by kenny

We left the Pilot truckstop early and headed west to Castroville because Laura had heard about a restaurant that specializes in all things artichoke. And Laura loves artichokes. When we arrived at the Giant Artichoke Restaurant we were greeted by of all things... a giant artichoke. We ordered the artichoke sampler which consisted of a steamed artichoke, artichoke bread, and deep fried artichoke hearts. Laura couldn't get enough of the artichoke hearts and I thought the steamed artichoke was clearly the best artichoke I have ever had. There's a "produce stand" next door, which is really just a small grocery store. Don't pass this place up. It has the coolest old school fruit and vegetables display stands, in the shapes of the various fruit and vegetables they are meant to display (bananas in the banana-shaped stand, etc. Check out the photos.




After eating we headed down the coast towards San Simeon. This drive was a lot more pleasant than our first time getting to the coast. Before we reached San Simeon I was pleasantly surprised to discover hundreds of elephant seals along the coast line. They come during the months of October and November to rest before they continue on a circuit near the coast. They start as juveniles and return as adults.





We got a spot at the nearby San Simeon state campground and headed up to Hearst Castle. When Laura and I lived in Lompoc we had always wanted to go to Hearst Castle, but never seemed to find the time or money. Well we found the time on this trip and spent the money anyway. Hearst Castle was made for William Randolph Hearst and his mistress Marion Davies. He got his money from the newspapers and other media outlets that he controlled. And he got a lot of money. He had his own private zoo at the castle. Celebrities and people of note were invited to his place on a regular basis and all attended except 2, Shirley Temple and Katherine Hepburn. Katherine later went on to say it was the one regret of her life.

Hearst Castle gives various tours throughout the day and during certain seasons they offer evening tours. The evening tours have a different emphasis, the people who have stayed at the castle, or ranch as Hearst called it, rather than the amazing art collection. As a bonus, the evening tour, is also a living history tour. Volunteers dress up in period attire and walk around the ranch as if you have stepped into the heyday of the castle. A couple might be playing pool, having a smoke and coffee in a random room, enjoying the night air, an author working on a novel in a guest room, etc. The only down side of the evening tour is that the lighting is bad, and with no flash allowed, photos are hard to get right.



After leaving Hearst Castle, Laura and I were torn on our feelings about the man and his castle. He seems like a good guy, but if crossed, would crush you. He had a tremendous amount of wealth and spent much of it on his friends and protecting art. He removed all the trees that were in the way of building his castle, but went to great lengths to replant those trees nearby. He build this massive castle with every door hand-carved, a pool painted with gold, etc and his dining table was set with paper napkins and ketchup. All my information comes from Orson Welles portrayal of him in Citizen Cane and this tour, so I would like to learn more about his balance of wealth and a decent life. If he was actually able to do so.

When we went to pick up our tickets we met a great guy named Dale who was friendly to us and even commented on our blog. There are two questions I still have and if you are reading this, Dale, maybe you have the answers.

Hearst accomplished and acquired so much... what, if anything did he still want before he died?

Did he see a purpose for his life?

When we got back to San Simeon park we celebrated Halloween with nachos, pumpkin pie fudge, and questionable wine we bought from Trader Joe's.