and the Islay Creek Loop, admire the beach at Spooner’s Cove, hike Valencia peak and admire the 100-mile view of coastline, explore the sand dunes, watch birds at the marshes, camp at one of the 50 campsites along the creek, investigate the tide pools, attend regular campfire programs during the summer, and go out on picnics. Visitors are free to explore the park to their heart’s content, and guided nature tours are available through the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History (772-2694.) The visitor’s center is located adjacent to Spooner’s Cove.

2nd: Bob Jones Bike Trail
3rd: Avila Beach

Best Massage
Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort
1215 Avila Beach Dr., San Luis Obispo

Now is this really something you just gotta have? Really? OK, OK–you fat cats out there with a healthy mixture of stress and cash would do well to get a massage. The drop in blood pressure alone could add years to your life, not to mention it’s probably the most enjoyable hour you’ll have all week. Massage is good for the massaged and good for the masseuse–just be sure you indulge in a healthy dose of good tippin’.

Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort on the way to Avila Beach is the spot in SLO County for a kick-ass massage. For the second year in a row, readers couldn’t agree more. And why not? Sycamore Mineral Springs has been an area resource since the late 1800s, and the current owners have been offering massage services since 1975.

What really makes Sycamore Mineral Springs so unique are the springs themselves. "In addition to the ambiance of the place, every massage comes with a complimentary half-hour soak in one of our redwood tubs up on the hillside," adds general manager Roger Whightman. "That’s high sulfur content water, so you get both the therapeutic benefits people have been using for years, plus the real smell, if you know what I mean." Yessir, I think we do.

Twenty-five massage therapists are available for your heart’s every desire, offering styles from Shiatsu and Reki to deep tissue, Swedish, and even prenatal. Massages are available in half-hour, one-hour, and 1’-hou-hour lengths. There’s also five estheticians on staff offering facials in 40- and 60-minute blocks–not to mention a "Grand European" variety for which you’ll presumably just have to stop by and experience for yourself.

Stop by and give it a shot if you’re in the mood to treat yourself. Whightman claims the resort sees upwards of 500 clients each week. This many folks, plus the many satisfied readers of this old rag, can’t all be wrong. Fat cats deserve to be treated as such.

2nd: Ahshe
3rd: The Massage Center

Best Day Trip
Big Sur

In the spirit of unconscionable puns, this one was a landslide. There’s really no better place for scenic drives, pristine beaches, and some of the best hiking in California. Big Sur is truly incomparable–and less than an hour’s drive from downtown SLO gets you into the heart of things.

For those poor schleps who haven’t been yet, here’s a summary: the region defined as "Big Sur" is a conglomeration of federal and private (i.e., Hearst family) land that stretches roughly from Morro Bay up to Monterey along Highway 1. The area is one of the last unspoiled shorelines on earth, thanks both to the foreboding nature of the mountains and, more importantly, the tireless efforts of hard-working conservation groups.

As for the views, crumbling sea cliffs drop sharply into the ocean below, where seals and rare California sea otters cavort like giddy schoolchildren–furry, extra-cute little schoolchildren. Six days out of seven expect fog thick as gravy, but on that one magical day of the week it’s crystal clear. Big Sur has some of the most stunning, picture-postcard scenery imaginable.

There’s untouched, virtually private beaches for those savvy enough to find a way down to them, immense herds of elephant seals just past San Simeon, beautiful multicolored rocky beaches peppered with agate and California jade, roadside waterfalls, hot springs, and incredible vegetation of labyrinthine live oak forests, lush ferns, and in spring, a dense assortment of wildflowers. There’s hiking galore on the east side of Highway 1, and even lengthy backpacking opportunities for those so inclined.

Big Sur is truly a national treasure, and an unbelievable natural resource to have so close to home. It’s undoubtedly one of the best things about living in beautiful SLO County, and thus the obvious choice when it comes to daytripping in this part of the state. Grab a book, a towel, a camera, a backpack, some hiking boots, maybe even some sunglasses–the options in Big Sur are so varied, you’re never sure exactly what you’ll need. A healthy sense of adventure and a full day to relax is the only true prerequisite.

2nd: Montaña de Oro
3rd: Santa Barbara