Day 12 - San Simeon

Today we visited San Simeon’s two famous attractions. First, we drove to Point Piedras Blancas to see the elephant seals 🦭. This is one of the most popular beaches for them to breed and brith their pups - over 4,000 births per year on this beach! They don’t eat or drink while on the beach, so they just lay about conserving energy; they look dead at first, but then one starts seeing movements. Learn more about these huge seals at https://elephantseal.org/

Then it was off to San Simeon State Park - AKA: Hearst Castle 🏰. We were here for the typical starter tour or the grand entry, dining hall, etc. several years ago, so this time we went on the "Designing the Dream" tour which showcased the oldest completed cottage (not the first one that was started but abandoned) as well as the newest wing of Casa Grande (mostly complete and live-in interior, but not the exterior). This was an interesting tour since it showed the change in styles and interests through the three decades.