written by Indikun (pictures by moi)
Morning to Early Afternoon: Around San Luis Obispo
We all woke up around 8 am to get ready for breakfast and to do some quick touring of San Luis Obispo before heading out to San Simeon for the Hearst Castle tours. Before leaving, Juno went to the front desk to see if we can switch rooms. Our room didn’t have a working heater, and Pip & Nin need a double bed. Thankfully, there was a room that will be available later in the day, so we have to check back after 11 am to exchange rooms.
We had a lot of time to kill so we went for brunch at Bon Temps Creole Cafe. Unfortunately, we got there a tad too early so they were only serving breakfast items. Too bad… I wanted a jambalaya. Though the Creole omelet I got was not bad, it was just a lot of food. Everyone else was happy about that though, lol. This time, they all shamed me by polishing all their food way before I could… and I didn’t even eat everything O_o
Pip wanted mentioned last night that he wanted to check out Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Ninny and I were curious about the agricultural part of it (translation: cows). So naturally, we headed that way after brunch. The navigation system brought us to a stretch of green fields some reason, and he had to turn back as the campus was in the opposite block. It took us a while to find the general parking area… and we even stumbled upon their frat row. It was amazing, everyone was out and about, doing stuff on their front lawns. Even the frat boys in USC weren’t as active. There was probably nothing else to do around the area.
We went and checked out their bookstore, the engineering buildings and the architecture building. All the buildings on campus were more on the modern side – unlike USC, which tried to do that old Ivy League school vibe. In a sense it was refreshing, even the scenery was amazing, but in the end, we all agreed that we’d probably go nuts if we went to school here out in the boondocks.
The architecture building though looked a lot like the architecture building at USC. I wonder why. It looks like some student were having their reviews while we were there.
Around noon, we headed back to Travelodge to exchange our keys. We managed to get the room, thank god. Though we did witness one of the cleaning ladies using the microwave in Pip & Nin’s room to heat up her lunch. So terrible.
We had some more time to kill so we headed to Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. Pip asked the waitress at Bon Temps about the attractions in SLO, and she mentioned the Mission. Tripadvisor rated the Mission as the number one thing to see in SLO (out of twenty-seven). And honestly, it’s probably true since the other attractions were mainly beaches, wine tasting areas or golf courses.
The church was quaint, it reminded me a lot of the church in San Juan Capistrano, but this church felt more solid and real. It was an odd shaped church – it had an L configuration, so the altar was facing forty-five degrees between the two legs. Juno mentioned that it was a pretty common configuration and that they’d expand it to the opposite arm (to form a T) if they need to, and you’d end up with your conventional cross shaped church. I understand that, but I just thought the altar placement was a bit awkward. If it was set a bit further back or had a niche of some sort then it would work better.
We dropped by the gift shop and museum area. We didn’t really buy anything since the religious relics here look like you standard set of catholic hodge-podge that you can find anywhere. There was nothing that was unique to the Mission, which is really too bad. The museum area was part church-oriented, part Native American oriented and part city history. It was really an odd mix, and it makes you wonder why they have the Native American relics and old records when it is just next to the History Center and Museum of San Luis Obispo County. Go figure.
We walked around downtown SLO afterwards. We all got hot drinks at the nearby coffee shop, then we browsed some of the shops. There was a home furnishing shop that was closing, and I found a great gem of a wooden box that was 40% off. Of course we bought it. We we got out of the store, we found bubblegum alley. I’ve seen this on TV and read in on the internet… and it’s just bizarre. It’s a three foot wide alley that’s been covered in chewed up gum pieces. It has years and years worth of gum. It’s pretty disgusting if you think about it, but what the heck – when in Rome. Juno, Pip and I bought some gum and gave our donated our gum carcasses to the wall.
Late Afternoon to Evening: Hearst Castle
We got to the Visitor Center with thirty minutes to spare. The Visitor Center is located at the foot of the hill, and all the tours start there. We booked to do Tours 1 (the experience tour) and 5 (the evening tour). Juno mentioned that we could go watch the National Geographic movie about Hearst Castle for free before heading to the tour, but it seemed bitin, so we opted to hang around the gift shop instead.
At 4 pm, we headed to our tour bus. It was a 15 minute bus drive to the castle itself – a lot of winding roads. The ranch itself was about 250,000 acres before they donated part of the land to California. It view was amazing, and this is just what we saw on the way up to the castle.
Once we reached the top, we were greeted by out tour guide, who was this pleasant old man. His schtick was to present the castle to you as if you were a guest of W.R. Hearst, and he executed it very well. He would first lead you to the Neptune pool for a dip, then you get to choose a guest room to use so that you can dress up for the nighttime activities, which include cocktails, dinner, billiards, a movie and maybe a dip in the indoor swimming pool. Of course, this is all just a ‘pretend’ scenario.
One thing I didn’t know about the castle was the fact that he didn’t have it built for the sake of having a house. Instead, he built it to house and showcase his antique collections. And no, these aren’t just simple collections of jars or furniture, they’re much bigger than that. He collected ceilings, sculptures, doors, fireplace, you name it. He actually bought pieces of old buildings and had it integrated into his home by his architect, Julia Morgan.
Another thing I didn’t know was the fact that Julia Morgan was the first female architect to have been registered in America. She was also the first female graduate of Ecole de Beaux-Arts. If that wasn’t enough, she also had a degree in civil engineering, and sh acted as general contractor on the Hearst Castle project. Very impressive.
I don’t want to describe the tour in length, but I’ll talk about the highlights. I was really enamored by the ceilings of the house, they are just so elaborate. Going through this house just reminded me that the ceiling can also be a canvas…
Another cool tidbit was the fact that the art directors holed themselves up in the dining room of the Hearst Castle eighteen months before they started the production of harry potter. You can really see the influence when you walk through the dining room since it really looks like a miniaturized version of the main hall of Hogwarts.
After the tour, the tour bus dropped us back at the Visitor Center… only for another bus to bring us back up thirty minutes later. During the break though, we had to quickly grab some food, buy the Hearst Castle DVD and run to the restrooms. The IMAX theater closed at 6 pm so Lillian thought of buying the DVD and watching it on our laptop when we got back to our rooms.
Now to Tour 5. The evening tour is a bit special since they only have it on certain times of the year (when it is not cold), and tonight was the first tour 5 of the year. The tour consists of a bit of each of the four day tours with a plus. There were volunteers dressed up in 30s garb to add some atmosphere around the castle. They pretty much walk around and act like the guests W.R. Hearst had. They even had their own dialogue, and I’m just wondering if it was scripted or if it was just an adlib. Either way, it was very cool.
This time, we got to see the library, the kitchen, the Gothic study, Marion Davies’ room, W.L. Hearst’s room and more of the guest house we saw earlier. So much eye candy. I realized that Hearst and Mom are of the same taste. I know she’d probably love to see this place.
After the tour, we had to rush to find a place to eat. The tour ended around 8:40 pm and most restaurants here closed at 9 pm. Thankfully, we managed to reach the El Chorlito Mexican Restaurant in time. We were all starving. Good food all around.
When we got back to the motel, Juno and I hung around Pip & Nin’s room for a bit to watch the DVD. Then we retired after that.
