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Published: August 6th 2007
Casa Grande
Hearst CastleWhen: Saturday, 24th Mar 2007 - Sunday, 25th Mar 2007.
What: a relaxing weekend getaway to Hearst castle.
Where: California's central & Southern coast.
This trip was indeed a "Peekaboo" for Ganesh I planned this surprise trip for his birthday(as his birthday fell on a weekday, we decided to celebrate it over the weekend). He did not know where we were going until later in the day!
Considering the occasion & all, it was decided that it really would be a relaxing trip!!! We've certainly never done those before.
So, I made hotel reservations @ San Simeon, 170 miles S from home along the Southern CA coast. I chose this place because they had an indoor heated pool & spa. Not to mention a tennis court!
I was a little hesitant to reserve tickets online for Hearst castle. Was it really necessary? Just 2 days before the trip I decided that we were not going to back off, so went ahead made a reservation for the evening tour (with high hopes of catching the Sun set behind the castle).
With Summer round the corner, we did not have difficulty getting up
Garapatta State Park
Sobranes point trail early & starting off saturday morning by 6.30 am.
Taking hwy1 S, Ganesh was still 'thinking out loud' all possibilities of a destination.
(P.S: He did mention Hearst castle one of these days, but I did not confirm it then; And yeah, I will have to mention that he is honest & courteous enough not to peep in the reservation papers to spoil the fun!!!)
With Ganesh still guessing, we made it to the Carmel beach. How many ever beaches I've been, Carmel will always be close to my heart. It was the first beach that my husband took me to, when we were newly married. Sorta like first love!
As a lot of people know, CA coast is clear in winter & foggy & cool in summer. Now was no different. A cool 55F.
How I wish we had some hot soup? No problem. I got my flask
The hot soup did wonders.
Continuing further to our destination, we stopped at Garapatta State Park. Ganesh wanted to check 2 hikes from here. So, we went on an easy, but amazing hike to Sobranes Canyon. It was a short hike but beautiful! Spring brings out all
Equistrian entrance to Hearst castle
The main entrance was never completed those dormant flowers & we got our share of poppies, paintbrush, morning glory, lizard tail(I am yet to figure what is what though). The hilltops were fully covered in fog. We went a while into the trail when I suddenly remembered the board outside "Mountain lion territory". It got into my head & I became really scared.
Point to note: We had no other company! After a while when we could not figure out a trail, we turned back. No mountain lions vision though, thankfully.
Ganesh felt a little hungry to do the other trail. So, we reserved it on our way back tomorrow. But in just a while, Ganesh pulled over & found the reason for his pain. He had a biting pain & looking to it, I found it was a small tick(Garapatta in Spanish means 'tick'). Fortunately, we had a sting antibiotic that seemed to work.
We pulled over at a turnout & had a picnic lunch looking out into the ocean. We still had a long way to go. With previous memories of all the vista points, we kept driving until we reached San Simeon. We checked into Courtesy Inn there, showered
Empty Neptune pool
During Hearst's times, heated water was filled in the pool all time of the year & hit the beach outside. The hotel is on Hwy 1. To get to the beach, you just need to cross the road. We played a while(Ganesh was trying to get me to throw the Frisbee correctly, which did not seem to work). It was a short 3 mile drive to
Hearst castle. We reached in time to pick up our tickets, go around the museum & boarded by 6.50 pm sharp. It was a short 10 minute ride to the castle. The castle was already lit by the many lights.
As soon as we were assigned our tour guide, we were informed,
No flash photography
No food/drinks except water
Not even gums.
The place looked awesome for a 'Ranch'. I was disappointed with the Neptune pool as it had no water(the pool was leaking). Empty until fixed!!
We got glimpses of ancient people, or rather people in ancient costumes. That's the best part of the tour. In all the evening tours, people dress up as in those days & you get an idea of how the castle would've been with all those guests.
The first thing one will notice inside is probably the rooms;
-
A patio above the pool
That was how an ideal guest would have looked in those days; if you take an evening tour, you might get to see Hearst castle as a visitor! They are so detailed
- There are so many of them, you WILL get lost without a tour guide. So, stick to your group.
The place is just awesome taking into account its facts & figures at the time it was built.
Some interesting facts that I got to know from the tour guide:
-William Randolf Hearst never got lost in that castle, but his guests, all the time.
-There is no air conditioning for the castle(his kennel was the only place that was air conditioned). In summer, he would go elsewhere(considering the fact that he had 6 other guest houses).
-The bells were programmed from a keyboard, the sound which he probably hated.
-He was a workoholic & worked till the day he died(at the age of 88)
-Hearst castle was built to withstand an 8.0 earthquake. 3 years back when they received a 6.3 there was no structural damage to the castle. That was when they found that Julia Morgan(the architect) had laid foundation that went 40ft deep into the mountain.
Hearst Castle guest list Hearst wanted to give his castle to the State after him. So, it is a part of CA state parks
the outdoor gardens
Hearst told Morgan that he wanted those plants that smelled good in the evening; He was a complete entertainer now. Renovations go on all the time & they are self-funded.
I would definitely recommend a visit here if you are in the area. And hey, make a reservation. I later found out that our
tour was sold out.
If you are familiar with the western thoughts, they prefer to have 'soul-mates' instead of just life partner. It dawned to me on that night return trip on the bus that 'Ganesh is my soul-mate'. (it must have been the "evening tour at the castle", otherwise, I don't usually dwell on these things, you see )
We got back to our room by 9.30 pm. I hit the bed almost immediately. Ganesh had HBO!!!
Sunday morning, we got up to play tennis. I borrowed the court keys from front office. We played for an hour. We headed straight to our continental breakfast later though(trying to make up some lost calories). Unfortunately, we did not have time for the spa. It was inviting though!
After checking out, we decided to take hwy1 back home. So, we took the moonstone beach drive boardwalk for a couple of minutes, just
strolling by. It was just a beautiful
one of those outdoor light fixtures
Hearst castle...there are many themed fixtures. this one is probably "christmas" day.
We picked up a deli sandwich before hitting road again. It was well past noon by then. Our first stop was a vista point, just past Piedras Blancas elephant seals. Since we had not been there before, we took the short trail & we were lucky to get a shot of a bull seal roaring..
Next, we had a quick stop at Salmon creek falls.
Ganesh had this secret place that he had not taken me all along. So, that was our next stop. It was a steep 10 minute walk down to a secluded beach. High tide was setting in & we sure could see it. After spending a while there, we climbed back up. I was not so keen now, but Ganesh wanted to do that Sobranes point hike that we could not do yesterday. So, we did that one too! Climbed up the hill; Got windy that it lifted up my cap. We came back down to say a final 'bye bye' to the south coast.
How many times you drive on hwy 1, it still has something new to offer everytime. I loved this Spring drive. Flowers bloomed on either side
of the road.
It was a peaceful weekend. I just hope Ganesh liked his birthday gift
And I propose a toast to Ganesh quoting an unknown author,
"A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip even if I am around ."
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Hari
non-member comment
Happy B'day!!!
Be lated Happy B'day to Ganesh. Great pictures!!!