Monday, June 27

Day 4: Big Sur, Hearst Castle & Carmel

We ate breakfast at the Victorian Corner Restaurant again today and then took.Highway 1 south toward Big Sur. Big Sur is not really a town but rather a ninty-mile stretch of scenic highway that follows the Pacific Ocean from Carmel to San Simeon, with several small communities, parks and bridges scattered in between. We drove by Carmel River State Beach but decided not to stop today as this is where diving is also popular, this is also known as 'Monastery Beach' because it's across the road from the Carmelita Monastery. We were looking for our favorite beach along Big Sur where we always go. The first time we found this beach, we picked our way through the hillside to get down to the beach. As we walked along the beach we realized that there were wooden stairs that we could of taken that lead back up to a path to the road. We pulled over to the side of the road on the right and walk down to the newly built stairs leading down to the water. At low tide it is sometimes possible to walk thru some rocks to the other side of a beach that has some nice scenery. Luckily it was low tide and we had brought some food so we could stay for a couple hours this morning. It was still foggy in the morning as it usually is this time of year. But the fog did start clearing around 10:00 and it turned out to be a nice day at the beach. We stayed down there for a couple hours just walking along the beach. The pictures above were taken from the other side of the rock that has a cave-like opening. This is our favorite place along Big Sur to come to because there is usually no one here.

We left around 12:00 and drove south on highway 1 thru Big Sur village. Here there are cafes , cabins, gas, and a couple small stores. It is a nice laid-back atmosphere where you find many hikers, artists and people who don't want to get caught up in the fast pace of city life. We stopped at a couple shops, bought some books on the area and continued south. We reached the Bixby Bridge and would turn left on a gravel road that would take us up the mountain to look over the Pacific Ocean. From here we were able to take some good pictures of the Bixby Bridge and Pacific Ocean. This also gives an example of the isolation that existed here before the highway was built as there are just miles and miles of roaming hills. The bridge was built in 1932 and the highway was completed in 1937. It ended a period of isolation for locals, but gave everybody access to one of the most beautiful places in North America. We came back on to Highway 1 and continued south as about every mile there is another pull-out to take another scenic picture. There are so many different views and you keep wondering if it ever stops.

We continued south until we reached the Hearst Castle. We had never been here before so we decided to go on one of the tours. We parked the car and went to purchase tickets for a bus that would take us to the castle. There are a total of four different tours, each takes two hours. We took tour number one. It is a good idea to make reservations in advance as we were lucky to get a spot this day. They load everyone on a bus for a five mile ride up a step hill to the actual castle. Our tour included two huge swimming pools, gardens, a guest cottage and part of the main house which had a billard room, a large assembly room, theater and a large dining room. It's amazing what he built on that hill for himself. His 'castle' took 28 years to finish and contained 165 rooms. We were very impressed. It was worth the drive down to see it once and we'll probably come back again but would make reservations in advance next time.

We left Hearst Castle and drove as far as Pismo Beach before starting back north on Highway 1. You get a total different view of the coast going north, as it's harder to see the view with the ocean now on your left side. There are still some nice views that you would miss going south if you're not pulling out to see the views. You also realize how close these roaming hills are to the water and then just drop into the ocean. We got back into Carmel around 8:00 where we went for dinner at L'Escargot. This is a good French restaurent that has great food. I had duck and can't remember what Cindy had but we both liked our dinner. This place is always busy and recommend reservations there was only one table available when we came. The restaurent has been in business for 38 years.

We drove 400 miles today. 650 total