Hearst Castle

Must...focus...finish...trip report...

I just realized I'm in the final stretch of my trip report. In part, that motivates me. But it also makes my mind start to wander and think about all the other things I want to post about! My first post after I finish my trip report is going to be about my 10 favorite restaurants on Oahu -- I got the idea after reading "What's YOUR Top 10?" on the Honolulu Advertiser's Urban Mix Plate blog, by Melissa Chang. I've already written them down, and it wasn't easy. I actually wrote down 11, and another restaurant that closed, but that I will always remember as one of my favorites. There are also a bunch of new-to-me food places I've tried recently that I want to write about, but I promised I'd finish writing about my trip before moving on.

Back to focusing on the trip report...

Another place I have long wanted to visit in California is Hearst Castle. It's in San Simeon, which is kind of an awkward halfway point between Los Angeles and San Francisco, which is part of the reason I'd never gone there before. They offer a number of different tours, so after reading the website, I had determined that two tours would be good for me to do in one day. Since this was the first time visiting Hearst Castle, I decided I should do Tour 1, the Experience Tour, first, which is recommended for first-time visitors. The second tour I chose was Tour 4, the Garden Tour, which also includes a tour of the largest guest house and the wine cellar. I booked the tours online as recommended on the website. The website is pretty cool, as it tells you how many spaces are available on each tour.

It took about an hour to drive from Avila Beach. There was lots of parking, although I messed up by automatically taking the first stall I saw in what I later found was an overflow parking lot. I could have driven further in to the main parking lot.

There is a Visitor's Center where you go to pick up your tickets and board buses up to Hearst Castle, about a 10-minute scenic ride up a windy hill. I booked my two tours back-to-back, beginning with the Experience Tour. The tour started off in an area overlooking the property and stretched all the way out to the ocean. Then we headed over to the pool, which you've probably seen in photos, movies, or tv shows at some point. I remember seeing it in the opening credits of "Dynasty." It really is a beautiful pool! Someone asked the tour guide if anyone ever gets to swim in it, and the tour guide replied that occasionally they have employee parties where employees can bring a guest to swim in the pool.

Both tours covered various outdoor areas and gardens. The types of trees, plants, and flowers are so varied, it's incredible. In fact, the guides explained that William Randolph Hearst basically built the home and grounds with items from an assortment of countries and cultures, even if they didn't necessarily "match," resulting in some critiques that the home was an atrocity. Because he was always working on making the home to his liking, it was never truly finished, and there are some areas where it is somewhat obvious that something was redone or built-over.

Other areas the tours covered included guest homes, a wine cellar, dining hall, billiard room, and an indoor pool styled after a Roman bath. Other interesting bits of trivia we learned are that Mr. Hearst felt that fruit looked best on the trees and shouldn't be picked. Whatever fruit was eaten was not from the grounds. Also, he liked the smell of flowers and wanted there to be a scent everywhere in the gardens. There are only nine gardeners that take care of the entire property! Besides the Castle itself, the property is vast. At one point it used to house zoo animals, but now is only home to cows, horses, and zebras. I was hoping to see a zebra, but no such luck.

After both my tours, I decided to check out the cafeteria for lunch. I was intrigued because of the Hearst Ranch beef, which is free-range and grass-fed. If you haven't tried it, grass-fed beef is awesome! I had a tri-tip sandwich w/ BBQ sauce, beans, and corn on the cob. Excellent! Although there was a very ominous-looking bird staring at me while I was eating.

After that I headed back to Avila Beach where I drove around a bit to explore along the ocean. And I couldn't let that nice hot tub on my balcony go to waste, so I ordered some really yummy food (pizza and a salad) from the little market on the resort property and relaxed in my room for the evening. The next day I headed to LA, so I wanted to be well-rested for the drive, which I estimated to take about 3 hours.

Next up...Los Angeles, here I come!

