Day 3 - Carmel, Pepple Beach, Hearst Castle

Last night I dreamed of…what else, but gardens, actually that is not true, I dreamed of only one – Filoli.  I retraced the steps we had taken that day and enjoyed the gardens all over again.  So many stunning views, so many flowers, perfectly in bloom.

 Directions: From Monterey, South on highway 1 not far, to highway 68, and took drove the 17 Mile Drive through Pebble Beach golf course; back to highway one to Carmel (10 minute drive), through Salinas to highway 101 driving about 2.5 hours to highway 46 through Cambria to highway 1, North on the 1 to San Simeon-Hearst Castle.
This morning we were up and ready to leave about 8 and shared a pancake breakfast at Denny’s. You know how sometimes you eat something and it becomes exactly what you wanted even though you didn’t know it at the time. That is what this breakfast did for us, I ate most of it, but once Jeff tasted the pancakes he had to keep eating it, it was that good.
Today I had a planned a full day of sightseeing, with a time line at the end of it. Our tickets for Hearst Castle were at 3:10 and we could not be late as it was one of the last tours of the day.

  From our hotel in Monterey we drove along Hwy 1 through low misty fog which was quite pretty catching glimpses of the coast with large sprays of water being tossed heaven wood by the force of the ocean against the rocks.   

We had not been driving long when we came across highway 68 with the sign: 17 Mile Drive.  It was drive through several world renowned golf courses and I though Jeff would enjoy it.  When I had first started to plan this trip I had looked up the most famous course –Pebble Beach and was going to book Jeff a t-time but he told me he didn’t want to play as it was so expensive.   After we paid the $9:50 entrance fee and muttering a few times that this better be worth it we set off.  A map had been provided with a brief history of the area and points of interest along the way.  It took me a few minutes to adjust to the very non straight roads and oh they were narrow in spots.  It was a beautiful morning and as we were driving slowly I opened my window so that we could smell the county air mingling with the salted air from the ocean and to hear the sounds of birds singing.   Both Jeff and I were so surprised at what we saw; we knew it was an exclusive area for homes and we did see quite a few mansions, but the whole area was heavily wooded with homes tucked away from the road.  It gave the elusion that there were not many houses around you.  We dutifully followed the red line on the road, Jeff read the points of interests and I stopped several times to take pictures.  At the higher elevations we could only see the tops of clouds and not out to the bay like I thought we might.  Still it was beautiful.  After about 20 minutes we started to see signs of golf courses, clearings in the trees for the fairways, the patches of sand for the traps and eventually people.  I still can’t figure out how they put so many golf courses in one place and not have it feel overcrowded and city like.   Suddenly we were out of the woods and driving along the coast with water on our right, golf courses on our left, mist swirling around our car and those playing a round of golf.  We could see patches of blue sky which was a promise of a glorious day within an hour or so.  I am not a golfer, but I must admit there is something very peaceful about golf courses and maybe this is what draws some to the game.  It was really fun to drive around and see them in such a spectacular setting.  On the end of our drive I took a detour – against Jeff’s ‘lets not’, I had wanted a picture of Jeff in front of the Pebble Beach golf course sign but did not see one that he would have happily jumped out of the car, stood in front of and let me take a picture, so I took the detour.  It put us on a little road, on the Pebble Beach course.  I Begged him to get out, stand in the T-box so I could take a picture.  At one point he said ‘ I am not standing there, they are the women’s t’s.’  It made me laugh so hard, like it really mattered where he stood.  Poor man, I think on this trip more than any other he has been subjected to many stops along the way for me to take a look, or take a picture, when he would have just kept driving.  Our 17 mile drive was done so we rejoined highway 1 which in about 10 minutes took us to Carmel (by the sea) 

CARMEL BY THE SEA
is the town that became famous when the actor Clint Eastwood became mayor. I had heard for years how pretty this little exclusive town was.  And it was charming. 

 We had no idea where to drive so we drove up and down the hilly streets with our windows open for about 20 minutes, until Jeff found the town center.  We were making our way there, driving along the coast on this unbelievably narrow road and we were just asking ourselves if it was a one way road when…we came to this crazy left hand turn. I was driving and ahead of me was a very large left facing arrow, underneath it a little thin chain strung between 3 little rusty metal posts.  On the other side of the sign was nothing but ocean.  I admit I was terrified, I didn’t think I could make the turn when we see a big black bumper of a car inching around the corner towards us.  I couldn’t move my car so stayed where I was until the other car made it around the corner and passed us, it was now my turn.  I drove slowly around the corner with sweaty palms and almost stopped to let Jeff finish the turn. Once I had completed the sharp left I hurried off that road and onto the town center.  We parked the car and spent almost an hour just walking up and down the streets. 

 It was such a charming town, the architecture of the homes and businesses unique and sometimes quirky, but put together it was stunning. 
  Throughout the town were these little nooks and crannies filled with mini gardens that begged me to walk through them, so I did.

 Jeff was intrigued at how spotless the place was, even saying he thought they had a city ordinance that required daily sweeping of the dirt, he was so taken with this idea that he even showed me  the doorways  free of dirt. Most buildings were enhanced by little window boxes overflowing with colorful flowers.  It was time to leave and I did so feeling like once again on this trip we had seen something quite special. 

