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Santa Barbara is renowned for its mission, one of the largest and most
graceful in the California chain. I visited at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday when it
was functioning as the parish church; the character changes quite a bit at 9 a.m.
when the tourists flock in. The mission was founded in 1786, suffered an
earthquake in 1812, and was rebuilt in its current form in 1820.
Another prime Santa Barbara tourist spot is Stearns Wharf, a half-mile long
pier cluttered with shops, restaurants, tourists, locals fishing, and greedy
afraid-of-nothing pelicans.
The Michelin Green Guide
recommends a 2.5 day stay in Santa Barbara to see the sights, but I
can't for the life of me imagine why. There is allegedly a nice art museum and
the view from the top of the courthouse, but really one day should be enough;
save your time for San Francisco or the National Parks.
Ronald Reagan and Michael Jackson and lots of other famous rich people have
ranches in the coastal mountains behind Santa Barbara.
Morro Bay
Morro Bay is where Highway 1 hits the coast. Below
Morro Bay the coast is completely pristine and untouched by human hands unless
you count one huge nuclear power plan. That's right, Diablo Canyon was
shoehorned into the one unspoiled part of the coastline. Oh well.
I really don't like Morro Bay because I arrived there on a Saturday night and
couldn't get a hotel room. I drove all the way back to San Luis Obispo (a dumpy
college town with a nice mission) and couldn't find a room there either. They
told me to drive 45 minutes NE to Lompoc, home of a huge state prison. I drove
back to Morro Bay and parked my Acura NSX by the fishing boats and slept in the
car. Doing this I learned that although the NSX is a fine car, it makes a lousy
$85,000 bed.
I slept right across the channel from Morro Rock, a 576' high volcanic lump
sitting right on the edge of the water, so that I could get a great picture at
sunrise. As you can see for yourself, I failed miserably.
Cambria
Cambria is 19 miles north of Morro Bay and just shy of Hearst Castle. Everyone
says that this is the place to get "culture" along the coast. What Southern
Californians mean by culture, though, is shopping. That's what Cambria is. A
bunch of shops and a few places to sit with an espresso. Cambria is inland from
the highway, but there is some nice undeveloped land on the other side that makes
for a good stroll.
San Simeon
San Simeon is most famous for being
the home to Hearst Castle, built by William Randolph Hearst from about 1919 to
about 1946. It is now a California State Park and it costs $14 to take one of
four one-hour tours.
Bill Gates
and his wife paid $500 for a private tour; they were looking for some decorating
ideas. If you visit the Getty Museum in Malibu and then the Hearst Castle, you'll
come away saying "there's a big difference between being a billionaire and a
millionaire." Even if Hearst didn't have the kind of quality booty that Getty
collected, he sure knew how to live. Home movies shown at the Castle demonstrate
that William Randolph Hearst was surrounded constantly by friends, a
disproportionate number of whom were young female movie stars.
Just north of the castle, you'll find a big group of expert windsurfers. They
surf the big waves that roll in and then use windpower to get back out quickly. A
lot of them catch 10' or more of air on the way out. My friend Jim broke his
ankle this way and then ended up dragging himself and his board about a mile back
up the coast to his car. He knew that if he went to the hospital, they'd cut off
his $300 custom-made wetsuit, so he pulled it off over his broken ankle himself.
Jim is a real man.
"Elephant seals are great because they show you what life is really about.
Waiting around until you get a chance to fuck." Paul is my most intellectual
friend. He goes to all the lectures around universities because he's genuinely
curious. Right now he's getting a PhD in experimental psychology at Stanford and
this was the kind of thing I should have expected him to say when I showed him my
snapshots.
About 500 yards north of the windsurfers, over some land owned by the Hearst
Corporation (lightly fenced), is a big, relatively new, colony of elephant seals.
Up at Año Nuevo State Reserve you have to buy a ticket at MISTIX (used to
be Ticketron) and go on a guided tour through some fenced pathways with rangers.
Twenty years ago you could walk right up to the seals even at Año but
allegedly a couple put their baby on one of the seals for a photo. The seal
randomly rolled over and crushed the baby. That's the urban legend anyway. Here
in San Simeon on a Sunday I had the colony all to myself and nothing but fear of
a 1-ton animal squashing me like the bug that I am kept me from strolling right
up in their faces (there is allegedly a California state law against getting
closer than 15').
