Extremely hot temperatures affected communities away from the coast on Friday.
Despite the scorching heat, Claiborne and Churchill Winery in San Luis Obispo was prepared to keep staff and clients hydrated during its ‘Happy Hour Friday event, which runs through September.
Brook Thompson, the wine club and shipping manager at Claiborne and Churchill, says the garden is surrounded by Chinese elm trees that help keep everyone cool.
“The heat definitely impacts, you know, the number of people that want to come out,” Thompson said. “Pretty much all of the space that we have is going to be in the shade for them or inside our tasting room.”
Thompson says they want to make their clients feel comfortable in the extreme heat.
“...and then just making sure that they feel comfortable and, you know, they have plenty of access to water and, of course, chilled wines, right?,” Thompson said. “So, that's going to be the real thing is just making sure that people feel like they don't have to cancel their plans.”
Elizabeth Reilly is visiting from New York City and stopped by Claiborne and Churchill with a big group of her friends from the East Coast to celebrate her bachelorette party.
She says the heat has not stopped her from celebrating.
“It hasn't dampened our energy at all,” Reilly said. “We're embracing it. We are drinking wine to cope with the heat. It's been great and we're under shade, which is lovely right now.”
Downtown SLO held its last ‘Concerts in the Plaza" event on Friday.
Downtown SLO events manager Maggie Kovack says they had hydration stations available for the public.
“We will have our first responders walking through the concert, checking on people, making sure that nobody's too impacted by the heat,” Kovack said.
Gerald Purify of San Luis Obispo said he is cooling off by staying in the shade.
“Just staying hydrated, and staying in the shade is basically how I'm staying cool,” Purify said.
For more information on how to prepare for extreme heat, visit prepareslo.org.