Problem: We had to take a detour as 30 miles down highway 1 at Big Sur it was closed due to massive rock slides. We backtracked a little north to highway 68 to Salinas then back to highway 101 driving south for about 2 hours to highway 46 turning right towards and through Cambria, back to highway 1, turning north for about 10 miles to San Simeon, the small town at the entrance of Hearst Castle.  This drive was relaxing and spectacular, through rich green covered hills. I had forgotten how beautiful California is.

HEARST CASTLE
We arrived at Hearst Castle ahead of schedule and as we pulled into huge parking lot realized that this is a very popular destination for vacationers.  Everything was big, organized and immaculate.  There is an admission office, ticket sales, museum, gift shops, theater, snack bars and restaurants.  As we were early enough we watched 30 minutes of the 40 minute historical film on William Hearst.  Jeff had told me some of the history of him and the makings of Hearst Castle. But to see it come to life on film, the selection of the home site, the thought behind the design and the making of the Castle was something not to be missed.  Wealthly is an understatement, he collected antiquities from around the world and housed them in his personal home.  We boarded our bus at 3:10 and started the  5 mile ride to the Castle, the road was steep and narrow.  When he was alive Hearst had a zoo of animals from around the world, zebra’s, giraffes, antelope-over 100 varieties of animals that roamed the property, now only a few remain. 

One of the first stories that had me shaking my head was to hear and then see the remains of the 1 mile covered pergola.  It was used to take walks during the day sheltered from the sun, or you could even ride your horse under it if you wished.   The bus pulled up to the Castle and we stepped out to the base of a magnificent cement, marble lined staircase.  There were quite a few rules; number one – if it looks like marble, it is and do not touch it.

Our tour was basically an overview of the house and gardens.  First stop was the large terrace in front of one of the guest houses, and the thought crossed my mind, who else has stood on this terrace, Clark Gable?terrace, Clarke Gable?  

 We walked to the left and to the most famous swimming pool in the world.  Unless you have stood on the edge of this awe inspiring pool I don’t think you can get a sense of how beautiful it is.  The current pool is actually the third  one  built on the location, the first not big enough, the second not grand enough, the 3^rd had it all.  The pillars surrounding it giving it a Grecian feel are all solid marble. The black tiles on the bottom of the pool get every so much wider as they pool depth deepens, all so that when you look down the lines from ground level, the lines are even.  

Our first look inside was one of the guest houses, it was decorated in a Spanish style, everything was original and old. The house had 8 bedrooms each with their own bathroom the view from every window, breathtaking.   There we no kitchens or living areas in the guest houses, Hearst wanted his guests to spend all awake time in the main house/pool/gardens socializing. (a little creapy I think)    

This is the tile in the entrance way of the guest house - this is the same style, almost the same color that Nic installed in their bathroom in the house I grew up.  As soon as I saw it I thought of the family and home.

 This is the carved ceiling in one of the bedrooms.

 and through some of the gardens, azaleas in full riotous bloom, hydrangers leafing  out and more hedges –everything looks better with a hedge.

 While walking to one of the guest houses we walked past many statues, more stairs  with tile work that I
had to take a picture of for Cathy.

 the main house

The main house was like walking back in time, where everything was over designed, over decorated and it was all original Art work.  Tapestries that were huge and amazing, the ceilings were carved with amazing designs.

One of the details that really caught my attention was in the dining room. See the fold up chairs that line the walls, each seat in it’s own carved little throne.   Everywhere you looked were little details that made this house extraordinary. 

 this is the dining room that is bigger than my whole house.

There was not one square window or door, everything had a delicate twist to it.  It really did take you back in time and I sometimes had a feeling that it was like some castle of old. 

 The private theater.

 Out of the house,  down a slight hill to the indoor pool. First impressions: Roman Bath house. The tile was a beautiful blue, the gold color you see, is actually 22 karat gold.   After a few minutes I think I liked it, but besides the first ‘oh my gosh’, I then thought, is this a bit too much?   Really it was stunning .

 We were ushered out of the side door of the pool and our bus was waiting to take us back to our reality. Now as I think about all that I saw, I think I really need to go again, to listen more to the tour guide and not just be swept away by what my eyes were seeing.  The whole experience is a bit unreal, and well worth it.

Jeff was getting tired but we drove another  5 miles or so north on the 1 to a beach where the Elephant seals and their pups were.  Debbie had told me about this beach and I was hopeful that we would see a few seals.  We parked, put on jackets as the wind off the ocean was biting and made our way to the fence at the edge of the cliff.  I looked down and was excited that before us lounging on the sand we a few seals.  I quickly took a few pictures before I realized that up and down the beach in front of me it was covered with seals.  Several sleeping nose to nose, others just out of the water like they had made it to the sand, were pooped and said, ‘this is good enough for me’.  Others were laying all on top of each other.  We read all the posters, walked up and down the beach and then headed off to find something to eat and our hotel.

 We ate dinner at a great little Mexican place just across the road from our hotel, I had the best Chili Reno ever. Our hotel was a pleasant surprise. I had booked our hotels on line and was not really happy with my choice in San Simeon. At the last minute I made changes as it was bothering me so much. It turned out that our hotel on this night was the best of the 3 we had stayed in.


I think we were in bed by 8, and talking together, we relived the busy day before one of us fell asleep really quickly.
**Hearst Castle was on my Bucket List