Big Sur
The Central Coast is really only dramatic for about 30 miles. It starts about
30 miles north of the Hearst Castle and ends around the "town" of Big Sur. This
is where you get the huge cliffs, big boulders in the water, and huge waves
pounding the coast. This is also the home of probably the nicest hotel in
California, the Ventana Inn. I stayed for one night, which wasn't enough to begin
to let the peace of the place seep into me, to fully enjoy the range of massage
services offered, and to try every dish on the menu in the restaurant, the best
on the coast.
Carmel
I don't read science fiction. I know that H.G. Wells
and Henry James were considered comparable talents in their day. I know that some
of the best writers today work in this genre. It is just that after 10 years at
MIT, reading a SciFi novel to me falls into the same category as wearing
polyester, sporting a pocket protector, and wrapping masking tape around my
eyeglasses. Nonetheless, so many people told me that I had to read Snow
Crash that I did. The first part of the book is brilliant, detailing a
society where government authority has eroded to the point that everything is
privatized. The military has been sold off, the police replaced by security
guards, and jails run by franchises such as The Clink. People with any money live
in BurbClaves, quasi-national entities surrounded by fences, with their own laws
and you need a passport to get in. Carmel is America's first BurbClave.
There are laws against virtually everything in Carmel. Until Clint Eastwood came
in as mayor, it was illegal to sell ice cream cones because they might result in
litter. Now there are signs admonishing people not to buy food "to go" and eat it
in parks because it might result in the city's resemblance to an upscale shopping
mall being reduced. Perhaps you'd just like to drive your car around and look at
the nice houses and ocean. You've heard that this 17-mile Drive is nice. Oh, but
there's the gate. Don't have your passport proving citizenship in the BurbClave?
You'll have to pay $6. If you take a picture of a cypress tree, make sure you
don't try to use it for much. The Lone Cypess Tree is trademarked.
If you like to shop, Carmel has a Saks Fifth Avenue downtown plus hordes of
boutiques and art galleries selling a lot of work by accomplished artists. If
that isn't enough, there are several big shopping malls back by Highway 1. There
are so many real estate offices in Carmel that you'll be constantly reminded of
the question "Why is there so much garbage in New York and so many real estate
agents in California?" [answer: because New York had first choice]
Among all of these horrors, Carmel does have a few treasures. One is the
1790's mission, where Father Junipero Serra is buried. Another is Point Lobos
State Reserve, a hard-to-get-into park just south of the town where Ansel Adams,
Edward Weston, and a lot of other great photographers roamed with their view
cameras (Note: these guys also roamed around the park with naked models,
something I wouldn't recommend today because the place is packed with tourists).
Finally, there is the Carmel Camera Center, a fantastic photo lab right in
downtown. They do C-41 (regular print film) in 1-hour, even with 5x7 proofs. They
do E6 (slides) in two hours, though it is roller transport so I don't trust them.
They do cheap, fast, and excellent quality reprints here so this is the place to
manufacture your own postcards to send to friends.
Carmel has lots of hotels but if you stay here instead of in Big Sur, it means
that you have an asphalt soul.
The Carmel Mission is one of the chain's nicest...
Point Lobos:
Monterey
Monterey has a beautiful bay and a nice
aquarium and a bunch of classic California architecture. Somehow all of the grit
and interest that John Steinbeck chronicled in Cannery Row (1945) is
gone. A really good reason to hang out here is to SCUBA dive in the kelp forests
off the coast. My limited experience diving has been in Hawaii, the Caribbean,
and Australia so I just can never screw up the courage to plunge into 50 degree
water.
The biggest tourist attraction is the aquarium:
But there is also the wharf...
Giant Artichoke
Castroville is home to
the Giant Artichoke, my favorite restaurant on the coast. You must try the
artichoke soup, fried artichoke hearts, artichoke burgers, ... you get the
idea.
The End (sort of)
At
Santa Cruz, you can choose to continue up Route 1
to
San Francisco or go inland over Highway 17 through
San Jose.
I had the chance to stay and work for a week in
Diablo Canyon (DCPP) as part of the
Nuclear Engineering program at Berkeley.
