PCH and La Cuesta Encantada

Travel Log: Saturday April 25, 2009

For some strange reason I keep forgetting Brent has a fear of heights. This little fact escaped my memory when I suggested we take the Pacific Coastal Highway from San Fransisco to Los Angeles. The PCH is famous for it's stunning views and windy roads. Most travellers opt for the more pragmatic 101 but we were on vacation and bless his heart, Brent is willing to join me wherever my heart takes me.

The views were indeed spectacular although it was a bit of a white-knuckle ride for me since I drove the most mountainous sections. It's only a two-lane highway with some sections having an extra lane so lead-footers could pass and needless to say, there wasn't much of a shoulder to the road. Every now and again the road would tilt downward so you could get a REALLY good view of the drop off mere inches from your car. For the most part, Brent reclined his seat, snuck a glance every now and again when he could stomach it and and clung to the side of the car. At one point he told me he was grateful I wasn't one of those crazy types that would randomly drive their family off a cliff in a suicidal/homicidal rage. Is that a compliment? Anyway, adding to the excitement was the fact that we rented an SUV so we'd have plenty of room for all our luggage and Liesel's car seat. I haven't been in a driver's seat that high since I drove our nerd van in high school and it added to the effect of being on the edge when we probably had plenty of room. Brent and I both perpetually felt like we were on the verge of falling off the high cliffs into the foamy sea below.

A photo of us with the highway in the background (check out the bridge!):

Brent overcoming his fear of heights:

I've always wanted to see Hearst Castle so we stayed in San Simeon for the night. Brent tried to tell me there wasn't much in San Simeon and he wasn't kidding. When the GPS said I was within .5 miles, I still couldn't see anything. San Simeon is really just a few hotels and restaurants on the side of the freeway. Definitely not a city, town or village. When booking a Hearst Castle tour I was delighted to find one at twilight on the weekends which combines the best of all the other tours. During certain times of the year local docents dressed in period costumes also volunteer. You can approach them and ask questions about the castle or Hearst or the happenings of the time. I learned the hard way not to mention Citizen Cane. Needless to say the tour is VERY Pro-William Randolph Hearst. The dining room was used as inspiration for the Great Hall in Harry Potter. My favorite tidbit from the tour is that Hearst would occasionally dress as a staff member and serve drinks to guests during cocktail hour. Since he wasn't often seen, not many people knew what he looked like. Hearst surreptitiously learned a lot about his guests true character. My kind of guy :)

The Neptune Pool really is gorgeous:

The main house:

Apparently construction halted due to the Depression and Hearst said he was only about half finished with it. As the tour wrapped up and we looked out towards the ocean at sunset I could see why this was dubbed La Cuesta Encantada or The Enchanted Hill. It was just beautiful and quite romantic!

More photos and video here