We had an informative tour of some of the upstairs rooms, the grounds, gardens, and pools.
The property is now owned by the State of California, and there are many renovations going on. It's still possible to imagine it in its heyday with movie stars, musicians, athletes, writers and politicians mingling in the opulent facilities.
After the tour and an Imax movie about Hearst's role in building the property, we got lunch across the road in San Simeon, which used to be where all the "help" lived while building and servicing the castle's residents. There is a herd of horses that are kept by the owners of the Hearst Ranch,
that still does business in meats, vegetables, and wine.
Then it was on to the Sea Lions that habituate a little cove. We watched them swim, spar, lounge and roar from a fenced off area very close. Apparently these animals can be quite mean!
The rest of the day was spent driving the Pacific Coast Highway with many stops for photo ops along the way.
We also hiked down a trail to a stream with some campsites. The kids had fun playing in a stream.
We found our hotel in Monterey
and had a low key dinner in a diner. Tomorrow we'll be in San Francisco!
west coast kids
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