Unless large (very, very large) turbines and maze
of pipes interest you, it's not a terribly photogenic
place. The road leading into DCPP is somewhat
interesting -- because they had to transport reactor
vessels from the nearest highway (near Avila Beach),
they made special trucks and left the 10+ mile road
into DCPP uncrowned. The spent fuel pools were
quite interesting, too -- even though the fuel
elements are sitting beneath twenty-five feet of
boron-laced water (boron is a good absorber of
neutrons, preventing the spent fuel from going
critical), it looks like you can reach down and
touch the element-tops.
I have to say that DCPP is quite well-run for any
sort of power plant, not just a nuclear one. The
site is spectacular. The plant itself hasn't been
running for too long (construction redesign to take
account of the faultline running near the plant took
about ten years or so) and it has a superb record
with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. I guess that
I sound somewhat propagandist, but I'm a nuclear
engineer -- I can't really help it!
Maybe the most interesting feature of the plant is
the guards, replete with M-16s to stop the unwary.
My first day there, I got frisked for setting off
the bomb sniffer -- when the nice man with the
bulletproof suit asks you to step aside, it's amazing
how fast you can move.
If you plan to visit Hearst Castle in San Simeon during the summer, (Memorial Day to Labor Day), I recommend taking the nighttime tour of the estate. Really spectacular. Make reservations, it sells out fast. If you are spending the night and it happens to be a weekend, stay in nearby Cambria. For dinner, check out the main street barbecue, or the Sea Chest for some excellent, and very fresh, seafood.
I spent 2 years at
the University of California at Santa Barbara's Department
of Geography. I'd have to say that unless
you're going to play some golf or head up to San
Marcos Pass, a day is probably long enough to
visit Santa Barabara. That said, I've gone down
since finishing grad school to play golf at
Sandpiper, which is an excellent course with a
wicked back nine. Montana d'Oro State Park, just
north of the Diablo Canyon nuke plant is an
interesting place to visit. The sirens that they
have in the park in case of nuclear disaster are a
bit disturbing though.
Especially if you are a nature photographer, do
not miss Pt. Lobos, which is an incredible place
to spend a day or a lifetime. Bring as much film
as you can carry.
The Montery Aquarium is my second favorite place
to spend time on the central coast, but not so
much for photography. Due to both tourists and
lighting conditions, it is difficult for
photography. More information on the Monterey
Aquarium can be found at:
http://www.hp.com/ghp/aquarium/tour/index.htm
This is a useful aquarium info site, but don't
expect great pictures. Maybe someone on photo.net
could donate some nice photos. Why do I suggest
this?
Notice that this page is on the Hewlett Packard
site. How appropriate since HP donated the server
for photo.net. Of course, it is not just a
coincidence a Monterey Aquarium page is found on
the HP site. Julie Packard (David Packard's
daughter, I believe) is the Executive Director of
the Aquarium. Also, HP provided significant
financial backing to build the aquarium.
I am sorry you didn't have a reservation and had
to sleep in your car, which obviously caused
extreme grumpiness. But, please don't take that
lack of planning out on the Central Coast. The
reason San Luis Obispo's 1600 motel/hotel rooms
were full is because many people find it to be a
very charming small town with many wonderful photo
opportunities. We are known world wide for our
Thursday night Farmers' Market, which alone
attracts about 5,000 people every week; a
beautifully restored mission, and one of
California's best preserved and vital downtowns.
Please visit again in a better mood.
This is a great page but it lacks about a 50 mile
stretch of coast between SB and Morro Bay. San
Luis county is probably the most worthwhile places
to go because it crosses the gap of touristic and
southern cal. SB, with the culture of Monterey and
and Santa Cruz. Check it out.
Near San Luis Obispo is the Madonna Inn, a
potential alternative to sleeping in one's NSX.
Comically elaborate rooms suitable for romance (if
you're a character out of Barbara Cartland.)
I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how -- if you drove from Santa Barbara to Carmel in an Acura NSX -- you had any clue that there was a nuclear power plant on the coast south of Morro Bay. It is totally out of view of anyone travelling the central coast by car. The only way to see it would be by air or by sea. The location is actually almost perfect from the perspective of not wanting to destroy the beauty of the central coast, because almost no one except plant employees and a few fishermen will ever see it.
Also, the most important thing a tourist needs to know when planning a visit to the central coast is to time your visit so that you can stay overnight in the city of San Luis Obispo on a Thursday night. On Thursday nights they close the main downtown street to cars and hold a huge street party. They call it "Farmers Market" because you can buy locally grown produce right there on the street, but it's so much more than just that... it's an incredible "only in S.L.O." street party with everything from the greatest barbecue food to unique shopping in the historic restored old downtown. The people are friendly, the weather typically delightful, and the experience is one you won't soon forget... a charming street party in a friendly little town that time seemed to forget.
