100621 Hearst Castle & Morro Bay

I had made reservations to see the Hearst Castle near San Simeon this morning, so drove to a nearby campground the previous evening. The compound is called the Hearst Castle by the locals, and sits high atop a hill, with a view of the beautiful coastline far below [yeah, I know you can barely see the castle - way up there - in the photo above]. But newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst called it, his "ranch". The tours were orderly and well-choreographed by the park staff; they have to be, as thousands of people tour the castle each day. The tour guide was able to answer everyone's questions about everything. Hearst built this place partly to showcase his various art pieces, so the place is incredibly beautifully decorated, with tapestries, old European wooden ceilings, gardens, sculptures, and works of art - even an Egyptian statue of the Goddess of Destruction that was "old even in Moses' time", according to the tour guide. We toured part of the grounds, some of the terraces, the famous outdoor Neptune pool (the most-photographed pool in the world - photo above), one of the five guest houses, the main floor of Casa Grande (the main house - photo below), the theatre (where we saw some "home movies" from the 30s), and the indoor pool. Hearst's "ranch" was a favorite of the Hollywood famous of the 1930s, such as Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, and Clark Gable. My favorite parts of the tour were the view of the coastline from the castle and the pools. The indoor pool was especially beautiful, I thought - complete with 24 karat gold inlaid everywhere - including on the floor where we were walking!!

I explored the Morro Bay area and decided to stay here awhile. I drove out to a couple state parks. One, especially, I found fascinating (more about that later), but everything was, disappointingly, under clouds. (I learned, staying here a couple days, that the sun rarely comes out here, as Morro Bay stays under a cloud of fog that hangs over the coastline. You have to be fast to catch the sun, as you never know when it might appear, nor for how long, or short, a time it will stay.)

I ate at a restaurant on the bay, and enjoyed the evening's entertainment: an otter floating on its back, cracking its food (oysters? crabs?) with rocks; a harbor seal circling the fishing boats as they returned, hoping for a handout; a pelican; a Great Blue heron; lots of gulls and cormorants. For awhile a gull was following the otter, and I was afraid he was going to try to fight the otter for his dinner, or snatch it away. But, according to a local, it was just trying to catch any pieces that the otter dropped.

After dinner I drove to Morro Rock. It seems the "thing to do" here in the evening is to go out to the Rock and watch the surfers. Then I happened to see a hawk eating its prey and watched it for awhile.

Three surprises about the California coastline: it's cloudy, windy, and cold. I usually think of California as sunny and warm. I've been wearing my heavy sweaters, and, most days, my long johns. When the sun comes out, it's comfortable. (Unless it's really windy.) But the sun comes out pretty rarely, right on the coastline. Often you can see further inland that the sun is shining, and you can see out to sea that the sun is shining - but not on the coast.