Jesse and I had a random Tuesday off together so we decided to take a short road trip to Hearst Castle here in CA. It was about 2 hours away and included a nice drive along the Pacific Coast Highway, plus the weather was beautiful so we decided to go online and book a tour. They have a few different options but Jesse wanted to see the big main rooms of the home so we booked the Grand Rooms Tour. This home was owned by William Randolph Hearst and he started building in 1919. It was never fully completed but it is a very impressive and beautiful complex on over 250,000 acres 1600 feet above sea level. The views are breathtaking and it was a great experience.
You start out by driving to the visitor center where you park and get your tickets. They have a great gift shop and some places to eat while you wait for your tour to start. The road leading up to the castle used to be an old bridle trail used by W.R. Hearst and family when they would go to the property to camp. It is not a drive for the faint of heart since there are many hairpin turns but the views of the castle and the ocean are wonderful.
The bus drops you off outside the main stairs and the tour guide gives you the rules before you start walking around the property. The tour was pretty good and the house was amazing. They made a point to mention all the famous people that had visited and partied at the castle, from Hollywood stars to politicians and other influential people of the day. Artwork was everywhere and some of it many hundreds of years old. The house had a very manly feel to it with lots of dark wood and big heavy furniture. It was pretty incredible. After the guided tour was over you were allowed to explore the grounds and take in the views. You can easily see why he chose to build there, it is stunning.
There is a bus that takes you back to the visitor center but first you have to walk past the indoor pool with real gold inlay in the tiles all around it. This place must have been something in its heyday. W.R. Hearst also had one of the largest private zoos at the time and there are still zebras wandering the grounds, hanging out with the cattle. Not something you expect to see while driving down highway in CA, one side the Pacific Ocean and the other side zebras.
It was a wonderful day topped off by a beautiful sunset. I asked the young man at the gift shop where would be a good place to go eat and he suggested the Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill. They were the kind of place that closes in between lunch and dinner so we had about 20 minutes to kill while we waited for it to open up at 5pm. We walked along the little boardwalk and gazed at the beautiful homes overlooking the ocean. And finally, after two months here in CA we saw the perfect sunset. It was a great way to end the day. At the restaurant we split a bottle of local wine and had a great dinner. We really could not ask for a more perfect day.
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