I hope no one is getting tired of all of my California posts! I know.. I know.. it is a lot, but we did so much and took so many pictures, that there is no way I can condense these! Plus even if no one reads them, it is like a trip journal for us and we can look back and remember where we stayed, where we ate, what we did. Today's post is on the Hearst Castle. We woke up early after our day of wine tasting and continued down Highway 1 to an area called San Simeon, about three hours away. Eric has always wanted to visit the Hearst Castle and he finally got the opportunity to do it. The Hearst Castle was the home of William Randolph Hearst, the magazine mogul. He built the home over a period of 28 years from 1919-1947 with architect Julia Morgan. The home boasts 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, and 127 acres of gardens. It truly was a magnificent site. Eric said that it rivaled some of the castles he has seen in Europe. (I will use this as opportunity to point out I have never been to Europe! We have to fix that!) The home (sounds weird to call it that, it is so massive) is now a California State Historic Park and is open to the public for tours. There are several tours to go on to see the entire property. We went on Tour 1 and saw just the basics of the house and grounds. I would love to go back and do the rest of the tours.
These first couple of pictures are from our drive from Monterey to San Simeon. It was a beautiful drive. We passed through Big Sur, which was absolutely breathtaking. I have to admit that the drive was a little scary! It was really windy with lots tight turns. Eric loved it of course and was driving that Impala for all it was worth! I had to ask him to drive a little slower a couple of times. I know, I am a wuss!
Big Sur
It was really foggy.
We got some random man to take our picture. He tried to be "artistic" by taking it from the above angle.
Beautiful beaches!
Look at all the fog out on the sea! It was crazy!
The scenery kept changing. One mile it would be cliffs, then rolling hills, then forests.
It would be awesome to come back and explore this area.
It was like being in an airplane, the fog was so thick like clouds.
That is the Hearst Castle at the top of the hill. HUGE!
So extravagant!
The Neptune Pool was my favorite thing there! It was so pretty and cool! I can just imagine the pool parties Hearst had with celebrities and writers while he lived here. The family and volunteers actually get to use it sometimes throughout the year. I am way jealous!
One of the guest houses
He imported ceilings from all over Europe.
One of the two bell towers.
Just some ancient Egyptian art... It was actually being restored at the time.
Inside the main living area where every one would gather before dinner for cocktails.
The grand dining room. Hearst would sit at the center of the table.
Hand painted ceiling from Europe
Tennis courts
This is the indoor pool. There is no shallow end except in the middle in the cut out. The whole pool is 10 feet deep. It was made of beautiful blue and gold tiles.
The Hearst Castle was amazing! If you ever are on the Central Coast of California, you should definitely try to check it out. We would love to go back and take more of the tours. What we saw is only the tip of the ice berg. After our tour, we continued on to Cambria, CA for the night. More on that to come! Promise it will be the last California post!
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