Every summer I drive the same stretch of Highway 1 between Cayucos and Cambria and something always catches me off guard. This year it was the light at 7:30 on a Tuesday — the way it turned the elephant seals into bronze sculptures and made the cliffs look like they were painted by someone who doesn't believe in subtlety.

This issue is about that feeling. The one where you forget you live somewhere extraordinary, and then suddenly you don't forget anymore. We sent photographers to Montana de Oro at dawn. We sat with winemakers in Edna Valley who are betting their farms on a Spanish grape. We ate at 15 taquerias between Morro Bay and Buellton and argued about the rankings for a week.

The Central Coast doesn't shout. It just keeps being beautiful while you're busy looking at your phone. Put the phone down. Look up. That's what this issue is for.