After three straight days of continuous palate and liver practice, it was time for a day of rest and a little bit of sight seeing. The morning began with more excitement than we planned. Since we were finished buying wine, we were going to pack it up and ship it back to Texas. When driving through Napa, there’s a shipping place on practically every corner. Well, apparently the laws have changed recently regarding shipping, and none of the people who would ship in the past would anymore. EEEEEEK! You can check your wine when you fly; but without all the proper accouterments to pack it properly, getting it there in one piece can be dicey. We could have direct shipped from the wineries, but with just 1 or 2 bottles from each winery that gets prohibitively expensive. Luckily, one of the wineries from which we purchased was kind enough to help us out and only charge shipping cost to Fed Ex our two cases. We felt QUITE lucky; we were able to get our spoils when we got home!
We did have 25 bottles of wine (one more than two cases), so Richard decided we would pack a bottle of white in our suitcase. Several years ago we had a $100 bottle of red that broke. Losing the bottle was sad. It also stained all of our clothes AND the suitcase. He figured white was a better risk. (It made it home without breaking this time!)
That behind us, we started out for our day.
When we were in Paso last year, we realized that we’d like to spend some time in the towns of San Luis Obispo (known to the locals as SLO), the beach town of Cambria, and up to San Simeon for Hearst Castle and elephant seals. We knew we wouldn’t have time to do all of those things, but we were going to try! We set out for the day with big plans… Cambria for lunch, followed by Hearst Castle, then elephant seals, then drive down to SLO before back up to Paso for dinner. We eventually found out we had bitten off more than we could chew… but why not dream big?
We began our 37 mile drive from Paso to Cambria at about 10 o’clock that morning. It was a gorgeous day out, but already we could see the fog rolling in off the coastline as we drove.
We drove through Cambria, which looked like a really cool town for those who like to shop (we don’t), and along Moonstone beach to see the Pacific Ocean. I had done a little research beforehand and suggested that we have lunch at a place called Centrally Grown. It supposedly had the best views in the area. When we were sat at a table about 100 feet above the ground and entirely surrounded by glass, I would have to agree this was definitely the case. If we had more time, the store at the property and the expansive grounds would be worth exploring; but we were on a mission!
We had pre-purchased tickets to our two tours from the Hearst Castle website. The tours were $25 per person a piece, AND there was an $8 advanced service charge per ticket. We probably could have waited to buy our tickets until we got there, but I would have hated to come all the way from Texas and not be able to tour.
We knew the tour that included admission to the castle also included seeing the 40-minute movie Building the Dream about the history of building the castle. We decided we wanted to see that before entering the castle, so we had our timing figured out perfectly. By the time we got there, the fog was so thick we couldn’t see the castle at all from the visitors’ center at the foot of the hill. The movie was fascinating. We boarded the bus for the castle.
On the winding path up the hill, Alex Trebek narrated what we COULD be seeing were it a clear day. We got glimpses but never a full view. Still, it was gorgeous. We began our first tour, The Grand Rooms tour, as a slight mist was starting to fall. Each tour is guided by a very knowledgeable docent who gives the history and the stories of what occurred in each room.
“Case grande,” as it is known, was breathtaking from floor to ceiling. There was not a blank spot on any wall or in any area. Hearst Castle is first and foremost an art museum, including the statues and ceilings. I considered going through and detailing every picture, but it truly is one of those “you have to see it for yourself” experiences. The Neptune Pool outside has been empty since 2016 for repairs. The repairs are actually about two years behind schedule. Well, you know, contractors and government. Am I right, or am I right?
Because of Richard’s epicurean ways and both of our wine interests, I also scheduled the “cottages and kitchens” tour. There are actually about five different tours you can take, all at an hour each. Hearst Castle has five “cottages.” The largest is over 5000 square feet and was actually the one when Hearst stayed when he was at “the ranch.”
I could have happily done a tour of the ceilings alone. They are gorgeous! We loved to hear the stories as we wandered outdoors of how Charlie Chaplin would hide inside the sarcophagus to scare guests as they walked by. We re-entered Casa Grande for the kitchen and the piece de resistance, the wine cellar.
I was shocked by some of the quite “modern” conveniences of the stand mixer and heated tables. As we descended the narrow staircase around the elevator into the basement, I could smell the familiar aroma of wine. Many of the bottles in the cellar are still full (although likely undrinkable), including a Hungarian dessert wine from the 1800s. I also saw bottles of Dom Perignon and 1931 Domaine de la Romanee Conti, which would be around $15,000 a bottle at auction. Interestingly, William Randolph Hearst didn’t drink and would only allow his guests to have HIS alcohol (although David Niven was known to smuggle his own in and hide it under the bed.) He would allow them about one glass a night.
We could have continued to peruse the grounds for as long as we wanted at the conclusion of the tour, but with the fog so thick, and a continuous mist, we elected to make our way past the indoor pool. The Hearst family still has rights to use the pool after hours. The floor is made-up of 24 karat gold.
On our winding road down the hill, Alex Trebek continued to tell us about the sweeping views we could not see. We did, however, get to pass the zoo including the polar bear enclosure. None of the animals are there anymore. Some zebras and antelope escaped over the years and can be seen grazing with the herd of cattle that the Hearst family still owns on the mountain.
When we were going back to the car, it was later than we thought and raining relatively hard, so our plans of going to see elephant seals and checking out SLO were both thwarted. We drove back towards our temporary home for our last night in Paso Robles.
We had reservations that night for The Hatch. We had been dreaming of their amazing maitake mushrooms since last year. Each night The Hatch has a special meat of the day. Sunday night is prime rib and Monday is fried chicken. We were there on Monday. As we started with cocktails, our waiter let us know that on Monday they take the burnt ends from the prime rib on Sunday and use it to make a macaroni and cheese. It was definitely necessary to try that along with our mushrooms and cocktails.
The fried chicken was wonderful, served with an excellent homemade hot sauce. Richard and I both got to try a wine from one of the wineries we didn’t have a chance to visit on this trip. I had a fantastic Ledge rose and Richard had a Lefondusac cab franc to go with our chicken and our final meal.
We made our way back to our fifth and final consecutive night at Taste in the Alley to bid a fond farewell and “until we meet again” to Kitty and Larry.
The next morning we set off on the 2 1/2 hour journey back up the 101 to San Jose airport. We had a minor delay on our flight to LAX because President Trump was flying in the area and the airspace had to stay empty. We were on the ground in LA for only about 30 minutes before being back in the air to Austin.
Exhausted and happy, we had completed another spring break trip. We’re already feeling some remorse that we don’t intend to return to Paso next year. We think we’re more likely to go further north on the coast and try out Washington and Oregon where we haven’t traveled, yet. Still, we love Paso, and we’re likely to return someday in the not too distant future.
Part-Time Teacher; Full-Time Human 