Hearst Castle

In 1919, Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst  hired San Francisco architect Julia Morgan to build a hilltop house on what he called his "ranch at San Simeon".  The project lasted from 1919 to 1947.

High above the Pacific Ocean, Mr. Hearst created his private retreat.  The Mediterranean-style country house features guest houses, gardens, pools and terraces.  Once accessible to only celebrities and famous guests.  Today, Hearst Castle is a California State Park, which, for more than 50 years, has shared the Castle's story with millions of visitors.


We were staying at an RV park in Paso Robles, CA, which is approximately 30 miles inland from the coast.   From there we drove the car out to the coast to the Hearst Castle visitor center.  We checked in for our 11:00 am tour and shortly after, we  boarded a large bus that takes you up a steep curvy road for 5 miles to reach the top of the hill.   When you exit the bus, you are met by your tour guide who proceeds to take you up MANY steps to the main Castle entrance .  When the 25 or so people on this particular tour all reached the top behind her, she said "okay, lets all stand here for a minute and pretend we are not out of breath!"  :)  We took the "Grand Rooms Tour" which is recommended for first time visitors.    It provides a broad overview of the many faces of Hearst Castle.  The guided tour lasts 45 minutes and includes the Assembly Room, Refectory, Morning Room, Billiard Room and Theater.  The rest of the tour is self guided.  You are free to walk around the grounds for as long as you like.  Buses run every 5 - 10 minutes, so if you are not ready to go back to reality you can just sit on the terrace or by the pond and enjoy.  They have wicker furniture and umbrellas set up on the terraces and marble benches throughout the gardens for you to sit.  You are told to use only the metal hand rails and not touch any of the concrete rails, ledges or benches.




This is a view of the Castle from down below at the Visitor Center.  It really doesn't look this close in reality.  This picture has been zoomed up in order to see the castle and guest houses.

The buses run almost non-stop back and for from the Castle to the Visitor Center.

 

This picture was taken on the castle terrace looking down toward the visitor center which is located down by the ocean.  When you look at the ocean, you can get the feel for how high up we are.  Look at the road on the right side of the picture below and you can see one of the buses coming up the road.

 

This is where the bus dropped us off. 

 

Our tour guide met us and we started up these steps.  Turns out there are a lot more steps to go!

 

We passed this Pomegranate tree on the way.  We have seen a lot of those here in California.

 

This is a picture of the Castle from the side terrace.

The grand entrance is made from concrete.

Closer view of the detail at the entrance.

 

The detail on the entrance was all hand made by artists.

 



The "Grand Rooms" were dark and we were not allowed to use flash photography, so a lot of the pictures did not turn out very well.  Below are some pictures we took that will give you an idea of the décor.

Our tour guide told stories and gave details about the ceilings, floors, tables, mantles, etc.   Nothing was just purchased and put in place.....it was either hand crafted, or shipped from a far away land.

I'm not certain of the country, but these tables were from an ancient convent in another country.

Beautiful tapestries hung on all of the walls.

Ceilings were all hand crafted as well.

The billiard room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This building is one of the three guest houses on the property.

 

 

 

 

Another guest house.

 

 

 

 

Beautiful tiles, pottery, and statues are throughout the grounds.

 

Another layer of gardens.

 

 

 Side Terrace

 

 

 

 

View from the balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

 Below are some of the statues that are placed throughout the gardens and terraces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This pond is located in the center of one of the main terraces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from up here is spectacular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rose garden was in full bloom and it smelled wonderful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got a rare view of the marble floor of the Neptune Pool.  It was undergoing renovations.

 

 

 Left side of pool......

 

 

 

 

 

 Right side of pool.

 

 

 

 

 

Below is a picture of the outdoor tennis courts. 

 

 

 

 

Picture below is the Roman Pool which is located underneath the tennis courts.  It is HUGE!!!  and magnificent! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We noticed certain areas were blocked off and there were workers setting up these oversized lamps, as well as sofas and chairs.  Everything was in white.  One of the Park employees explained to us that California's former first lady, Maria Shriver, was having a fundraiser that weekend and they would be having a private party afterwards on the Hearst Castle grounds.  Bruce Hornsby would be performing at the event.  The fundraiser bicycle ride was for a charity called Best Buddies that Maria and her brother Anthony Kennedy started.  The bicycle ride began in Carmel, CA on Highway 1 along the coast and ended 100 miles later at the Hearst Castle.

 

 

This is what first caught our eye.   It was so modern and out of place.

 

We could see the workers busy getting canopies and lights ready.

 

 

 

 

 

 These are some of the many bikers we passed as we were leaving.    Some of the bikers finished the ride in a little over 4 hours.   

 

 

I know this was a very encouraging sign for most!

 

 

 

 

 The zebras below belong to the Hearst Ranch.  They are descendants of the original zebras that were on the ranch when Mr. Hearst had a number of exotic animals.  The white deer we saw at the Ridgewood Ranch RV park in Willits, CA  (where the famous race horse named Seabiscuit  lived) came from the Hearst Ranch.

 

This is still a working ranch, so there other animals as well.  We saw cattle grazing along with the Zebras.

