Elephant Seals and Hearst Castle

Walking on the beach, hopping the fence to hike along the cliffs, watching the male elephant seals bash each other while the females and juveniles bask in the sun....

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking, biking and driving are all options, depending on where you're going to go. A free public shuttle runs between the two separate parts of Cambria.

We stayed in the Galway room (all rooms are named after counties in Ireland) at the J. Patrick House. The bed was very comfortable, the fireplace cozy. The bathroom was good sized, with a tub/shower combo, but nothing special; when talking to the host, John, he mentioned that his next project was going to be tackling and remodeling the bathrooms.

We enjoyed the wine hour (various types of California wines, crackers and various dips), meeting other guests, our hosts Ann and John, and their cute Schnauzer. Cookies and milk were provided at bedtime -- yum! Breakfasts were great, very filling, including fruit, granola with yogurt, and a hot dish. John makes sure that he chooses the dishes so each morning the guests get something new (not an issue if you're staying a weekend, but more of a challenge if there are guests who've been there a week!).

John and Ann were also pleased to recommend restaurants, places to hike, etc.

If we visit the area again, we would definitely stay at the J Patrick House!

They have an extensive website: www.jpatrickhouse.com/

We ate at Robin's for lunch -- very simple, but tasty food. Salads, sandwiches, etc. in a renovated cottage. Trompe l'oeil hutch/flower design on the wall near our table -- very cute.

We wished we'd eaten here for dinner rather than at the restaurants we did end up at! Couldn't get reservations at a time we wanted to eat (albeit VERY short notice, called around 5 or so for dinner that evening).

Their website: http://www.robinsrestaurant.com/

Much like a feudal castle, Hearst Castle sits atop one of the hills overlooking the beach. (Yes, W.R. Hearst apparently acted like a feudal lord as well!) The castle and grounds are lovely, but you don't get to see much on the basic tour, and our guide had to be about the most obnoxious person I'd ever not had the pleasure to listen to (there were many complaints from other tourists as well). We'd preferred to have seen more of the castle, with less of the guide. I've heard the night tours are nice, and you get to see more of the castle during these; however, you need to plan well in advance to do one.

That said, Hearst Castle is lovely and impressive, both the different buildings and the grounds. The swimming pools are gorgeous and so very, very tempting.

If you have an interest in California Arts & Crafts/ Spanish furnishings and home architecture you're in for a treat as well. The small, tiled bathrooms in the guest rooms/houses were interesting in that they were that small, for such a grand showcase of a house.

Time spent in the museum before your tour is time well-spent as well.

Keep an eye out for zebras -- literally -- as you drive along Hwy 1.

Our best hike was along the cliffs overlooking the ocean to a site where a large number of elephant seals were beached.

We parked at one of the parking lots off Hwy 1 and hopped the fence onto the national park land (our B&B host said it was okay to do this).

We hiked north along the tops of the cliffs, looking down at the waves, rocks, and occasional tide pools. We could hear sea lions barking as we hiked. Eventually we came to an area with some sand dunes and big rocks, overlooking the beaches where the elephant seal females and juveniles were basking. Most of the males were in the water, bellowing and bashing into each other -- very impressive to watch all that testosterone in action!

Note: don't get too close to these animals. The rule of thumb is, if they seem aware of you -- they look back at you, fidget, move, etc., you are too close.