Advertisement
Published: September 5th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Eggs over medium please...
The bakery below our rooms was closed on Tuesdays but there was a little cafe a few doors away so we decided it would be a good idea to eat there as we didn’t have a lot of time. Mike had booked us a tour of Hearst Castle home to The Hearst family (remember Patti Hearst).. and we needed to be on the road by ten.
We packed the cars checked out and sat down in the cafe for a cooked breakfast to see us through. We ordered our eggs over easy and bacon and I asked if mine could be cooked a little more as I can’t eat runny eggs... “so you’ll be wanting over medium she said.. so that’s what they call it... No more runny eggs for us!.
Martin likes a telescope, I always think they are for nosey people and I could have put money on the fact that the big heavy antique one on the wall in our room would have come down for him to search for pirates.. but this time it was the seals... “I can hear the buggers but I can’t see ‘em” he said, “they’re
calling me” ( well that’s what I thought he said... which I found hilarious.. “Daddy!”.... Daddy... the thought of it tickled me for ages... lol
Just as we were leaving Morro we walked to the surf shops to try to get some T shirts for the kids, there right next to the gangplank leading to the boats within feet of us were the seals that had been making all the noise.. so close you could almost touch them. They were not at fazed at all by us and were lolling around finding the best place to sunbathe for the day. I could have stayed for hours just watching them they were so lovely. I would rather be a seal than a crab as in the fish bar next door there was a tank full of crabs... you chose your crab ... then dropped it in the adjacent boiling cauldron!! eew ... (too much like my lobster predicament) ... didn’t stay around to watch anyone do that.
Ok so it was bye Morro.. I liked Morro.. and 30 minutes back the way we came to visit Hearst Castle.
Hearst Castle was owned and built by newspaper magnet William
Randolph Hearst and it was designed by architecht Julia Morgan His grandaughter was Patti Heasrt wh was know for being kidnapped at 19 by the Symbionese Liberation Army and suffering from stockholm syndrome assisted in a bank robbery and was jailed for two years,
We spend a bit too much time with the seals and had to get a kick on but did manage to arrive at the tour in time. We caught the tour bus up the long windy road to the castle and joined the tour,, it was odd... The guide chatted away as we all stood in the searing heat..we were taken into a room and it wasn't at all what we had expected, this place is known for it's grandeur and opulence but the rooms were dark and depressing not at all impressive.. the walls and beams were dark wood and it sort of reminded me of tudor style inside with church seats and flags from a horse race that had a medieval feel. It felt like they were trying to recreate a regal feel to the room but I doubt royalty would have bottles of ketchup and jars of mustard on the dining table..
The "guards" sorry tour guides were very precious... "don't touch anything".. "don't flash" ... "I see flashes" the guide said.."stay on the carpet". "move along we are waiting for you" ... "don't stand there your'e blocking the traffic"....there was a crying baby and Jackie doesn't do crying babies... we couldn't hear the guide over the baby's cries and that was the final straw Jackie and I had a 'sod this' moment and left our posts and found a fan as were feeling a little faint... Mike said later if she had gone down they would have probably just rolled her back on the official tour carpet .. We all decided that we could probably replicate a room from Jurby Junk
In absolute stark contrast the grounds were the most beautiful ever. We walked around in awe, we found a little spot by the huge pool and sat on the loungers and chilled until we realised time was getting on and we had a 3 hour drive to Santa Barbara.
We checked in at The Eagle Inn showered and had a little customary siesta (this time it was a thundering train not the seals that disturbed Jackie's nap)
... before we went out for dinner, the place we were recommended was closed for extended Labor Day celebrations ..so we ended up at a restaurant by the pier called Endless Summer... lovely supper probably eaten a bit too late and we walked back along the harbour and saw loads of Pelicans sat on the back of the boats...
(I forgot to mention in my previous blogs that Martin and I were walking along the road late one night and a racoon ran out in front of us!) We have seen so many animals up close and personal.
Up at a leisurely pace for a lovely fresh fruit and granola and Omlettes before hitting the road to LA!!..
Advertisement
Tot: 0.054s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0317s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb