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Published: August 26th 2008
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San Simeon
San Simeon State Park. A little cozy, but we were there for the beach and waves! So, I know in the last blog we said that the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Pigeon Point Lighthouse were next. But, we got ahead of ourselves so those of you looking for fish and lighthouses will have to wait until next time. This time is all about San Simeon and the home of William Randolph Hearst, the publishing (and movie) tycoon. From Solvang we were able to take the 101 and Highway 1, right along the ocean, the entire way. Thanks to my mom and her thinking ahead, she was able to get us a campsite for 2 nights right near the ocean at San Simeon State Park, 5 miles south of Hearst Castle. While the campsites were a little tight, you can't beat listening to the waves crash at night. The temperature was perfect for sleeping outside with the ocean breeze. I have also decided that the ocean smells different out west than in Florida (it reminds me of when I was little and we lived in California). We spent the first of 3 days in the nearby town of Cambria. We were able to mooch free internet in the Cambria Library parking lot (that is how you all received
San Simeon
Believe it or not, the people behind us only stayed for a few nights. It looks like they live there! Also, while there are 8 chairs and 3 tents, only 4 campers were present. the Grand Canyon blog). We needed to restock the supplies (no propane, firewood, or ice) so we went grocery shopping at the Cookie Crock Market, where they HAVE to carry your groceries to your car, as part of the customer service (we thought that was kinda funny). By the time we had set up the tent and got situated, it was sunset so we just relaxed at the campsite.
Thursday, 8/21, we had reservations to take Tour 1 at Hearst Castle. Hearst's estate is 90,000 square feet (on 127 acres of the 250,000 acre Hearst property), so they have 5 different tours, in order to cover the entire property. They recommended for first timers to take Tour 1 (I had been to the castle when I was little and only remembered the indoor pool), so we decided that this would be perfect. It also included an IMAX film about the building of the property. Unfortunately, Tour 2 is the one with both the libraries (oh well, next time!) Like Zion, visitors are not allowed to drive to the actual site. Everyone must park at the Visitor's Center and ride on shuttles up to the top of the hill (1,600
San Simeon
Sea debris photographed artistically. feet), overlooking the Pacific Ocean, where his homes are built. The "introductory tour" includes one of the 4,000 square foot guest houses, both the outdoor and indoor pools, tennis courts/gardens and parts of the main house (dining hall, one of the living rooms-which was bigger than the entire guest house, the reception room, and movie theater.) Our tour guide explained to us that Hearst's fortune in today's market would make him worth twice Bill Gates' fortune. Not too shabby. Cody really enjoyed the fact that, in addition, to having the best privately owned zoo of the day, Hearst had over 9,000 head of cattle and other various farm animals, which is still around today as Hearst Ranch. Cody suggested that Kiowa look for a job with this outfit (can't beat the beachfront cow grazing!) We watched the IMAX (back at the Visitor's Center) after the tour. It was a great overview of the vision and construction of this massive estate. Another interesting thing about the property is that Hearst hired a woman architect/builder, Julia Morgan, to undertake this huge project (which took 28 years.) When you see the pictures below you can see why it was such an accomplishment just
San Simeon
Nickey walking back towards Cody on the beach. getting supplies to the top of the undeveloped lot, let alone building the various structures, including 56 bedrooms and 41 fireplaces. They said that Hearst was into the process more than the final product, so he was notorious for changing the construction plans multiple times if he was not 100% happy with the results. They actually built the main house originally with only 1 bell tower. After completion, Hearst, not liking it, had them destroy it and rebuild it with 2 towers (keep in mind everything was made with concrete to be earthquake ready, so destruction of anything was not an easy task). He also had the outdoor pool built 4 or 5 times. I guess when you have 400 million dollars you can do that 😊. While living like Hearst for the day made us want to go out and eat caviar and champagne, we went back to the campsite for leftovers and root beer! We also walked to the beach for the sunset, which was windy but perfect! The waves are huge here. Cody got his fill of artsy pictures on the beach and we saw a beached jellyfish!
Day 3 (Friday, 8/22) we left San Simeon
San Simeon
Jellyfish Down! It was quite large. (reluctantly, as it is such a beautiful area) with Monterey as the destination. NOW, next time will be the aquarium and lighthouse :P.
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