I tried to get the winding road as much as possible.
There's the same peak we kept trying to catch on the way up North. We stopped at the place we had the great views with lunch for a bathroom break. It's called Lucia Lodge and I recently had dinner with the Division President of my company and she said that she and her family stayed there. She said it wasn't the nicest place ever, but the views were good and it was nice enough.
We got stopped at some construction and took a cool photo with our shades:
Here's some more gorgeous scenery:
There were so many of these signs on that section of the road, I kept trying to snap a picture and failed every time except this one:
Before we set out, we decided that since we really didn't have far to drive this day, or any activities to do, we wanted to go to the Hearst Castle again and take a different tour. I think it had to do with the fact that we were going to drive right past it, and we didn't know when we would be in the area again, plus the disappointment from the Winchester Mystery House. I think we wanted to do something interesting to cancel out that dud activity. We both loved that everything was original and the guides were so well trained.
Plus Hearst's story is so much better- he built the house for his family, he loved having people over, and to entertain. This time around I figured out how to get the flash off and took a picture of my favorite room in the house- the Library.
I love the ceiling, the windows, how large the room was, and especially that all of the books are stored behind delicate little metal grids with latches on them. I told Bean that when we are rich and we build our house, I want a Library with tons of books behind little metal grids. Except I don't need first edition or famous books, I'd like to have the entire Babysitter's Club series, the entire Goosebumps series, the entire Fear Street series, a few Christopher Pike books, plus all of my favorites that I've read several times including A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and the Ya-Ya Sisterhood books. That would be a dream come true!
This is the room that Hearst did most of his work, he met with clients and did interviews here, plus put together all of the papers. There were lots of knick knacks and I love the ceiling.
This bedroom was so pretty in person but didn't photograph well at all. It was circular and all yellow, and most of the walls were covered in windows with the pretty lattice-work. Another room we saw had a sitting area when you walk in, then had a balcony with the bed and a little spiral staircase going up to the bed. The bathroom was underneath the bed area. I would also LOVE to have a room like that in our rich-person house!
The kitchen was also awesome. Check out that stand mixer:
We really enjoyed the second tour and we were really close to the Madonna Inn, where we planned to stay the night. But before we got there, we saw some more scenery:
The hot-pink signs were a little off-putting, and Bean was really not looking forward to staying at this place after looking at some of the rooms on the website. This hotel has lots of rooms and every single one is designed differently. There are rooms with rock showers, country wallpaper, green carpet, train-themed rooms, etc, etc, etc. I was a little nervous we would get a really hideous or old room, so I left them a note saying that we were a young couple on vacation and to put us in a fun room.
We were put in the 'Dez' room (pronounced 'Day'), it was part of a series called Ren-Dez-Vous. We were the room in the middle of the three.
The blue doorframes made me nervous too. But we'd already paid for the room, and we were there, so we might as well see what we get!
When we opened the door, I tripped over the gold shag carpet!
AAAAHH!! Gold shag carpet, burgundy flocked damask wallpaper, burgundy velvet bedspread, gold faux-finished furniture....
Gaudy gold mirror, burgundy patterned chairs, old school letter writing desk....
And an equally gaudy gold bathroom to match! It had a strange toilet seat that also worked as a bidet and had a heated seat. That was my first indication that the hotel's real goal is to provide a slightly upscale but quirky experience that is very nice.
Gaudy gold mirror, burgundy patterned chairs, old school letter writing desk....And an equally gaudy gold bathroom to match! It had a strange toilet seat that also worked as a bidet and had a heated seat. That was my first indication that the hotel's real goal is to provide a slightly upscale but quirky experience that is very nice.
Here's a closeup of the wallpaper in the room:
The shower was gorgeous, but I didn't get to use it because I'd showered at the hotel in Monterey that morning. Check out the shimmery gold tiles:
And here's a closeup of the gold textured wallpaper in the bathroom:
And here's the view from outside on our balcony:
After we got as settled in as we could- the a/c was off and it was a little warm- we decided to walk around and try to peek in at some of the rooms. Most of the rooms with windows were empty, but I went up to one, cupped my hands around my eyes and started looking in, and someone that was laying on the bed sat up abruptly! I told Bean we needed to get out of there!
