After a nice hotel breakfast, we circled around a bit looking for a gas station so Ken could have a decent cup of coffee. That’s one of the hardest things to get on the road. He (we) like it dark roasted and strong. I don’t care so much but that’s his kick-starter for the day and it’s necessary. We then got on CA-1, the Cabrillo Hwy, and headed north.
Our plan for the day was to dawdle (as much as Ken can dawdle) along the coastal highway and enjoy the views. The day was a gorgeous blue with no coastal fog at all. And so we wended our way along, stopping in Cambria for lunch, and, ten miles later, at Hearst Castle. By this point I was a bit concerned about our arrival time in Fremont, but Ken insisted I see the Castle. So we went on up and managed to catch the next Grande Rooms tour shortly after getting there.
The Hearst Castle is actually a complex of several buildings. The biggest and gaudiest is Casa Grande. That is the one we toured. This is the complex as zoomed in on from the Visitor’s Center. This inside rooms were difficult to photograph because of the number of people. I also find it difficult to both listen to the guide and take pictures. Not that I remember much of what she said!
The first two photos below are of the “Refectory”, i.e. the dining room and third is of the tapestry in the billiards room.
Front and side view of Casa Grande…
Finally, here is Casa del Mar, the indoor “Roman Pool”, and aoudad. The Casa del Mar is one of three smaller houses in the complex and is named for its view of the sea. The pool is *HUGE* and there are tennis courts on the roof. The aoudad are remnants of the private zoo Hearst once had here. There is also a herd of zebra still wandering the surrounding ranch land but we didn’t see them.
I had the same odd reaction to Hearst Castle as I had to Scotty’s Castle (in Death Valley) and Biltmore (in Asheville, NC). There is much beauty in all these places (the gardens and that Roman Pool especially), but mostly I’m aghast at the excess. What is it with these guys and the medieval period? An inference of power? This is my castle and I am the king. We did not stay to watch the movie (included in the tour ticket price) or wander the Visitor Center. Time was a-pressin’ and we had to continue North.
Our next stop was just north of San Simeon at the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery. We were in luck and a number of seals (females and pups) were sunning themselves. They really looked like they were enjoying the sun. There was some loud barking from the shallows so there may have been some males out there – or maybe not. The glare off the water was such I couldn’t really see and we hadn’t brought the binoculars.
About 45 minutes later up the coast we stopped at another pull-out and Ken took this picture. I like it much better than any of the photos I took of the coast so I stole it from him. We stopped twice more before sundown but my pictures were totally uninspiring so that’s the end of the photos for today.
According to our GPS, we now wouldn’t be getting to our hotel in Fremont until after 7:30PM. I hate eating so late and whined a bit (a lot) and Ken contacted his friends, told them we were arriving late, and arranged to meet them after breakfast tomorrow. We then stopped at Carmel-by-the-Sea and had our own supper at the Flying Fish Grill. We lucked in and were able to sneak into a table that was reserved for 7pm. We assured them that fit our schedule also and we could be out of there in an hours time if everybody moved apace. We actually left at 6:54 so everything worked out well for both us and the restaurant. Which, by the way, was excellent. Pricey, as expected, but excellent.
We got back on the road and finally got to our hotel at 8:36PM. This was a long day for me – much longer than I like.
[written 11/1/2013]
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