The Castle
Finally posting on the Hearst Castle mini-trip! Most of this is pulled from emails I sent to Kevin and also J.Fyn:
Hearst Castle: we were supposed to go April 14-16 but were delayed to April 15-17, as C. had to shoot a Wendy's commercial (in which he runs and then chomps into a burger) on the afternoon of April 15.
We finally left a little after 7 p.m. on Friday night, April 15. I liked travelling at night -- traffic was a breeze. C. was OK with driving the entire way. We made it to the luxurious Motel 6 in San Simeon before midnight. Neither of us slept well that evening -- maybe it had to do with a motel bed or more likely, because we never could get the temperature right in the room.
We woke up and went to Cambria for lunch. We were hoping for breakfast, but the diner we chose had stopped serving breakfast at 11:30 a.m. Three more groups of people came in inquiring about breakfast too, so didn't feel so bad. It was only noon (on a weekend!) after all.
Cambria is a cute town of "pines by the sea." It seemed more like a mountain village; it was hard to believe the ocean was so close. (Of course, these custom-made-for-tourists villages are only interesting to me for about 24 hours.)
After lunch we went to Piedras Blancas Vista Point, north of San Simeon, to see the elephant seals. We were not disappointed; there were so MANY of them. It was quite breezy and even cold near the ocean, but the weather was great just the same -- clear skies, sunny, clean air. And it was much warmer atop the "enchanted hill" at Hearst Castle.
Around 2:15 we went to the Castle to see the film "Hearst Castle: Building the Dream," which came as part of the package with our tickets. Its duration was about 45 mins., emphasis on W.R. Hearst's mother, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, taking him to Europe at a young age, and how that fueled his dreams and love of art/antiquities.
Our first tour was 3:10 p.m., the "experience tour" recommended for first-time visitors. The group was rather large, and the docent seemed weary, so it wasn't the greatest in those terms. But we did see a lot -- the famed outdoor Neptune swimming pool, the indoor Venetian/mosaic pool, one of the guest houses, dining room, parlor and movie theatre in the main house "Casa Grande."
Afer that tour we had an early dinner at a so-so Mexican restaurant, El Chorlito, in San Simeon. Then we returned to the Castle for our evening tour! All of the tours had some overlap but enough differences to keep them interesting. I think the evening tour was best. We saw the HUGE kitchen and also had a more enthusiastic, gossipy docent who told some interesting stories. We watched a newsreel from the 30s in the movie theatre too. Also during the evening tours there are actors in period/vintage dress who just hang out in the rooms to enhance the atmosphere. Our docent told us they don't get paid to do this!
So once that one was over (9:30'ish), we were positively BEAT. We did stop by a Shell station, the hot spot in Cambria (gas was $2.99, by the way) for some wine. But we weren't able to stay awake very long. We got a better rest that night.
Sunday morn. we drove into Cambria's east village and found a place that was serving "breakfast all day." So we did that and then walked around on the beach... but it was windier than ever. I told C. I wanted to see the seals again, so we returned to Piedras Blancas and snapped more photos with C's new digital camera.
Our last tour at the Castle was 1 p.m. and a more 'artistic' tour which featured the upper floors of the main house and included the private quarters of Mr. Hearst and Marion Davies, including his private office/library. This docent was knowledgeable and told us a lot about the antique ceilings, furniture, etc.
Once that was over, we had to hit the road; the trip back was a lot more grueling. It took us 5 1/2 hours to get back; traffic was bad. We tried to take Pacific Coast Highway 1 the entire way, but it was just too twisty-turny (not good for my motion sickness) and was taking too long. So we got on the 101, but that was jammed up in many places too, starting around Santa Barbara. Exhausting.
What I learned about W.R. Hearst:
1) He was born rich; his Missouri-born father came west and made beaucoup d'argent in silver mining..
2) He was an only child.
3) His companion at the Castle was Marion Davies, though he was married to a woman named Millicent and had five sons with her. W.R. & Millicent separated but never divorced.
4) He never called his home the Castle; it was known as "the Ranch."
5) His wife was 20 years his junior; Marion was 34 years his junior, and both were stage dancers.
6) Behind every great man's dream is a woman making it happen: the Castle's architect was Julia Morgan.
Hearst Castle: we were supposed to go April 14-16 but were delayed to April 15-17, as C. had to shoot a Wendy's commercial (in which he runs and then chomps into a burger) on the afternoon of April 15.
We finally left a little after 7 p.m. on Friday night, April 15. I liked travelling at night -- traffic was a breeze. C. was OK with driving the entire way. We made it to the luxurious Motel 6 in San Simeon before midnight. Neither of us slept well that evening -- maybe it had to do with a motel bed or more likely, because we never could get the temperature right in the room.
We woke up and went to Cambria for lunch. We were hoping for breakfast, but the diner we chose had stopped serving breakfast at 11:30 a.m. Three more groups of people came in inquiring about breakfast too, so didn't feel so bad. It was only noon (on a weekend!) after all.
Cambria is a cute town of "pines by the sea." It seemed more like a mountain village; it was hard to believe the ocean was so close. (Of course, these custom-made-for-tourists villages are only interesting to me for about 24 hours.)
After lunch we went to Piedras Blancas Vista Point, north of San Simeon, to see the elephant seals. We were not disappointed; there were so MANY of them. It was quite breezy and even cold near the ocean, but the weather was great just the same -- clear skies, sunny, clean air. And it was much warmer atop the "enchanted hill" at Hearst Castle.
Around 2:15 we went to the Castle to see the film "Hearst Castle: Building the Dream," which came as part of the package with our tickets. Its duration was about 45 mins., emphasis on W.R. Hearst's mother, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, taking him to Europe at a young age, and how that fueled his dreams and love of art/antiquities.
Our first tour was 3:10 p.m., the "experience tour" recommended for first-time visitors. The group was rather large, and the docent seemed weary, so it wasn't the greatest in those terms. But we did see a lot -- the famed outdoor Neptune swimming pool, the indoor Venetian/mosaic pool, one of the guest houses, dining room, parlor and movie theatre in the main house "Casa Grande."
Afer that tour we had an early dinner at a so-so Mexican restaurant, El Chorlito, in San Simeon. Then we returned to the Castle for our evening tour! All of the tours had some overlap but enough differences to keep them interesting. I think the evening tour was best. We saw the HUGE kitchen and also had a more enthusiastic, gossipy docent who told some interesting stories. We watched a newsreel from the 30s in the movie theatre too. Also during the evening tours there are actors in period/vintage dress who just hang out in the rooms to enhance the atmosphere. Our docent told us they don't get paid to do this!
So once that one was over (9:30'ish), we were positively BEAT. We did stop by a Shell station, the hot spot in Cambria (gas was $2.99, by the way) for some wine. But we weren't able to stay awake very long. We got a better rest that night.
Sunday morn. we drove into Cambria's east village and found a place that was serving "breakfast all day." So we did that and then walked around on the beach... but it was windier than ever. I told C. I wanted to see the seals again, so we returned to Piedras Blancas and snapped more photos with C's new digital camera.
Our last tour at the Castle was 1 p.m. and a more 'artistic' tour which featured the upper floors of the main house and included the private quarters of Mr. Hearst and Marion Davies, including his private office/library. This docent was knowledgeable and told us a lot about the antique ceilings, furniture, etc.
Once that was over, we had to hit the road; the trip back was a lot more grueling. It took us 5 1/2 hours to get back; traffic was bad. We tried to take Pacific Coast Highway 1 the entire way, but it was just too twisty-turny (not good for my motion sickness) and was taking too long. So we got on the 101, but that was jammed up in many places too, starting around Santa Barbara. Exhausting.
What I learned about W.R. Hearst:
1) He was born rich; his Missouri-born father came west and made beaucoup d'argent in silver mining..
2) He was an only child.
3) His companion at the Castle was Marion Davies, though he was married to a woman named Millicent and had five sons with her. W.R. & Millicent separated but never divorced.
4) He never called his home the Castle; it was known as "the Ranch."
5) His wife was 20 years his junior; Marion was 34 years his junior, and both were stage dancers.
6) Behind every great man's dream is a woman making it happen: the Castle's architect was Julia Morgan.