The drive was gorgeous, but somewhat foggy the whole way. When we neared San Simeon, we came upon a beach full of seals!
They were cute, but smelled just as bad as the Sea Lions in San Fran! We stayed in Cambria, which is a quiet little town south of San Simeon. The coast line there was great! Really accessible, so we hiked around, looking for Sea Otters and Star Fish. It was great!
We stayed in this area because we had always wanted to see Hearst Castle! It was built in the 20's by William Randolph Hearst and is an odd cross between an Old World Castle and an ostentatious California Seaside Ranch Retreat. The family owns the land as far as you can see around it...you buy tickets and take a shuttle bus up to the castle.
This guest house is one of the first things you see...
...followed by an unbelievable pool. The stripes are dark green marble and the entire thing is gorgeous. Though a little Vegas-y.
Our tour included just a few rooms in the main castle. The exterior is unbelievable...as are the antiquities that decorate the outside. Such as the fountain of authentic Egyptian sculptures seen below. Turns out that when they were building the castle, some foreign countries were trying to make some money and sold off parts of their national archaeological and architectural treasures. Now part of the castle for the tourists to appreciate! 
This is the main sitting room in the castle. The wall tapestries are something you'd expect at Versailles. Hearst collected "ceilings" so they were all stunning. As was the choir seating from an ancient Spanish cathedral that lined all of the rooms. I love good wood work, so this was like a dream.
The land as far as you can see is still owned by the Hearst family and corporation.
From there we headed to LA for the final leg of the trip. We hit Disney with our friends Jason and Marc...
...and nephew Nicholas. 
We got in some beach time, but it was kind of chilly. This was about as close as anyone got to going in the water.
but everyone had a good time on the beach, spending time with family!
Here is the whole beach party crew getting ready to send cousin Jeff off for the start of his wedding weekend!
The wedding was held at a beautiful location over looking the LA area and the evening was beautiful!
The ceremony was lovely and the following festivities were great fun!
(Nope, they didn't get dropped! :)
2 comments:
Your California journaling has me dreaming of a vacation there every time I check your blog. Love the pics!
Wow that Castle was amazing. . .I would love to take another California vacation soon. Looks like you guys had a great time and got to take in quite a few sites. Love ya.
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