California Gold: Morro Bay and the Hearst Castle

In the observation deck

Text and photos by Jason McKenney except where otherwise noted.

Morro Bay State Park sits in the Central Coast 200 miles north of LA off State Route 1. The visitor's center contains a small museum highlighting the local environment and wildlife. The museum includes an observation deck that looks out over the bay. A large, round rock formation sits out in the midst of the water. It's connected tenuously to the mainland by a strip of sand that disappears when the tide rises. "Gibraltar of the Pacific," the locals call it. The hill is a volcanic plug that was already old when Chumash Indians considered it a sacred site more than three thousand years ago.

Morro Bay day trippers

The town of Morro Bay was founded by a man named Franklin Riley back in 1870. It was used as a port for the export of dairy and ranch products. For the past hundred years the town has been a center for beach holidays. The days of dairy and ranch exports are long gone. Tourism is the city's largest industry now, coexisting with the town's commercial fishery. A portion of Morro Bay is also designated as a state and national bird sanctuary.

Chumash Indian statue

The nature preserve is a great escape from the paved jungles of LA. The beach causeways, tall trees, and clean air provide another side of California that many people can miss if they don't travel outside the city limits. My wife and I were on our way north to see the Hearst Castle. Morro Bay was perfect sidestop, but the day was disappearing quickly and we still needed to reach our hotel in Cambria. After a quick tour of the museum and a walk through the forest we jumped back in our car merged onto the 1 North.

El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road), usually refers to the historic 600-mile road connecting the 21 Spanish missions in California. Today, the 101 and 1 freeways follow most of the original path of El Camino Real (or does it???). This road runs from the Mission San Diego de Alcalá in the south up to the trail's northern end at the Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma just above the San Francisco Bay.

Every few miles along this path one will see an old bell post with a sign informing drivers they are treading upon an (allegedly) historical trail, a trail that runs right through the heart of California's modern development. When the Spanish were building the Mission system in the late 1700s, while General Washington was busy winning battles and helping birth a new nation on the other side of the continent, they probably had no idea the roadway connecting their missions would one day provide a blueprint for a road system that everyday Californians today use regularly and probably take for granted.

We arrived at our hotel in Cambria about 40 minutes after leaving Morro Bay. The small town sits about 100 miles south of Monterey. This is a part of California with amazing natural beauty, sweeping coastal views, and limited population to get in the way.

Rolling waves near Oxnard

The Oceanpoint Ranch is right across the street from a walking trail along the rocky coastline. Thundering waves smash against the shore like mad animals as they've been doing for thousands, maybe millions, of years. It's like taking a peek at the ancient past, observing a scene being reenacted just as it was so long ago.

The ranch consists of a few buildinds offering rooms that feel like small cabins. The rooms boast a southwest motif with cowboy paintings and steer skulls hanging on the walls. Short walkways surrounded by flowers connect the various buildings. The entire compound is peaceful and feels pleasantly remote. It's on a stretch of road called Moonstone Beach Dr that runs between the 1 and the Leffingwell Landing State Park on the coast.

The rocky Central Coast

We wandered through downtown Cambria and had dinner at the Black Cat Bistro, an enjoyable little place that specializes in farm fresh dishes from local producers. After stuffing ourselves with blackened salmon and pasta, we slept like drunks to the calming sounds of nearby waves. The next morning we were up early in preparation for the final leg of our trip. Another perk of staying at the Oceanpoint Ranch is that it's only six miles from Hearst Castle.

Path along Leffingwell Landing

We arrived at the Hearst Castle welcome center in time for the first tour of the morning. From the welcome center, a small bus drives a tour group on a circuitous route across open fields and gorgeous landscapes up to the castle that rests on a picture-book hilltop. During this drive we were entertained
with a recorded message from Canadian superstar Alex Trebek. Alex explained to us the history of the property, the construction of the castle, and the collection of wild and exotic beasts brought in by William Randolph Hearst in the early 1900s.

The Castle is both a National and California Historical Landmark. It was designed by architect Julia Morgan between 1919 and 1947 as a residence for the newspaper magnate and Orson Welles target who died in 1951.

Entering the Castle

Invitations to Hearst Castle were highly coveted during its heyday in the 1920s and 30s. The Hollywood and political elite often visited, usually flying into the estate's landing strip or taking a private Hearst-owned train car from LA. Among Hearst's guests were such luminaries as Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, the Marx Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, James Stewart, Bob Hope, Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill.

In 1954 the mansion became a California State Park and opened to visitors in 1958. Since that time it has been operated as the Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument where the estate is open for public tours.

Trebek explained to us that Mr. Hearst formally named the estate "La Cuesta Encantada" ("The Enchanted Hill"), but usually called it "the ranch". As most film geeks know, Hearst Castle was the inspiration for the "Xanadu" mansion of the 1941 Orson Welles film Citizen Kane. The movie was a fictionalization of William Hearst's career as a media mogul. Thanks, Alex.

Fish pond outside the castle

The mansion has two pools: the indoor Greek pool which is lined with gold tiles and the outdoor Neptune pool which reminded me of the lavish party scene from The Great Gatsby. We were told the Neptune Pool was empty of water and being touched up due to a Lady Gaga video shoot that took place a few weeks earlier. Thanks, Gaga.

Some of the wooden ceilings of the interior were shipped over from Italy. They had been originally constructed for Renaissance villas dating back to the 16th century. Hearst spared no expense. The tour included a stop in the theater where Hearst would treat guests to movies from his own production company. We watched a brief bio piece on William and some home videos of various celebrities enjoying their time at the castle.

Image from Hearst Castle website

The castle operated as a personal residence for Hearst for less than 30 years. A remarkably short amount of time considering how much money and effort went into the place. Forty years after it first began construction, the castle was opened to the public to take a peak. This is another case of how the products of the very wealthy in this country eventually become a benefit for everyone else. It may take time, but regardless of how wealthy some people may grow, eventually their fruits will be enjoyed by all.


Post script: The Costa de Oro Winery

Snap taken during our tasting.

Driving north from Santa Barbara on the 101 through the small town of Santa Maria, a sign for the Costa de Oro Winery caught our eye. We pulled off the highway and followed a winding gravel path to a store front. Inside was a tasting room flanked by merchandise, bottles on display, and a long bar being run by a pretty lady with brown hair. Her name was Teresa. She and her husband ran the winery and sometimes played music for patrons certain nights of the week (her husband played a mean guitar and Teresa sang).

"The winery has been here since the late '70s," she said while pouring us a series of tastings. "Our grapes are grown in the Santa Maria Valley and I believe our wines are just as good any you'll find in Santa Barbara." I believed her. The Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were delicate and lovely.

Costa de Oro and Santa Maria are about an hour's drive north of Santa Barbara and an hour's drive south of Paso Robles. If you are a wine-trekker who loves to stop off the dusty trail and taste lesser known but brilliant wines while traveling towards more popular and equally brilliant wines, Costa de Oro comes highly recommended.

Image of the Neptune Pool from the Hearst Castle website. Photography onsite is limited.

Skeleton of a Minke Whale found in Morro Bay

The Gibraltar of the Pacific