The shower was gorgeous, but I didn't get to use it because I'd showered at the hotel in Monterey that morning. Check out the shimmery gold tiles:And here's a closeup of the gold textured wallpaper in the bathroom:And here's the view from outside on our balcony:After we got as settled in as we could- the a/c was off and it was a little warm- we decided to walk around and try to peek in at some of the rooms. Most of the rooms with windows were empty, but I went up to one, cupped my hands around my eyes and started looking in, and someone that was laying on the bed sat up abruptly! I told Bean we needed to get out of there!
We went to the building where they have the steakhouse, bar, and dance floor and explored a little bit. This is a little rock area near the gift shop:
We thought about having dinner in the steakhouse, but after we saw the prices, and how over the top the dining room was, we decided to have a drink in the bar and then go into town and find somewhere to eat there. Ugly chairs, huh?
We found a little Italian place and were sat next to a table of locals who were having a ladie's night and were very loud. Once they left, I had something the waiter recommended. I absolutely love this picture of Bean:
Hilarious!
We thought about having dinner in the steakhouse, but after we saw the prices, and how over the top the dining room was, we decided to have a drink in the bar and then go into town and find somewhere to eat there. Ugly chairs, huh?We found a little Italian place and were sat next to a table of locals who were having a ladie's night and were very loud. Once they left, I had something the waiter recommended. I absolutely love this picture of Bean:Hilarious!
We were so tired of eating that I barely finished any of this. Plus we knew we wanted dessert from the hotel because they are famous for them. The waiter was really cool and we had a conversation with him about our trip. He said he knew we weren't from the area because of Bean's accent.
We went back to the main building at the hotel because we were told there was free swing dancing at 8pm. I just knew I could get Bean to dance with me!
Here's the sign at night:
Here is the gaudy carved doors going into the main building:
Here is the disgusting urinal in the men's room:
And the sinks in the same room:
We got the hostess to take a high-school prom pose picture in front of the dining room. I think you can tell why we didn't want to spend $100 on dinner here.
And this cool fireplace was made of stone from the mountains in the area. It was pretty cool.
After all of that exploring and eating, we ordered dessert, but not before I danced with two gentlemen before the crowds arrived. They asked, and Bean was watching some sports game on the TVs. Plus there was nobody there so there was plenty of room for him to see me trying to learn.
The place was packed as we finished our dessert and they were all really good dancers. Swing dancing is pretty hard for me to get the hang of because of the beat of the music. At least I learned a little of it back in 9th grade when my boyfriend at the time was in a play about war and they had swing dancing in the intermissions, so we all learned how to dance a little bit and would practice.
Here is the disgusting urinal in the men's room:And the sinks in the same room:We got the hostess to take a high-school prom pose picture in front of the dining room. I think you can tell why we didn't want to spend $100 on dinner here.And this cool fireplace was made of stone from the mountains in the area. It was pretty cool.After all of that exploring and eating, we ordered dessert, but not before I danced with two gentlemen before the crowds arrived. They asked, and Bean was watching some sports game on the TVs. Plus there was nobody there so there was plenty of room for him to see me trying to learn.The place was packed as we finished our dessert and they were all really good dancers. Swing dancing is pretty hard for me to get the hang of because of the beat of the music. At least I learned a little of it back in 9th grade when my boyfriend at the time was in a play about war and they had swing dancing in the intermissions, so we all learned how to dance a little bit and would practice.
Understandably, Bean was intimidated by how talented most of the dancers were and didn't want to get out on the dance floor. I did convince him to dance about 1.5 songs with me and it was so fun! Then we learned that all of the people were part of a college club that gets together at the Madonna Inn every Monday to practice their dancing.
We headed back to our room and had a fitful night of sleep. The A/C still wasn't working great and it was VERY loud. Plus we knew that in the morning we had to drive all the way back to LA (minimal or no stops) and fly out. So we had a deadline, and our vacation was coming to an end.
This hotel was #3 on our list because it was nicer than we thought it would be. We would stay there again, and I said next time we should get there early enough to go to the spa and hang out at the pool.
Throughout the trip I collected mini toiletries to put in our guest room in case anyone who stays with us forgets anything. The stuff from the Madonna Inn was some of the fanciest.
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