Postby KeithS » Fri Jun 08, 2012 2:39 pm
Day 5 – Thursday, 7 June 2012
Got up this morning and headed down to breakfast. We were staying at the Normandy Inn in Carmel and it was a beautiful little hotel. It has nice gardens and little pathways lined with flowers and had a very old-world/European feel. Della said it felt like living in the little town from Allo Allo! After breakfast, we took a bunch of photos around the hotel before hitting the road and driving further south.
The coast road from Carmel heading south is fantastic. You go along rugged cliffs and bays, long bridges, beaches, and forests – it really has it all. At Big Sur, we pulled over at a restaurant called Nepanthe. It used to be owned by Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth and was a favourite place for Hollywood stars in the past. It has amazing views over the coast cliffs.
We hit the road again and continued on the twisty road towards Hearst Castle. We had a tour booked for 1pm and 3pm. It was a beautiful sunny day but quite cool – about 20 Celsius. We arrived at the visitors centre around 12:30, grabbed our jackets and headed inside where our bus awaited to take us up the 500 metre climb to the castle. When we got out at the top of the mountain, we found it was very warm – about 30 Celsius, so we didn’t need our jackets!
Hearst Castle was built by William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper mogul, over a 28 year period, spending the family fortune his father had made in the mining industry. It became the place to be seen amongst the Hollywood elite from the 1930’s – 1950’s. Charlie Chaplin, David Niven, Cary Grant and many others stayed there and partied there. The castle was pure decadence – a monument to someone with too much money. Hundreds of rooms, swimming pools, tennis courts, artwork from the Mediterranean and Middle East.
We had a wonderful tour guide who was super knowledgeable and funny. We did a tour of the ground floor first, which was the reception, dining rooms, smoking rooms etc. The second tour (same tour guide!) was of the upper floors, including the guest bedrooms and guest library (4,000 books), and Hearst’s own private floor of bedrooms and main library (10,000 books). We also spent a long time walking around the gardens which were magnificent. Visiting Hearst Castle was really enjoyable!
We headed back down the mountain around 5pm, grabbed a bite to eat and headed back onto the road. We drove on south to Pismo Beach and checked into the Sandcastle Inn. Coincidentally, we have ended up in exactly the same room that Dad and I stayed in last year. We went to the local fish and chip shop and are now getting ready for bed.
Tomorrow, we are going to Santa Barbara and the following day, Anaheim!
Keith
Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015