100 Day Celebration Trip

My lovely wife and I have now been married for 100 days! Well, more like 130 days. The number 100 is pretty significant in Korean culture. It’s customary to celebrate newborns who make it to 100 days and newlyweds also mark their first 100 days of marriage with some kind of celebration.

I wanted to take a trip with my bride up the coast to Big Sur last month to mark the important occasion, but our schedules didn’t allow it. So, instead, we planned a quick trip this past weekend up to the Hearst Castle in San Simeon.

We both had never made this trip before so we were really looking forward to it. We left early Saturday morning and drove up the 101 and 1 highways. When I planned the trip several weeks ago, I was a little worried that the weather wouldn’t cooperate, but we couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was a beautiful weekend.

We first made a quick stop at San Luis Obispo.

Charming downtown San Luis Obispo. Photo by coreanscribe.

Downtown San Luis Obispo. Photo by coreanscribe.

We then continued up north and made it to San Simeon by lunch time. Before heading in for our tour, we enjoyed a quick bite at Sebastian’s Store near the entrance to the Hearst Castle. The shop has a good choice of sandwiches and it offers wine by the glass from the Hearst Ranch.

If you haven’t visited the Hearst Castle, it’s worth checking out. It’s an amazing architectural achievement; it’s bold, beautiful, ostentatious, gaudy at times but also impressive in size, scope and vision. You have to keep in mind this was just one man’s — William Randolph Hearst — home.

W.R. Hearst’s estate and home now a California State Park and museum. Photo by coreanscribe.

Top of the Castle. Photo by coreanscribe.

Xanadu’s inspiration. Photo by coreanscribe.

Estate grounds. Photo by coreanscribe.

Me. Photo by Lizzy.

There are different tours available at the Castle. We chose the introductory Grand Rooms Museum tour.

Grand Rooms Tour, Assembly Room. Photo by coreanscribe.

Old tapestry in the Assembly Room. Photo by coreanscribe.

What a fireplace! Photo by coreanscribe.

Fireplace details. Photo by coreanscribe.

Dining room called the Refectory. Photo by coreanscribe.

Famous Neptune Pool. Photo by coreanscribe.

Lizzy thinking about taking a dip. Photo by coreanscribe.

Hearst courts where Charlie Chaplin would play tennis. Photo by coreanscribe.

Roman indoor pool. Photo by coreanscribe.

Statue near Roman indoor pool. Photo by coreanscribe.

Decorative tiles surround the Roman pool. Photo by coreanscribe.

After our Hearst Castle visit, we drove a short distance to scenic Cambria and stayed at a cozy place called Little Sur Inn. It’s one of many privately owned inns that line the road and face the Pacific.

Overnight stay. Photo by coreanscribe.

Morning view near the inn. Photo by coreanscribe.

Cambria coffee shop. Photo by coreanscribe.

Cambria, like Laguna Beach to the south, is a community with many artists and art galleries. We learned that during the month of October the town holds the Scarecrow Festival and the streets are lined with creative scarecrows by local artists and businesses. The bartender at the local ale house told us that there were probably close to 300 scarecrows in total all around Cambria. He said the festival began just three years ago and that it’s steadily grown every year.

Crow scarecrow. Photo by coreanscribe.

Parachute jumper scarecrow. Photo by coreanscribe.

Scarecrow and his dog. Photo by coreanscribe.

Creepy leaf scarecrow. Photo by coreanscribe.

We left Cambria Sunday morning to check out the Northern Elephant Seals. They hang out at the Piedras Blancas rookery about ten miles north of San Simeon. October is considered part of their resting period during the year. When we saw them Sunday that’s exactly what they were doing, nothing more.

Lazy San Simeon sunbathers. Photo by coreanscribe.

We would have loved to have gone further north to Big Sur but it would’ve been another couple hours of driving. We had to think about getting home for another work week, so we decided to save Big Sur for another trip. Lizzy, instead, thought we should drive to nearby Paso Robles and enjoy some wine before heading home. It was a great idea. She had a place in mind: the Justin Vineyards and Winery. It took a little while to get there because it was in such a secluded area, but it was well worth the drive.

The Justin Vineyard and Winery in Paso Robles. Photo by coreanscribe.

Justin vineyards. Photo by coreanscribe.

Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Photo by coreanscribe.

Wine with picnic lunch at Justin. Photo by coreanscribe.

Justin winery has a restaurant and rooms available for stay. Photo by coreanscribe.

Beautiful and peaceful vineyards. Photo by coreanscribe.

Both Lizzy and I loved the trip and it was a great way to celebrate our first 100 days of marriage. I’m looking forward to many, many more wonderful days ahead.