Postcard from San Simeon

“In suggesting gifts: Money is appropriate, and one size fits all.” - William Randolph Hearst

Hearst Castle is the symbol of opulence run amok. But, you gotta love it! It’s beauty is beyond belief. Here, unlimited money magically became beauty. Art in every flavor abounds here, yet it is all so tasteful…well mostly. 

There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. Yet, here it is. It could never be duplicated in this day and age. Perhaps that is a good thing.

This was my first trip to Castle Moneystein…aka: La Cuesta Encantada, even though I lived in California much of my life. It is a bit out of the way. It’s north of San Luis Obispo and south of Monterey. The only way to get there is via the twists and turns of California Highway One.

But here’s a dirty little secret…go north from San Luis Obispo to visit the castle. The twist and turns are mostly north of San Simeon. It’s a pretty straight shot from the south. Of course, when it was built, there was no Highway One. You figure it out.

And, by the way, you don’t drive to the castle. Rather, you park down below at the Visitor’s Center and take a bus up a twisty five-mile road to the top. Along the way up (and back), you get a recorded guided tour by Alex Trebek which is informative, although he does throw in an infomercial here and there. I’ll take Renaissance Art for $500, Alex. 

Upon landing, one is immediately blown away by the spectacular beauty of the place. Looking out, you see the Pacific Ocean far below…looking up, there are the two Spanish twin cathedral towers that would thrill the soul of Father Junipero Serra. And then there are the gardens. Wow!

And the tour has not even begun yet. I chose to take the Upstairs Suite Tour as it looked more interesting. These old legs had to negotiate 273 stairs, but damned if I didn’t do it….And that doesn’t count all the other stairs I took while exploring the grounds. Of course, all that exercise required a long nap before dinner. No long walk on the beach that night.

But, it was worth every step.

Pictured above is Hearst’s private study. I say private as it was off-limits to most of his guests. The only folks beside Hearst, and perhaps his mistress, Marion Davies (and I’m not even sure about her) were those men who ran his vast empire who were at the castle on business. It is up on the second floor near the library and Hearst’s bedroom.

I asked the tour guide if Hearst’s kids came in here to do their homework. He wasn’t sure. Today, desktop computers would be out of place here, but a properly cased iPad might be OK…although a Wi-Fi signal might be difficult to find. Life was so much simpler back then.

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