Hawthorne Gallery and other Big Sur, CA Things to Do Tips

Housed in a distinctive and modern looking wood, metal and glass building by architect Mickey Muennig, the same person that designed Big Sur's famed Post Ranch Inn, the Hawthorne Gallery opened in 1995.

The Gallery houses the artwork of the multi-talented Hawthorne family as well some selected works of talented artists from around the US. The artwork is of a diverse nature, including painting, sculpture, jewelry, glasswork, ceramics and design is simply jaw-droppingly stunning, and is more than ably abetted by the beautiful clean lined interior of the gallery space itself...

Seriously, if I had some spare cash I would go here and spend, spend, spend...!

It's not often you find a collection of artwork that is so completely on your wavelength that you instantly fall in love with it - you simply must check out the Hawthorne Gallery website and see for yourselves!!!

Best of all it's just across from the magical Nepenthe Restaurant.

*Drool!*

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Phone: (831) 667 3200
Address: 48485 Highway One, Big Sur, CA 93920
Directions: Opposite the famous Nepenthe Restaurant
Website: http://www.hawthornegallery.com

Hearst Castle is the magnificent fantasy palace of William Randolph Hearst, the early 20th century’s answer to Rupert Murdoch and controversial muse for Orson Welles’ classic film ‘Citizen Kane’.

Hearst envisaged a more civilised surrounding from his early camping visits and in 1919 simply instructed the famed architect Julia Morgan that he 'would like to build a little something'.

So began a great collaboration that was to create one of the World’s foremost private residences, always seemingly under construction as Hearst changed his whims and added yet more spectacular features to it.

Hearst renamed Camp Hill as ‘La Cuesta Encantada’ - The Enchanted Hill and by 1947 a massive estate of 165 rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces and walkways – including two pools sat grandly atop it!

Before setting out for Hearst Castle, we were warned to book ahead for tickets. We were glad that we had as despite being a morning of an off season weekday, the gigantic mall sized car park was already crowded and people without tickets were faced waits of well over an hour!

Everything about Hearst Castle is massive, so much so that there is not just one tour – but 5, plus a host of other special event tours! The main ‘Experience’ tour explores most of the main features including the gardens, the two swimming pools and the ground floor of the casa grande and lasts 1h 45mins. This weighs in at a pricey $18, but is well worth every cent! In keeping with a man who was never one to turn down a fast buck, if you were to manage all the main tours it would set you back a total of $78! No wonder they have trademarked ‘Hearst Castle’…

My all time favourite feature of Hearst Castle has to be the awe inspiring indoor Roman Pool – it truly takes your breath away, and is the last stop on all guided tours for good reason!

Please check out the Hearst Castle website link below – you will not be disappointed by this amazing modern fairytale palace…

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Phone: 800-444-4445
Address: Hearst Castle, San Simeone
Directions: http://www.hearstcastle.org/visitors_center/directions.asp
Website: http://www.hearstcastle.org/
Other Contact: Intl: 1-916-414-8400 ext. 4100

A quick drive along the coast from Hearst Castle is the home of one of California's largest populations of elephant seals. There are around 7,500 here and it is a year round home for the seals. Highlights include seeing females giving birth to their young, huge males battling for mates and young pups frolicking in the surf!

The best time to visit is around January/February when the females birth their young and the mating begins, peaking around Valentine’s Day (what a romantic lot!). The elephant seals can be visited from 8 am to sunset all year round.

There are often guides in blue jackets on hand to allow visitors to get up close and personal with these amazing animals. This is an excellent opportunity to observe these remarkable creatures in their native habitat and along the viewing areas are a number of excellent educational and informational signs.

The beach is easily spotted from the highway with ample parking and we had a fabulous time watching the seals doze in the sun and sand, and watch as one female became bad tempered and started chasing other females off around her with loud raucous barks.

The beach is maintained by the ‘Friends of the Elephant Seal’, a non-profit organisation dedicated to educating people about elephant seals and other marine life. Their office in San Simeon is located in Plaza de Cavalier and it's a great place to get more information, gifts and other goodies.

This makes a great stopping off point on the Big Sur drive!

One last word of warning is that these seals should under no circumstances be approached closely on the beach as they are wild animals that are prone to vicious attacks if felt threatened! Male seals can weigh at 5,000lbs - do the maths!

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Phone: 1-805-924-1628
Address: Piedras Blancas beach
Directions: North of San Simeone on Highway 1 at the beginning of Big Sur
Website: www.elephantseal.org/

During the months of October until March, Pacific Grove plays host to about 65,000 migrating Monarch Butterflies as they winter all the way from Canada in the mild microclimates of the area which are the only places to host certain trees that the Monarch seems to like. Here they feed and mate before their long journey home, laying their eggs along the way to create the next generation of Monarchs…

The best place to see them is at the Monarch Grove Sanctuary, where they spend much of the morning spreading their wings soaking up the sun’s rays until their wings are sufficiently warm to take flight. This is a great time to catch them as to see them swarming in the air is a beautiful sight.

It takes these butterflies about four weeks to go from eggs to chrysalises to birth, feeding, mating, laying eggs and migration. For me the most amazing thing is that the butterflies that reach Pacific Grove in autumn are the fifth generation, or the great great grandchildren of the butterflies that set out from here in the spring before – how do they know where to travel???

These Butterflies are fiercely protected by the local population, there are even special butterfly wardens to look after them and educate visitors.

For more information you can visit the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History and the Pacific Grove Public Library, which are next to each other on Grand and Central Avenues.

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Phone: 888.PGMonarch
Address: Ridge Road and Lighthouse Avenue
Website: www.pelicannetwork.net/monarch.butterfly.pacific.htm