SLO traveling California's Central Coast

The silliness of a biased, capricious man casts an enchanting aura on San Simeon, 1,600 feet above California's Central Coast. Its towers often pierce the foggy layers typical of the Pacific Ocean, and reign over a labyrinth of frozen halls, galleries, and pools in homage to the Gilded Age of the Great Depression.

A 3,500-year-old granite statue of Sekhmet, the Egyptian goddess of war, guards the gate. In the garden is her 3rd century Roman sarcophagus made of marble. The main entrance to Hearst Castle is guarded by a Renaissance relief of St. Paul.

In its heyday in the 1920s and '30s, this short-lived fantasyland was a retreat for the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Winston Churchill, Jean Harlow and Charles Lindbergh, and a destination for processions of guests who arrived at full expense upon request. was. These are the words of mining and media mogul William Randolph Hearst.

Today, the castle's 100-year-old guesthouse dwarfs the ornate mansions of Beverly Hills. The in-house movie theater was showing pre-screenings of Hollywood movies that were hoping to be included in Hearst's movie theaters. There's also a mile-long pergola atop his 83,000 acres of rolling hills on the ranch for walking and horseback riding.

Today, the California state park has built Hearst Castle into a storied history that not only provided a playground for the rich and famous, but also a platform that provided anchorage for leaders as they prepared for World War II. It is operated as a time capsule and pseudo-monument to the great figure. . The tour buses carried large numbers of passengers to and from the outpost near San Simeon, past the ranch land that once housed Mr. Hart's personal collection of exotic wildlife, including zebras, giraffes and polar bears. There is. Today, only zebras and a few artiodactyl species roam freely among the peaks of the surrounding Santa Lucia Mountains.

The castle itself is a kind of Golden State Graceland, making it a must-see stop for travelers up and down the California coast.

This road trip has a checklist. Hearst Castle adds a dramatic exclamation point to your itinerary, but with the rise of social media, there are other attractions along California 1 that can be just as crowded, if not as structured. A list of must-see attractions has been created. Heading south from San Francisco, the list looks like this: Carmel-by-the-Sea, Point Lobos, Bixby Canyon Bridge, McWay Falls, San Simeon Elephant Seal Rookery, and Morro Rock. During the winter, Pismo Beach's butterfly bushes and Santa Cruz's peak surf stretches in both directions.

Despite frequent closures in some sections due to landslides (the route is currently split in half near Limekiln State Park), the Central Coast section of California 1 remains close to Route 66 and Blue Ridge Park. It has become as iconic as Way. There's probably nothing on an American road trip that can match the awe of the waves crashing on the shore. The crumbling cliffs of Siena are sometimes bathed in golden afternoon sun and sometimes shrouded in early morning mist. Swells of cerulean and sapphire break into a shower of silvery froth covering jet-black rocks and coral reefs.

Ansel Adams spent the last 20 years of his life here. Perhaps it's because even on a cloudy day, the scale of humans seems smaller in dramatic scenes.

The Central Coast is a social media mecca, where viral static Instagram posts preceded vertical video, birthed influencers, and helped popularize the platform in the 2010s.

But Instagram didn't announce the Central Coast discovery. By the time the Spanish fleet began arriving in the mid-1500s, Salinan- and Chumash-speaking peoples had already occupied the area for generations. Centuries after Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. governments violated individual liberties and homelands, some of their descendants are lobbying the Biden administration today for further protections for the coast. .

Highways here opened little by little, but by the late 1930s most of today's California Route 1 had been completed. Soon after, rustic roadside cabins and campgrounds built into the redwood forests began luring road trippers along winding routes. Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park was created in 1933 on his family's ranch, but the cliff-top, mid-century modern Nepenthe area has welcomed guests for 75 years, and advertising The staff boasts that they don't serve any.

The Big Sur travel boom, fueled by social media, has prompted one local community association member to refer to the scene as a “goat rodeo,” and overtourism has become a problem. However, according to Nepenthe staff, the closure of the highway in 2023 has reduced traffic to “about 70%.” For now, travelers looking to see as much of the Central Coast as possible are returning to Monterrey and San Luis Obispo. Additionally, several popular attractions along the way, including Limekiln State Park and McWay Falls hiking trails, are temporarily closed.

San Luis Obispo is located at the southern end of the area. With a population of about 50,000 people, it's a small town by California standards. But by Central Coast standards, SLO is a big city. The station was the historic starting point for Depression-era celebrities traveling down the winding dirt roads to Hearst's Castle. But William Randolph Hearst was no Elvis Presley, and SLO is only tenuously connected to the history of his empire.

Today, downtown SLO is a hub of bistros, wine bars, and streamside restaurants bordering the 18th-century Mission District of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. It also serves as the headquarters for University of California students and is a hub for travelers traveling along the coast.

Trail runners and mountain bikers run up and down the hills, working up a sweat while drinking locally brewed Firestone Walker 805 beer. A photographer looks for snapshots from a sea cave near Pirate's Cove. Surf shops like Moon Doggie's Beach Club cater to locals as well as tourists. The annual SLO International Film Festival draws travelers to independent films shown under the flickering neon lights of venues like the historic Fremont Theater. And supersized boutique hotels like Hotel SLO have ruins that dwarf his 1930s-1940s coastal encampments headed for Big Sur.

Hotel SLO's rooftop lounge, the High Bar, offers views of the sun setting over the ancient volcanic peaks that support the Central Coast's vibrant winemaking scene.

The hotel regularly hosts wine festivals, including Rosé the SLO Way in April. The event is a fundraiser that brings together about 20 area wineries to showcase one of his favorite warm-weather blends on the Central Coast. “California's Central Coast produces some of the most acclaimed wines in the world,” says Kirse Shah, co-founder of Piazza Hospitality, which develops and manages hotels. “We’re proud to showcase the region’s talent at the festival and throughout the year.”

Shah's group strives to incorporate SLO's culinary and visual arts into guest packages to provide the perfect base camp for travelers seeking scenery and mystery along Highway 1. It's not the only option in town. Short-term rentals like the SLO Brew Loft offer a more DIY approach, while the funky and famous Madonna Inn offers a more Route 66-like experience. But with its spacious and well-appointed facilities, Hotel SLO lives up to the expectations of luxury travelers, a century after its pioneers began arriving on the Central Coast in search of strange castles in the sky. .

When to go: Peak season is from May to September. If you're planning a summer road trip, plan well in advance. Temperatures on the Central Coast are mild to cold year-round, making off-season travel just as enjoyable.

How to get there: San Luis Obispo is located halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, about a 3.5-hour highway drive from both. He doubles the time it takes to travel to California. 1. San Luis Obispo Regional County Airport offers 11 daily flights from cities such as Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Seattle, and San Diego.