San Simeon

We were up early this morning for our journey to San Simeon.  With the time change, we haven't had any problems starting our day before 8 a.m.  Doug had wanted to travel up the Pacific Coast Highway.  It was challenging at first to find it on our GPS as the phone kept wanting to reroute us to an interstate.  We finally found our path, however, and enjoyed the scenery along the way.  

Our first stop in San Simeon was the Hearst Winery where Doug was able to try a few of their wines.  Housed in the same building was the Sebastian Cafe which served Hearst beef.  The wine and the hamburgers were delicious and we were soon on our way to the  elephant seal rookery.  Although we could not get close to the elephant seals like we could to the sea lions at La Jolla Cove, we really enjoyed it.  The elephant seals were huge.  We walked up and down the path watching them throw sand on themselves, move along the beach, wrestle one another and bark loudly.  

Our last attraction of the day was the Hearst Castle.  It was a vacation home of William Randolph Hearst placed on the mountain overlooking the ocean.  The size of the house was impressive and we loved the pools and tennis court.  The grand rooms were decorated in 18th century European artwork complete with full size tapestries and imported ceilings.  The story of Hearst's personal life was a turnoff, but seeing the home was definitely interesting.  Our docent relayed multiple stories of all of the celebrities that had visited during the 1920s and 1930s including Clark Gable, Bing Crosby, Charlie Chaplin, President Coolidge, and many more.  

After our tour of the castle, we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to Carmel.  We loved the views of the mountains and the Pacific Ocean, but the drive did make several of us nauseated with the hills and curves.  We were glad to have driven it, however, especially since the end of our trip made it all worthwhile.  Tonight we checked into the Mission Ranch at Carmel by the Sea.  It was situated on the oldest  sheep ranch in California.  Clint Eastwood had visited the piano bar on the property when he was in the army and when he found out that it was to be torn down, he bought it and had it turned into a bed and breakfast.  Our room was in the old barn which houses the original piano bar.  We ate dinner at the restaurant on property enjoying not only delicious food, but also piano music from the new bar.  Doug and I stayed longer than Meg and Cam as they were ready to relax in our room.  We were so glad that we found this place as it was definitely one of the highlights of our drive up the Pacific Coast Highway.