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Now I realize that I probably should have been writing while actually ON this trip, but unfortunately the availability of wi-fi connections was anything but plentiful (especially if I wanted it for free). It is my humble opinion without naming names (Hilton Checkers Hotel, LA) that if a hotel is charging you upwards of $150/night, they should not then make you pay an additional fee for wireless or high-speed Internet. But that’s just me.
Anyway, onto the details of the trip!
My dad & I both flew into LA on Friday, June 30th. His flight from Atlanta, and mine from Newark landed within a few minutes of each other and we met at the Hertz rental counter at LAX and before long were in our car attempting to navigate our way to our hotel for the evening.
After I got confused on the freeway and ran over a low-lying median along with getting a little turned around on the downtown one-ways, we managed to find our hotel. The Hilton Checkers hotel describes itself as a “boutique hotel” although to be honest, I’m not entirely sure what that means as, aside from being smaller than other Hiltons I’ve stayed
Along the Coast
I took this picture just after leaving Hearst Castle off the PCH.in, it seemed to be identical. Unfortunately we were forced to use the valet parking service to the tune of $24/day since there were no convenient lots or streets on which to do it ourselves.
We spent Saturday in LA. Up relatively early, we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed out to explore some. I have concluded that LA is a difficult city. It doesn’t have close to the vibe of New York, or even San Francisco. Instead it struck me as being surreal. Now I have always been told that you shouldn’t visit LA (at least not for the first time) without either someone who knows the area extremely well, or someone who lives there currently. I can certainly see where my experience would have probably been helped if I had heeded that advice. As it was, I disliked it so much that I can’t help but feel like I did something wrong… My first thoughts after leaving were that I didn’t much care if I ever returned. Now I think that might be a little hasty and perhaps I should give the city another chance.
The majority of the day was spent in the
Sunset in Pismo Beach
On the grounds of The Cliffs Resort car. We drove over to Hollywood and wandered down the Boulevard. Saw the Walk of Fame and Grauman’s Chinese Theater where I hunted down Cary Grant’s foot & handprints (one of my highlights for the day). We had lunch at a California Pizza Kitchen, and then sought out Beverly Hills and the absolutely unbelievable homes there. We drove in down Santa Monica Boulevard and over to Sunset Boulevard (they really are fond of Boulevards there). Then we took Coldwater Canyon Drive up into the hills and onto Mulholland Drive which finally dumped us back onto 101. I can’t even begin to speculate as to how much some of those homes cost (maybe in the neighborhood of a bagillion dollars), but they were sure pretty to look at. Saturday night was a bit low-key…after all, we were gearing up for our drive!
We hit the PCH around 9am on Sunday morning and headed out of town. Our destination for the day was Pismo Beach where we were going to stay at one of the only hotels that wasn’t completely booked when I went to make reservations a few weeks ago. The traffic was really not bad, considering the holiday weekend.
We hit some traffic just outside of Oceano, so we stopped to have some lunch at Old Juans Cantina. The food was good and Mexican (obviously, or it would probably be called “John’s Café”). By the time we were done, the traffic had cleared up and we were able to ask some directions and keep on our track.
The Cliffs Resort sits off of Highway 101 and perches on the side of a cliff about 150 feet above the ocean. It really was a breathtaking location…but then pretty much everything we had been seeing on the drive so far was breathtaking. We settled into the room which had its own sliding glass patio door leading out to a dirt road which lead to some stairs and ultimately down to the beach. We spent some time walking on the beach and in the water (which was much colder than I expected), and when the air started to turn cold, we headed back indoors.
The temperature continued to drop so that when we went over to the bar around sunset for a drink and some coconut-crusted shrimp, I was wishing for a sweatshirt. The sunset was beautiful (see pictures), but given how
cold it was, we closed out the day inside with a showing of “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”.
Monday was our big day, both for driving and activity. We started early by leaving the hotel by 7:30 to make it to Hearst Castle by 9 where we had a tour reserved. We stopped for coffee in a little town along the way (the name escapes me at the moment), but it was a great little coffeehouse serving Seattle’s Best along with one of the freshest bagels I think I’ve ever had.
Hearst Castle was just beyond cool. The Castle tours are actually broken up into pieces so that one would need to spend an entire day there in order to see the whole thing, and at $24 a pop, one could easily spend over $100 in tours alone! I had opted to reserve Tour 2 which covers the upper floors of Casa Grande which is the main house and includes what they refer to as the Doge’s Suite, the Cloisters, the Kitchen & Pantry, the Library (where, had I been a guest, I’d have probably spent a good chunk of my time in there), and the
The Neptune Pool
This was the outdoor pool at Hearst Castle. Neptune Pool (outdoors) and the Roman Pool (indoors). Unlike Howard Hughes, Hearst was far from crazy although he did seem to have his own little eccentricities which I think only made him interesting and human. One of the things I really admired about him and the Castle was how his intention for building it was no so much to create something where he could withdraw and be reclusive in, but rather he wanted to create something for all to enjoy. He had hundreds of documented guests that would be invited to the Castle for a weekend or longer. Cary Grant apparently was a regular guest who was invited upwards of 40 times. Apparently if Hearst liked you and you understood and went by the rules of the house (e.g. you didn’t drink too much and knew when to leave), then he would have you back. He also didn’t like guests to spend their visit sleeping - he encouraged activity and certainly had the resources to support it - tennis courts, swimming pools, a private zoo, horseback riding…you name it.
We had been completely encased in fog when we arrived at the main visitors center for the Castle. After we
Outside of Big Sur
This actually may have been part of Big Sur, but I'm not sure... got up to the grounds themselves which sit about 1,300 feet above sea level, the air was clear and warm. By the time we got back down after our tour and watched the National Geographic movie about the Castle, the fog had mostly cleared and we were able to see the ocean again.
The remainder of our drive north was relatively uneventful. We stopped multiple times for pictures and just to take in the view. Once we got closer to Los Gatos (where my aunt & uncle live), the traffic heading south was unreal and I couldn’t help but think how thankful I was we weren’t driving in the other direction.
We arrived at my uncle’s place a little after 4 and went for dinner together around 6:30. Afterwards, we walked around Los Gatos a bit and I ended up over at Nancy’s place (yes, the same Nancy from Peru) for the night. My flight was out at 7am on Tuesday which meant I needed to be up and on the road by 4:30. Of course the silver lining on
that cloud was that I had at least been confirmed as a First Class upgrade for that flight
and I knew how much more pleasant an experience that would make the trip.
After all was said and done, I found myself back home a little before 6pm Tuesday night, I was home in time to catch some fireworks from my backyard and get to bed at a decent hour... I also spent part of the evening battling the colony of ants that decided to set up camp in my kitchen while I was away, but that's a whole other story...
Despite my relatively poor experience in LA, I’d definitely say the trip was an overall success. The weather was perfect, the coast was brilliant, the traffic was light, and I got to spend a weekend with my dad. Who could ask for a better weekend?
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Peter
non-member comment
Give LA another chance
What they say about LA is true. You have to go or meet up with someone who knows the place. The great thing is that in one area, you can do everything from hitting the night life, going to the beaches, exploring all the different ethnicities all in one place. But it is not a partcularly tourist friendly place. The city lives it's own life and doesn't really cater to tourists so you gotta really live here to enjoy it. By the way, I would never stay in a downtown hotel here for all the reasons you mentioned, but there is a great downtown architeture tour. I've visited most of the US and lived in NYC and Texas. I've also traveled a bit overseas, but when all is said and done, I would not make any other city my permanent home.