28/04: A Rock and a Castle
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
Today's drive was only 70km so we decided to spend a few hours visiting Morro Bay.
A daytime photo of Morro Rock.
Our timing in visiting Morro Rock was very good ---- we arrived at breakfast time.
One of these gulls caught himself a fish, almost immeditely a second gull showed up and grabbed the fish --- the fish tug-of-war lasted over a minute. As soon as one of the gulls won the contest he ate the fish.
The timing was good but the lighting was bad. There must have been 15-20 sea otters in the kelp bed, either sleeping or eating breakfast. They are fun critters to watch.
I think that's a seal flipper. I'm pretty sure we saw seals swimming and either dolphins or porpoises. It was exciting t see all these sea creatures.
"In 1919, Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst hired San Francisco architect Juia Morgan to build a hilltop house on what he called his "ranch at San Simeon". Their collaboration on the project lasted from 1919 to 1947." Parts of the castle remain unfinished.
I wish I had a photo that shows Hearst Castle sitting on top of the hill but it was hazy so the photos just didn't turn out. It does look amazing sitting on top of a hill with absolutely nothing around it.
This photo was taken about 1/3 of the way down on the 15 minute bus ride to the visitor center. It only gives you a small idea off what the castle looks from a far.
The front of the main house. The house and gardens are filled with amazing antiques and pieces of art.
The dining room.
The games room --- early "man cave".
The front of one of the guest cottages.
The back garden of another guest cottage. You can see right down to the ocean.
The outdoor pool --- it took the architect three tries to build a pool of an acceptable size. The pool has a leak so it is currently empty and under repair. Luckily the quarry where the marble tiles were originally purchased is still in business and able to make replacement tiles.
Another view of the main house showing the three stages of completion. The main part of house is finished, the brown section is the concrete with parge coat, the section on the right is the unfinished contrete.
The tennis courts and
the indoor pool that is under the tennis courts. Ed wasn't excited about paying $25 /person to see an old house but in the end he loved it and thought it was worth the price of admission.
The coastline near San Simeon and a taste off what tomorrow's blog will be like.
A daytime photo of Morro Rock.
Our timing in visiting Morro Rock was very good ---- we arrived at breakfast time.
One of these gulls caught himself a fish, almost immeditely a second gull showed up and grabbed the fish --- the fish tug-of-war lasted over a minute. As soon as one of the gulls won the contest he ate the fish.
The timing was good but the lighting was bad. There must have been 15-20 sea otters in the kelp bed, either sleeping or eating breakfast. They are fun critters to watch.
I think that's a seal flipper. I'm pretty sure we saw seals swimming and either dolphins or porpoises. It was exciting t see all these sea creatures.
"In 1919, Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst hired San Francisco architect Juia Morgan to build a hilltop house on what he called his "ranch at San Simeon". Their collaboration on the project lasted from 1919 to 1947." Parts of the castle remain unfinished.
I wish I had a photo that shows Hearst Castle sitting on top of the hill but it was hazy so the photos just didn't turn out. It does look amazing sitting on top of a hill with absolutely nothing around it.
This photo was taken about 1/3 of the way down on the 15 minute bus ride to the visitor center. It only gives you a small idea off what the castle looks from a far.
The front of the main house. The house and gardens are filled with amazing antiques and pieces of art.
The dining room.
The games room --- early "man cave".
The front of one of the guest cottages.
The back garden of another guest cottage. You can see right down to the ocean.
The outdoor pool --- it took the architect three tries to build a pool of an acceptable size. The pool has a leak so it is currently empty and under repair. Luckily the quarry where the marble tiles were originally purchased is still in business and able to make replacement tiles.
Another view of the main house showing the three stages of completion. The main part of house is finished, the brown section is the concrete with parge coat, the section on the right is the unfinished contrete.
The tennis courts and
the indoor pool that is under the tennis courts. Ed wasn't excited about paying $25 /person to see an old house but in the end he loved it and thought it was worth the price of admission.
The coastline near San Simeon and a taste off what tomorrow's blog will be like.