San Simeon/Solvang-Day Four

We left for Hearst Castle early in the morning, just a few miles away. After a short drive to the visitor center, we found ourselves in a modern locale with wine and beer from the Hearst Ranch, lunch, and very quick service from the state parks department. With a little confusion, we ended up on an early tour, which kept us from baking to death. The drive up was a long, scenic, and sometimes scary drive to the top. It got so hot by the time we actually left. The amazement I remembered from my childhood still hung with me as I wandered the great rooms of the castle. The appreciation I now have for arts and culture certainly made this place even more magical than I remembered. This took a crazy man to build, but I am grateful this crazy person did what he did. I don’t think anyone now could afford such luxury and style. This Mediterranean Villa has now convinced me to choose Italy as my first overseas destination over Ireland. I have too many pictures to show here, but I have selected my favorites again. Look closely at the Refectory, apparently the crew from Harry Potter took notes here for the grand hall.

 

I bought my magnet, and not wanting to leave so soon, we tried that wine and beer, and sat on the observation deck with a full view of the castle. A European couple and a teacup French poodle puppy later, we were ready for the drive to the next leg of the trip; Solvang. A short stint later, we stopped in Cambria for lunch and a little shopping. We ate at Robins’, a conscious café with light and creative foods. The mushroom soup was interspersed with dill, cilantro, and curry. The Thai spring rolls were spicy, crispy, and vegetarian. This was a great filling, but not-heavy meal, perfect for the last leg of this drive. After a couple quick stops to move around and a few small traffic jams, we were there; at a lovely and quaint little village with lots of character.
We checked in, got our things to our room using mostly the elevator and one flight of stairs, and went down for our cheese and crackers, with a purchase of a glass of wine of course. We decided to slip over to Sevtap, a tiny local winery right next to our hotel. This is some wonderful wine, and the winemaker was surprisingly young. He is stepping back from the traditional, mixing his oaks, using the steel, and producing crisp, vibrant wines. Some go down a little too easily. The locale is covered in chalk-art, and apparently does music on the weekends. The photo is from their website.

We met a young woman who is on a journey for a class from Prescott College…Prescott! They are giving her credit to travel and write about wine and beer in California. Wow. A bubbly young woman, clearly passionate about wine and beer, she seems like an avid journalist with a bright future. We finished getting our luggage in to the room, and Dan took a trip to the store for some cheese and bread. This was a nice break from heavy, rich foods, and filled us up nicely. After booking not one, but two massages, at half the cost (great concierge, made sure we got the best package possible, and it came with a bottle of wine), and finding a bike rental for him, we settled in for a movie. We got through most of Flatliners before we fell asleep.