Don’t miss part one of our adventure here: Part One.
Ragged Point is an outpost about 30 minutes north of Cambria. They have rooms, but we’ve never stayed. We always visit their very fine restaurant for lunch.
It was here we really understood how few tourists were out. This is the first time we didn’t have to wait for a table. The first time the parking lot wasn’t full, and the first time there wasn’t a mob of people walking around. In fact, there were far fewer people this trip than during our last, at the height of Covid. We only spotted two tour buses during our entire four-day trip. Although we didn’t have to put up with crowds, we did become concerned that many places we visited may not be able to stay open. There were fewer menu options everywhere than on previous visits, probably to lower the cost of doing business.
I found this cute vintage-style postcard in the gift shop. And lunch was delicious.
We stopped to watch sea lions lounging on the beach. They smelled really good (not). It was fun seeing them attempt the solid line of fellow sunbathers who made it no further than the point where the waves lapped the shore.
We filled up our tank in Cambria after that little trek. This is the most we’ve ever paid for gasoline (so far).
Our next big adventure was to Hearst Castle (finally). The tour guides were great. If you’ve been in recent years, you know they eliminated repeat trips up and down the mountain in favor of having tours meet at the castle and letting tourists wander the grounds at will. Unfortunately, they aren’t staffed enough currently and we did have to leave after our tours.
Our look at the Neptune pool.
We did the Cottages and Kitchen and Grand Rooms tours where I indulged my lampshade fetish.
It’s hard to imagine the care and artistic talent required to add such stunning details to a room. I have found a place where they’ll make lampshades to order. My mother-in-law’s lamps from post-war Japan had lampshades that were shredding. The new ones are exactly the same. Not as elaborate as the Hearst ones, though, are they?
And let’s throw in a few fabulous ceilings.
We got a look at the wine cellar.
The kitchen is immense.
These might look like old-time ice boxes, but see the condensers on top? They’re actually electric.
The space was very bright. See the beer taps? It was prohibition after all. Aside from the well-stocked wine cellar (anything purchased before prohibition was legal), they didn’t mention how they managed to serve beer.
That giant green machine is a mixer! State-of-the-art for its time.
The kitchen goes on and on.
The baking area.
And here’s the employees’ break room or “closet” as I call it in Catching Nettie Gordon.
In between tours we had some lunch. It was shocking to see the visitor center so empty. There wasn’t even anyone in line to buy tickets after we picked ours up.
The Castle in all its glory.
Here’s a “modern” 1920s bathroom. Showers were novel and every bathroom we toured had one.
This is the oldest art on the estate. The 1920s were all about Tutmania. Even fashion sported Egyptian themes. No art collection of that era would be complete without a nod to Ancient Egypt.
This fountain in front of one of the guest houses holds special appeal for me. We once attended a wedding here. When I mentioned that to the tour guide, her expression said it all. “Sure, you did.” No really, we did.
The way to the busses has always been and still is through the indoor pool.
We’ll stop our travelogue here, but part three will be posted shortly.