Coastal California: marvel at jagged cliffs, crashing surf, charming towns, even a storybook castle on a dream drive skirting the blue Pacific - Tour Of The Month

Travel America, Sept-Oct, 2002 by Jack McGuire, Jill McGuire

You get a better perspective on the castle's scope just by counting the rooms--165 of them--in four houses on the 127-acre estate. Casa Grande, the main house, has 100 rooms, 38 bedrooms, and 41 baths. The Assembly Room on the first floor of Casa Grande, the largest of 14 sitting rooms, is big--really big--as in, need a hangar for a 727? The adjoining Refectory, which served as the only dining room on the Enchanted Hill, is so huge, with a ceiling so high, you could stack a couple of McDonald's in it and still have room for a Wendy's. There's also a luxurious movie theater in Casa Grande, where during the castle's 1920s and `30s heyday, Hearst's celebrity house guests relaxed after dinner in over-stuffed chairs to watch first-run films or home movies of themselves.

Quitting this fascinating monument to wretched excess, we drove along the rugged coast, savoring the natural splendor of the Big Sur coast as one lonely beach after another slipped by. Lofty with steep slopes swept down to deserted beaches and hidden coves. Massive eerie rock formations cantilevered out from the mountains, hanging precariously overhead in a breathtaking panorama of wild beauty.

About 40 miles north of Big Sur, we entered the Monterey Peninsula and its cozy Carmel-by-the-Sea. The tiny hamlet reminded us of a European village, resplendent with one-of-a-kind shops, elegant boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, and outdoor cafes lining its pine-shaded streets. But don't get so hung up on shopping and dining in Carmel that you miss out on the Monterey Peninsula's other attractions. The acclaimed Monterey Bay Aquarium, located on historic Cannery Row in Monterey, offers an amazing array of marine life and exotic sea creatures in over 100 exhibits and galleries. Cannery Row, once the site of sardine canneries and the setting for John Steinbeck's novels Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday, now bustles with shops, galleries, and eateries.

Carmel's North San Antonio Avenue will lead you directly to the scenic 17-Mile Drive at Pebble Beach. To call it scenic is to grossly understate the phrase. At about the halfway point, you'll find the Seal and Bird Rocks picnic area, a popular beach spot to enjoy a picnic lunch to the barking accompaniment of offshore denizens of sea lions, gulls, and cormorants. One of the most familiar landmarks--and possibly the most photographed site on the central Pacific coast--is Point Lobos and its wind-torn lone cypress, clinging magically to a nearby bare rock.

The timeless beauty of California's central coast is one of nature's greatest achievements--waiting to be discovered.

For travel information, contact California Tourism, (800) GO-CALIF; www.gocalif.ca.gov