Before we headed back to the RV park, we rode a few miles down the highway to see the Elephant Seals that several people had told us about.  There was one particular viewing area on the beach along Highway 1, a few miles from the Hearst Castle entrance, that had the vast majority of seals.  I guess these creatures are such a big attraction that there was a large parking area for viewing.  When we stopped the lot was almost full. 
The Elephant Seals are much larger than the Harbor Seals or Sea Lions.  Several of them were taking their flippers and throwing dirt up onto their backs.   You can see the seal at the bottom of this picture with dirt on his back.  

 Another great day trip!

Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea

Our next stop was Marina, CA which is located just north of Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea.   This was just an overnight stop, not a planned destination.  However, we decided to go on a driving tour called "17 Mile Drive" that sounded interesting.  you pay to drive through the entire Pebble Beach community.  We drove down to Monterey to start the drive, but decided to first check out their Fisherman's Wharf. 


Monterey - Fisherman's Wharf:

It was very quaint compared to San Francisco.   It was also very pretty!  Lots of shops and restaurants.  We ended up stopping on our way back to the motorhome for dinner in one of the many restaurants.

It was early in the morning and wasn't very busy.  Later that day it was crowded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working boats.....

and docks.

I love looking at these old boats.

 

 

 

 

I don't know how these sea lions get in these places. 

 

This one seems to be a loner.

 

The Fisherman's statue.....every seaside has one. 

 

 

Carmel-by-the-Sea:

Carmel is the city where Clint Eastwood was the mayor for one term, from 1986 to 1988.   We stopped to visit a Spanish mission called "Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Caremo".    Also known as "Mission Carmel".  It is a Roman Catholic church and remains a parish today.  It is on the National Register of Historic Places and a U.S. National Historic Landmark.   It's the only one of the California Missions to have its original bell tower dome.

You enter and exit through the gift shop. 

There were several fountains and statues throughout the grounds.  Very pretty.

Old grave sites......some from the 1800's.

This is the side of the main building.  We stopped and talked to an artist who had set up his easel and was in the process of painting a portion of this side.

 

 

 

 

 

17 Mile Drive:

This drive takes you through the entire Pebble Beach community.  It is a gated community, however, it allows tourists to drive through a planned route.  There are several gates in which you can start the drive.   When you stop at the entrance gate to pay the $10.00 (per car) fee, they give you a map to follow with all of the points of interest marked on the map.  (The residence of the area have a special sticker on their cars which allows them to come and go freely).  The road has a red stripe in the center (along with the white stripe) so you will know which road to follow in order to stay on the "17 Mile Drive" route.  

The road takes you along the coast as well as inland through affluent neighborhoods and by famous golf courses.  You can be right at the waters edge one minute and up on a cliff looking down at the water the next. 

 

These were some of the highest waves we have seen along the coast.

 

I guess this surfer thought so also.

 

 

 This point of interest was called "Bird Rock".  While there are a lot of birds on the rock, there are also a lot of sea lions.  With the sea breeze coming from the ocean and passing over this rock the smell is awful!

 

Alan spotted a large pod of whales feeding just off the coast at one of the "point of interest" stops.  We watched them for a while before moving on to the next stop.  You could see even more whales at the next stop.  There was a guy at this stop that had a quad copter drone with him.  He launched the drone and we watched as it went out to where the whales were feeding.   Hopefully the guy got his drone back. 

 This is a picture of some of the whales while feeding.  Sometimes you could see several surface at a time.

 

We finally got a picture of the tail as he goes back down.

 

This tree known as the "Lone Cypress" sits on a granite hillside off the "17 mile drive" and is a western icon.  It has been called one of the most photographed trees in North America.  Possibly as old as 250 years, the cypress has been scarred by fire and held in place with cables for 65 years.    It literally sits on stone.

A little further down the road we spotted these wind blown trees.  Their shape is due to a process called "Salt Pruning".   This is a process by which saline mists generated by seawater are driven ashore by winds and over time alters the shape of trees and shrubs.  We have seen trees shaped like this all along the coast, but I think these were the most dramatic.  Even though it looks windy......there was little to no wind this day. :)

 

 

 

 

This was one of the eight golf courses in the Pebble Beach community.

 

 

The landscape would change dramatically just a few miles down the road.

Golf courses were tucked here and there. 

 Absolutely stunning views!

At the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course, you can visit the lodge, restaurant and the shops.  We walked around the grounds and went through the lodge to the restaurant.   From the lodge and restaurant you can watch the golfers playing out on the course.  From the shops, you can watch golfers on the putting green.  The grounds and lodge were beautiful. 

These are the gates where you can drop off your golf bags, etc.

The lodge is across from the shops with the practice putting green in the center.

 

 

A few of the shops across from the lodge.

 

 

Rolex is the Official Timepiece of  the Pebble Beach Resort.  You will find them throughout the Resorts' golf courses and lodges.  Is this a high end place or what?

 

Inside the lodge.

These were taken inside the lodge looking out onto the golf course.

 

After we finished driving the "17 mile drive", we decided to drive up Hwy. 1 which runs along the coast and gets very steep and curvy.  It is not recommended for driving motorhomes on.  However, while we were on this part of Hwy. 1, we passed several rigs.  At some point the road narrows even more and can get very steep.  We drove about 10 or 15 miles up the highway before turning back toward town.  I saw all I wanted from the car.....

 

 

You can see the ribbon of road and tell by the bridge how high up we are.

 This turned out to be a GREAT day trip.