The Pacific Coast Highway and Hearst Castle
After Carmel-by-the-Sea, our trip down the Pacific Coast Highway began in earnest. Alas, this was the one day we had "bad" weather, in the sense that there were grey clouds cluttering up what should have been a perfect blue sky for our panoramas and photos. But oh well -- the drive was still well worth it.
We pulled over on the "turnouts" (a word we learned in Yosemite) frequently to take in the views, which were amazing. Highway 1 (no relation to the U.S. Route on the East Coast) winds around with mountains to one side and the ocean to the other. It's every bit as crazy as you'd expect. I hadn't realized how sparsely inhabited it would be, though: there was a house or a gas station every now and again, but no real towns to speak of. Cell phone reception was nil.
The steepness of the cliffs from the road down to the sea was not to be believed. We'd pass mailboxes on the seaward side of the road, but all you'd be able to see would be the ocean in the distance. Only when looking down would you see that a driveway wound its way from the highway down an almost sheer cliff to a house hundreds of feet below.
We drove all the way to Cambria, where we spent the night, since it was adjacent to San Simeon, where the Hearst Castle is. Cambria has its own notorious house, though: it's called Nitt Witt Ridge, and it was built by an "artist/recluse" (as Wikipedia calls him) entirely out of bits of junk and garbage. It's actually a state historic landmark now. Definitely worth seeing if you happen to find yourself in Cambria, CA.
We had a bit of a scare when we pulled into Cambria: I happened to flip to the description of the Hearst Castle in the Lonely Planet, and my eye fell on the words, "Be sure to make reservations for a tour well in advance..." We had done no such thing. And we only had one day in town in which to see the Castle. If we couldn't get on a tour, we'd really be hosed, given that there's absolutely nothing to do or see in that area besides the Castle. (You can drive by Nitt Witt Ridge only so many times.)
Fortunately, we were there on a Wednesday and had no problems getting tickets. But evidently we might have been in trouble had it been a weekend. Word to the wise.
The Castle and its grounds were amazing, of course. More lavish than you can imagine. What really blew my mind was that not only were all the works of art throughout the mansion and its three guesthouses from medieval and Renaissance Europe, but all the furniture was, too. Every bed, dresser, table, and mirror was an antique from Baroque Spain, or Gothic France, or neo-Classical Italy.
Given the isolation of the place, it's amazing to think that Hearst's moviestar houseguests had such a long trek to make in order to get to his place. He eventually built an airfield for the Castle (but of course), but it must have been rough going in the '20s and '30s.
I had an unexpected Geek Moment on a tour we took through the main house. It was a huge group, but unfortunately you're not allowed to just wander around on your own. Anyway, the docent was pointing to an enormous series of Flemish tapestries and said, "These depict Scipio Africanus, who of course we all learned about in high school. Does anyone remember who that was?"
I looked around, saw there were no takers, then said, "I learned about him in college... He conquered Carthage."
"And who did he beat?" she asked.
"Um, Hannibal."
"In all my years here, no one has ever known the answer to that question! Congratulations!" I was waiting to see disgusted looks on the people around me ("That arrogant little prick"), but they began clapping, so what the hell, I took a bow. ("Arrogant little prick. Take me two seconds to kick his ass.")
We pulled over on the "turnouts" (a word we learned in Yosemite) frequently to take in the views, which were amazing. Highway 1 (no relation to the U.S. Route on the East Coast) winds around with mountains to one side and the ocean to the other. It's every bit as crazy as you'd expect. I hadn't realized how sparsely inhabited it would be, though: there was a house or a gas station every now and again, but no real towns to speak of. Cell phone reception was nil.
The steepness of the cliffs from the road down to the sea was not to be believed. We'd pass mailboxes on the seaward side of the road, but all you'd be able to see would be the ocean in the distance. Only when looking down would you see that a driveway wound its way from the highway down an almost sheer cliff to a house hundreds of feet below.
We drove all the way to Cambria, where we spent the night, since it was adjacent to San Simeon, where the Hearst Castle is. Cambria has its own notorious house, though: it's called Nitt Witt Ridge, and it was built by an "artist/recluse" (as Wikipedia calls him) entirely out of bits of junk and garbage. It's actually a state historic landmark now. Definitely worth seeing if you happen to find yourself in Cambria, CA.
We had a bit of a scare when we pulled into Cambria: I happened to flip to the description of the Hearst Castle in the Lonely Planet, and my eye fell on the words, "Be sure to make reservations for a tour well in advance..." We had done no such thing. And we only had one day in town in which to see the Castle. If we couldn't get on a tour, we'd really be hosed, given that there's absolutely nothing to do or see in that area besides the Castle. (You can drive by Nitt Witt Ridge only so many times.)
Fortunately, we were there on a Wednesday and had no problems getting tickets. But evidently we might have been in trouble had it been a weekend. Word to the wise.
The Castle and its grounds were amazing, of course. More lavish than you can imagine. What really blew my mind was that not only were all the works of art throughout the mansion and its three guesthouses from medieval and Renaissance Europe, but all the furniture was, too. Every bed, dresser, table, and mirror was an antique from Baroque Spain, or Gothic France, or neo-Classical Italy.
Given the isolation of the place, it's amazing to think that Hearst's moviestar houseguests had such a long trek to make in order to get to his place. He eventually built an airfield for the Castle (but of course), but it must have been rough going in the '20s and '30s.
I had an unexpected Geek Moment on a tour we took through the main house. It was a huge group, but unfortunately you're not allowed to just wander around on your own. Anyway, the docent was pointing to an enormous series of Flemish tapestries and said, "These depict Scipio Africanus, who of course we all learned about in high school. Does anyone remember who that was?"
I looked around, saw there were no takers, then said, "I learned about him in college... He conquered Carthage."
"And who did he beat?" she asked.
"Um, Hannibal."
"In all my years here, no one has ever known the answer to that question! Congratulations!" I was waiting to see disgusted looks on the people around me ("That arrogant little prick"), but they began clapping, so what the hell, I took a bow. ("Arrogant little prick. Take me two seconds to kick his ass.")