Highway in the Sun

So many things to post about, so little time! Since I saw the movie, "Julie and Julia" today, I seriously considered deviating from posting about my trip to do a movie review, but I reconsidered and decided to stick to my guns and finish this dang trip report this century. Ironically, part of the movie storyline was about how Julie never finishes anything she begins. Boy, can I relate to that! That is why I am continuing on with my trip report before I begin posting about other topics. (But my brief comment about "Julie and Julia" is that Meryl Streep is a genius, and you should go see it!)

When I was researching my trip, I asked for suggestions on my Facebook page. One of my friends, Handsome Mark, used to live in California and suggested that when I make the drive south from Monterey along the Pacific Coast Highway that I leave no earlier than 4 p.m. and listen to C&K's "Highway in the Sun" as I make the drive. While I considered that option, I knew that what Mapquest said would be a 3 hour 20 minute drive would in actuality turn into a 5 hour drive because of all the stops I would make. I decided to plan on leaving Monterey before noon.

One of the nice touches at the Monterey Bay Inn was having breakfast delivered to your room included as part of your stay. It was a simple continental breakfast, but a nice touch nonetheless. After I enjoyed breakfast and packed up the car, I headed out on my journey. I contemplated going on the 17-Mile Drive, but decided against it because I knew that would take a lot of time, and I had done it before long ago. But I did make some time to drive through Pacific Grove, and briefly through a part of Carmel. Handsome Mark warned me that I should fuel up because there wouldn't be many (if any) options after I passed Carmel. A great tip!

This journey is what this trip was all about. For years I've been wanting to drive down the Pacific Coast Highway and see the bridge in Big Sur that I've seen in so many pictures. It was so worth it. I'm not a very good descriptive writer, so hopefully some of my photos can tell the story of this drive better than my words can. Words cannot adequately describe the physical appearance of the coastline, nor how I felt as I was soaking in its beauty. I saw rugged coastline, beautiful flora, and the Rocky Creek Bridge that I had seen in pictures.

I also came across some unexpected finds such as a beach that was home to many elephant seals. From the road they almost looked like driftwood, but I knew that dozens of people would not be standing along the beach just looking at pieces of wood. My first impression when I stepped out of the car was, "this place REEKS!" I mean, it was BAD! Yet, it was worth suffering through the smell to see the elephant seals up close in a natural setting.

Along the drive to my destination, Avila Beach, was Hearst Castle, which I was planning to visit the following day. I got slightly lost around the Avila Beach area because I did not follow directions properly, but I managed to find my way without losing too much time. I was staying at the Avila Village Inn, which is a couple miles away from the beach itself, but it turned out to be a very nice choice. It was a small lodge-like setting with probably only a few dozen rooms. I reserved a room with a hot tub on the deck, which I made very good use of. And the shower was the biggest I think I've evern seen in a hotel that I've stayed in. I joked to a friend that it could probably comfortably accommodate five people!

It was already late afternoon by the time I got settled, and I hadn't eaten lunch. I decided to get an early dinner and splurge on a place I read about on Yelp called the Cracked Crab in Pismo Beach, the next beach down from Avila Beach just about a 10 minute drive away. It's one of those places that just has paper on the tables and you can make as big a mess as you want, and I did! I was hungry, so my eyes were bigger than my stomach, as usual. I decided to have a cup of crab bisque, since they're menu says it's what made them famous. I wasn't ultra-impressed by it, but it was okay. But I was really looking forward to the main meal...it was really tough to choose. I considered surf-n-turf, but decided on a bucket for one where you choose two seafood items that are thrown in a bucket with corn-on-the-cob, potatoes, and sausage, served with rolls, drawn butter, cocktail sauce, and a yummy mustard sauce. I chose the Alaskan King Crab (for an extra charge) and shrimp, and it was so yummy!

After dinner I drove around Pismo Beach and Avila Beach a bit to explore and see what's in the area. I liked that area a lot and wished I had more time to explore. Pismo Beach is one of those beach towns you see in the movies where it's laid back and almost everything is within walking distance of the shore.

Up next: Hearst Castle. (Pics to follow soon...)