20th and 21st May

This is the view from our room in Morro Bay. I didn't post yesterday because we stayed at a here and the internet connection was both slow and unsecured. Tonight we are in Monterey, having driven Big Sur and survived!

Yesterday, after arriving in Morro Bay, which is a one-horse town if ever there was one, with a big rock (like Gibraltar they like to say round these parts), we booked the tour round Hearst Castle and drove out there. You park at the bottom of the 'Enchanted Mountain' as Hearst called it, and then got in a bus to take the five miles winding road to the summit. En route fabulous views out to sea. The Hearst Castle is essentially a concrete building that he tarted up with lots of antiques. It is quite fabulous inside and the views are spectacular. It must have been an incredible place in its heyday.
San Simeon, by contrast is a nothing town of motels and not much else. We drove back towards Morro Bay, stopping in Cayucos for a fish and chip supper. Our Days Inn motel in Morro Bay was very comfortable and we woke very early and took a walk down to the harbour front. We were too early for any shops so we packed our bags and started the drive north on Highway 1. I drove this morning and it was a winding and windswept 115 miles along a road that literally hangs onto the cliff side at times.

We lunched at the Whale Watchers Restaurant about half way round the Big Sur coast and then continued on our way to Monterey.
You can just see the road we drove as it winds round the cliffs. In the distance the bridge across the ravine that goes down to the sea.

We bypassed Carmel, because it is down in a dip below Highway 1 but we wanted to get to Monterey and find our next motel. We have ended up in the El Dorado, which is very old (as in tired rather than picturesque) but cheap and clean.
After that fabulous coastline Monterey is a bit of a tourist trap, with everything named after Steinbeck and not a bookshop in sight! There are some lovely old houses here though and they are very proud of the fishing industry (sardines) that used to be here. There is an historic 'trail' with boards that tell you about the history and an aquarium (which is massive and very expensive to go in - so we didn't). We had the worst meal of the trip so far at a restaurant that had a great view of the sea but not much else. We imagined that Gordon Ramsey would have a thing or two to say about it and left most of the meal. Being hungry we then found a Denny's (like Little Chef) and had pancakes. Tomorrow we drive to San Francisco.