The fact that the motels were booked up for miles around should tell you something about our little slice of heaven in San Luis Obispo county.
- Jim Zimmerlin,
Diablo Canyon Employee
and Grover Beach resident
The reason it's been suggest to spend more than 1 day in Santa Barbara is because of the day trips to Ojai, Solvang with wine tasting and a quit day on the scenic beaches along with like you said the court house, mission, museum, zoo and bird refuge, Arlington Theatre, Brooks Institute, Montecito/Hope Ranch and the many parks with various high tech firms scattered through out what we call silicon beach. You might even want to spend a night or so in the Craftsman styled Tallant House Homemstay
"I drove all the way back to San Luis Obispo (a dumpy college town with a nice mission) "
Ouch. I went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Of all the people whom I have met that have visited, you're the sole extoller of dumpatude.
SLO has a nice mission, yes(I didn't catch any photos on your page. I assume you DID pay it a visit). But, as others have mentioned, SLO has it's own character; thursday night Farmer's market, Poly Royal, Shakespeare festivals, bike and foot races through down town, WOW week, great pubs and bars as well as dance clubs, loads of gorgeous college women :), great weather, and loads of small town charm. You can walk the entire down town in minutes and never think "That's it?" because it's packed with character. If you go to bubble gum alley, it's packed with chewy goodness...er. Anyways; It's close to Morro Bay and Pismo beach, as well as several local nature areas for hiking and camping.
In many ways, SLO is what Carmel used to be before it went gung-ho touristy and whacky. "Dumpy"? Ouch. Which SLO did you visit? ;)
We must be very different - I would dump SF for SLO anyday. SF is good for visiting - SLO is good for living.
I would not classify myself as a photographer, yet I could have taken pictures of equal quality. Secondly, as I viewed the photos, along with reading the photographer's comments, I developed a sense of..."meaningless". That is, the photographs had no meaning. The photographer unappreciatingly toured the Central Coast for the sole purpose of taking photographs. There is a complete lack of divine inspiration or inspiration derived from the subjects of the photographs. The photographer is so focused on the negative (which can be found just about anywhere), that he became blinded to the richness of this region. Additionally, the photographs were boring. The essence of the Central Coast was not captured. Though I suppose that's as good as a "drive-by shooting" can get. I have only had the priviledge of visiting that coastline from time to time. So much magic can be found without even looking for it.
About 5 years ago, I rode down to California on my motorcycle from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to visit friends in the Bay area. One day, we drove South to see Carmel's scenic drive and take some photos. Imagine my surprise when I was told at the gates to Carmel that motorcycles are not allowed!!! I did manage to go on the 17 mile scenic drive but only because my friends were behind me in their car. I had to leave the bike at the gate and jump in the car. Once inside the gates, I saw many motorcycles in Carmel, but obviously owned by residents of Carmel. It is a scenic and beautiful area but if you want to get in, don't go on your motorcycle.
An adult male elephant seal can cover 20 feet in two seconds. Hence the recommendation (if present on a state reserve such as Ano Nuevo, law) to remain at least 25 feet away. Fortunately, these massive beasts can only travel that distance in a straight line.
I just returned from a quick 2 day (one night) roadtrip from Marin County down to SLO and Hearst Castle I thought I would share some of my comments.
It was a good trip although a bit too short to really explore everything in the area. For instance, I understand that there are some very scenic beaches, some cool spas and some good restaurants. I suppose I should have stayed a couple of days longer but I grew bored because I was alone.
When I got into SLO, I immediately parked downtown. Had coffee in a local cafe (don't go to Starbucks!) where I got to witness some of the local flavor-a nice mixture of working and college types.
Walking around town, I too couldn't help but notice all of the pretty college girls out and about! I thought to myself, darn, I went to the wrong college! I'm not sure I've ever been in a town where I noticed so many pretty women within a 3 block radius. I wonder why?
I stumbled across a fairly decent looking downtown camera shop (called something like Jim's Campus Camera) with a good collection of used lenses and cameras in the front window. Might be worth a look if you are in the area and are looking for used camera gear. And the sales staff seemed friendly although I did not pay attention to their prices since I was not looking to buy anything.
