The Cruisin’ Morro Bay Car Show is back for its 28th year.
Around 90 cars left Morro Bay late Friday morning from Rock Harbor Church to cruise up Highway 1 to Ragged Point. They'll be back in time for Friday's cruise along Main Street.
Carrie Raya has owned Buttercup Bakery and Café along Morro Bay Boulevard for nearly seven years and says the show in front of her business brings in more foot traffic.
“It brings a lot of out-of-town business that might not otherwise come, so for a special event, it really bolsters everything going on and so we gear up for the car show and looking forward to it,” Raya said.
Raya says the car show is their second busiest weekend of the year.
“We know to plan for it, to get ready, to be prepared because it is really is our number two weekend. We definitely try to maximize foot traffic here,” Raya said.
Rudie Schroeder, owner of Rudie’s Rock Espresso, welcomes the visitors even if he doesn’t necessarily receive more business. It’s hit or miss, he says.
“Sometimes you might not be as busy as you thought you were going to be but you bring that many people into town, everybody is going to see at least a little bit of an influx in what they’re doing and that’s great for everybody in town,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder and Raya see visitors come from all over the state.
“I’ve already had someone that had been traveling out from the Valley, down from Southern California and for me, I’ve been seeing the same people coming in for years and years now. It’s like when old friends come back to show off their car,” Schroeder said.
“A lot of people from the Valley, Fresno, Bakersfield I know come over. It spans up and down the coast which is great exposure for all of us,” Raya said.
The Cruisin’ Morro Bay Car Show will have a show and shine on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with cars parked up and down Morro Bay Boulevard with some branching off into neighboring streets.