San Simeon, CA

A few miles from town we stopped to take pictures of zebra (zebra in Central CA!) playing on grassland by the side of the highway. We’re betting that it’s land that belongs to the Hearst family. Either way, a very odd site. Upon reaching the very small town of San Simeon (actually little more than a few hotels/motels right on the highway), we checked in to the Sea Breeze Inn, a very basic place a few miles from Hearst Castle.

Almost immediately, we got back in the car, headed a few miles south to Cambria for dinner and fireworks. Dinner at West End Bar and Grill, a no frills bar with decent food and a pretty lively crowd. The fireworks display was great. We watched from a spot on a wooden walkway right on the beach, with the waves in clear sight. The smell and sound of the ocean added tremendously to the show, and brought me back to Fourth of Julys in Kailua. Of course, tons of pictures, “oooohs,” “woahs,” and “yeahs.”

Slept in a bit and chilled in the morning, both pretty tired and lazy. About noon we set off to check out Hurst Castle and the elephant seals. The biggest mystery of the trip thus far is why so many people are willing to cough up $30 per person for a tour of the Castle. I’m sure it’s incredibly beautiful, but so are a lot of things, many of which are free of charge. We did a quick drive by, marveling all the while at the hundreds of paying customers/suckers.

From the castle to a pull-off from the highway, one of the few spots on earth where elephant seals mate/molt/chill. June is molting season, which means that the seals spend most of their time lying on the beach, flinging sand on themselves. The seals are enormous, pretty smelly, and very bizarre looking. We took tons of pictures, marveled at the fellow tourists, enjoyed another moment staring out into the pacific, and then hit the road. A fun stop.