But to quickly recap the days before, we left Santa Barbara and continued up the coast, heading for San Simeon. We found a nice campsite just north of Cambria where we set up shop for two days:
If you are looking for a nice town on the California coast to spend some time in, Cambria is certainly a good suggestion. Its out of the way, has great beaches and is just over the hills from central coast wine country. It’s the kind of a place where two folks who just spent a week in the desert would love to be.
So Sunday we woke up to what seemed to be ominous weather. We decided that rather than bundling up and reading on the beach, we’d see a movie. Going to the movies had proven to be a tough activity for us the entire trip. Each place we stopped, we intended on seeing The Kingdom but each time a more appealing option presented itself, usually involving something outdoors. So today was the day we were going to do it. The closest theater was over the mountains in Casa Robles, so we made the drive.
It was during this drive that we realized we were right on the backside of central California wine country. We probably passed 20 vineyards on our way to the movie so it was clear what we were going to do on our way home: wine tasting.
The movie couldn’t have ended fast enough. I had been wanting to see The Kingdom for some time as it seemed like it could have been a cool movie on the Middle East. Turns out, its just a regular action movie with all the predictable scenes, characters and plot twists that tries to disguise itself as a thoughtful commentary on the Middle East through cinematography and profound quotes that really aren’t that profound. It did star Jamie Foxx so this shouldn’t come as to much of a surprise.
Anyway, we left the theater and headed straight for the vineyards we noted and liked on our way into town. If you’ve never done it, get yourself to a vineyard wine tasting sometime. This was my first one and it was pretty cool.
It was during this drive that we realized we were right on the backside of central California wine country. We probably passed 20 vineyards on our way to the movie so it was clear what we were going to do on our way home: wine tasting.
The movie couldn’t have ended fast enough. I had been wanting to see The Kingdom for some time as it seemed like it could have been a cool movie on the Middle East. Turns out, its just a regular action movie with all the predictable scenes, characters and plot twists that tries to disguise itself as a thoughtful commentary on the Middle East through cinematography and profound quotes that really aren’t that profound. It did star Jamie Foxx so this shouldn’t come as to much of a surprise.
Anyway, we left the theater and headed straight for the vineyards we noted and liked on our way into town. If you’ve never done it, get yourself to a vineyard wine tasting sometime. This was my first one and it was pretty cool.
Despite being there late on a Sunday evening, there were still a lot of folks out and about looking to taste some wine and have a good time (such a good time in fact that we found these guys napping outside one of the wineries)...
Also, you can buy really good wine for very cheap which was nice as well. We stopped at three different vineyards, got our taste on, picked up a few bottles for later and headed back for the coast. It should also be noted that the weather in wine country was sunny, dry and warm. We drove ten miles back to the coast and it was foggy, damp and cold. Such is the California coast…
After a nice Sunday of wine country, we decided to visit Hearst Castle on Monday since EVERYONE who has been on the California coast said we had to. For those that don’t know (and I didn’t before I went), William Randolph Hearst was a newspaper baron from the turn of the 20th century who had more money than he knew what to do with. So despite having over 80 estates, most of which he spent less than a week at in his lifetime, he thought he’d build a giant castle on the hills of San Simeon. It’s totally out of control and you should look it up online to get a feel for the kind of excess he put into this place. Totally ridiculous.
After a nice Sunday of wine country, we decided to visit Hearst Castle on Monday since EVERYONE who has been on the California coast said we had to. For those that don’t know (and I didn’t before I went), William Randolph Hearst was a newspaper baron from the turn of the 20th century who had more money than he knew what to do with. So despite having over 80 estates, most of which he spent less than a week at in his lifetime, he thought he’d build a giant castle on the hills of San Simeon. It’s totally out of control and you should look it up online to get a feel for the kind of excess he put into this place. Totally ridiculous.
What you probably won’t see online is our tour guide who was in more need of a cold bucket of water to the face than anyone I’ve met in a while. You got the feeling that if you went to his house he’d have a portrait of Hearst over his fireplace and replica piece of the castle strewn about the living room. He was a big fan of W.R.
Anyway, he did know a lot about the castle, family and whatnot and painted a pretty good picture of life back then, despite having a creepy way of talking about it. For my money, I don’t think I need to go back and do one of the other five different tours they offer of the castle. I get it: The man had more money than God and spent it on excess. Not a new story.
Coastal shots from the drive to Big Sur...
Elephants seals (they have these huge pillowy looking things growing off their snouts that apparently resemble an elephant trunk (a severed one if you ask me). They are funny - they lie in the sand flapping sand onto themselves.
We left Hearst castle and headed for Big Sur where we had decided to stay in a yurt. What the hell is a yurt? It’s awesome is what it is. It kind of looks like a circus tent but smaller. These yurts were built onto the side of a mountain that overlooked the coast and typically were used for whale watching in the winter when they migrate. These were slightly higher class yurts with running water and heat so it was kind of like staying in a hotel, except you had to walk outside to the bathroom. Anyway, it was fun. We stayed there for a night and relaxed, read and I lost to Ellie in Scrabble. I am awful at that game.
The next day we headed for the northern part of Big Sur and camped there. Nothing really of note. Great campsite, saw a huge steelhead in the Big Sur creek and we got rained on a bit. Here are some pictures from our hike through redwood territory.
The following morning, Wednesday, we headed up route 1 again for the big city and arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge. Upon entering our new city, we did two things that we will probably never do again. 1. We went and took our picture at the Golden Gate Bridge. 2. We ate chowder (not to be confused with chowda) out of bread bowls on Fisherman's Wharf.
We have arrived.
No comments:
Post a Comment