San Simeon/Big Sur

This past weekend Veronica, Lauren, Nora and myself all packed the car up and tripped up the coast to San Simeon for a nice weekend filled with tours, food, wine, and beautiful views. We rose early Saturday hopped in the car to pick Lauren and Nora up and begin our 4 hour journey along the 101. It was a great site for me, seeing the mountains and vineyards and oceans all in one trip, definitely puts the 4hour Tallahassee drive to shame. About 3 hours into our trip we stopped off in Solvang, an authentic Danish town. We grabbed a quick coffee and danish at a little coffee and danish shop, go figure. Delicious! The town was adorable with windmills and Danish designs on all the structures, there was even a Christmas shop!! I wanted to go in but I didn't have time, or want to drag everyone else in there with me. We hopped back in the car and unknowingly followed Glenda's (GPS) horrible trip advice. But I enjoyed it, getting to see more of the state and inland views of farms and mountains. We drove though Buttonwood Vineyard, and Quicksilver Miniature Horse Farm!! Awesome. About an hour or so later with our fill of Brit Indie Rock/Pop, we arrived at The Morgan Hotel in San Simeon. Such a cute little hotel almost right on the coast, about a 5 min drive from Hearst Castle, our later destination. After settling in we headed for our 3 o'clock tour at Hearst. Snapping plenty of videos and photos along the way up the gigantic castle, we learned all about William Hearst and his empire he built up in the mountains. This castle was huge and so european, with so much artwork and inspirations from all over the world, I was in awe just walking around. The pools were both sparkling surrounded by stark white marble sculptures. He even had zebras that you could catch a glimse of among the grazing cattle while driving on the freeway. The parties that Hearst had sounded amazing, that time period was just unreal! The footage they showed us made me kind of wish I had a chance to experience that sort of life style. After the tour we headed up the coast about 2 hours more along winding coastal roads Highway One, to Big Sur for dinner at Nepenthe Restaurant. Nora got a little dizzy from all the turn, it reminded me a bit of Italy's highways and coast, absolutely stunning. Once our destination was met, we ordered some drinks and appetizers and ate them awaiting our table while overlooking the Pacific Ocean and high rise mountains as the sun set. Yeah...pretty perfect. One of the appetizers was a grilled fennel and artichoke bruschetta on grilled sourdough with lemon aioli and baslamic. I need to learn to make that because it was sooo good and I know my dad would love that. That food was great, the meals however were a little pricy for what you got, not impressed but the atmosphere was spot on! If only it didn't take so long to get there. The way back to San Simeon felt shorter. The next morning we woke and got breakfast at the hotel and headed back home with a few stops along the way. Our first stop was The Madonna Inn. I didn't know what to expect, I automatically think Madonna the singer so ya know I wasn't sure of this place or how cool it could actually be. Well to my surprise, we walked in and BAM! You are surrounded and blindsided with as much pink as ones eyes could take in. The dinning room was so gaudy and awesome with gold figurines and giant pink flowers with pink booths for seating. Though we weren't able to see them, all the rooms at the Inn are themed from Jungle to Captains Room and many more. What an experience! After lunch there, we headed for a winery for some tastings, we first stopped at Santa Barbara Winery, the oldest winery in Santa Barbara but we weren't impressed and were hoping for more of a vineyard like experience. We headed to Summerland winery, yes THE Summerland where the TV show took place. That didnt register in my mind till I realized that Summerland was an actual town and not just a beachy name. (Thats also where  I first came to adore the lovely Mr. Efron as he had a recurring role on the show...none of this HSM junk!)  We tasted probably 8 or 10 wines, I enjoyed almost all of them, especially the dessert wine. Mmmm so tasty and sweet. I got a bottle of Merlot for my mother knowing her love of wine! Though it wasn't the true wine tasting experience they were all hoping for, I had a great time (like I have been). Our trip concluded around 8pm and I loaded my 300 +videos photos on my computer and pretty much crashed! Such a great weekend! 

/Peace/Love/