I wasn't really hungry yet for dinner so I drove around town and found the Madonna Inn. Being a laid off tech. worker, I could not afford to stay there although I wanted to. At least I know where it is for next time. Check out the room pictures on their website. It looks like a wonderful gem of a place! I drove up to Atascadero and stayed the night in the Motel 6 right off of 101 (Santa Rosa Rd. exit). As a general rule, if you get just a few miles out of the city limits, the motel rates get even cheaper than in the city. Motel 6 is sure nothing special, but they are consistent and reasonably priced. I used them exclusively last November for a trip halfway across the country with no complaints.
In the morning I woke up and drove out to Hearst Castle. While I was quite impressed with the castle, tour and the grounds itself (how can you not be? Wouldn't it be nice to be that wealthy?), I was less than impressed with the visitor's center. They had signs on the doors saying all people taking a tour of the castle must have their picture taken for "security" reasons. However, in reality, this is just so they can try to sell you a cheesy 8x10 print of yourself afterwards for $17. After the photographer took my picture, I remarked to him that I was surprised they were not using digital cameras. He rudely ignored me and hurredly went on to the next person.
The food at the cafeteria was way too expensive. $8.75 for a hotdog with fries and a soda. (I got fish and chips for the same price so at least I could feel like I was getting a bit of something different for the price.) The outdoor seating area is uncomfortable, with crows flying and crapping all around, trying to get your food. I had to pass up two tables in order to find one without bird crap on it to sit at. And then while I was eating they were swarming all around begging for morsels.
I took the "Experience Tour #1" which is one out of 5 different tours you can take at Hearst Castle. They recommend the #1 tour for people who have never been there because it's a good overview tour. Another tour is just of the gardens, other ones show you some of the newer areas and Hearst's office, etc... The docent was knowledgeable and frank, answering any and all questions, even ones that addressed the negative things that are known about William Randolf Hearst (such as his lavish lifestyle, blacklisting his enemies, etc, etc...). On the other hand, the 40 minute National Geographic IMAX-like movie shown in the Visitors Center was pure Hearst propaganda.
I decided to drive back north via Highway 1 (by turing right out of Hearst Castle), instead of going back on 46 to Highway 101. The twisty coastline Highway 1 route is extraordinarily scenic and particularly suited to sportscars and motorcycles (both of which there seemed to be a lot of). Eventually, I ended up in Monterey where I caught the 156 East back to Highway 101 North and up to the Bay Area.
The way back some seemed to take a long time but it was a nice drive. At least until I hit the rush hour traffic on 101 all the way from Silicon Valley up to San Francisco!
There is a power plant right in Morro Bay with three huge smokestacks that some visitors may mistake for the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. The Morro Bay power plant is owned by Duke Energy, I believe, and burns natural gas as a fuel.
"I really don't like Morro Bay because I arrived there on a Saturday night and couldn't get a hotel room. I drove all the way back to San Luis Obispo (a dumpy college town with a nice mission) and couldn't find a room there either. They told me to drive 45 minutes NE to Lompoc, home of a huge state prison. I drove back to Morro Bay and parked my Acura NSX by the fishing boats and slept in the car. Doing this I learned that although the NSX is a fine car, it makes a lousy $85,000 bed"
I have to add to the rest of the comments from the "locals" here on the Central Coast. The area from Santa Barbara to Big Sur is some the most scenic country in the U.S. It's really to bad that you brought your East Coast attitude along with you to slam our side of the country. Sounds kinda like Jet Lag and a rushed trip to me. I can now understand why the people in SLO told you to drive 45 minutes NE to get to Lompoc. That would have put you in the middle of nowhere which is the perfect place for you! Slow down, in fact STOP and maybe life will catch up to you. hmmmm... I wonder if any of the people you met out here picked up on your attitude, it is pretty obvious. Who cares how much the car costs, were we all supposed to be impressed that you were driving it? Oh my God, he's a photographer in an $85,000 car!!! We'd better bow down to him and give him a room or he'll take lousy pictures and give us a bad name! Just as well as far as I'm concerned, we love our little corner of the world here. The fewer people that know about it the better off we'll be!!!
MONGO
I lived in SB for 12 years. I never ever got bored with that place. It is the best place to live on earth. The place just soaks you up in its warm embrace, and every day is a wonderful joy. I know I am wafting all new agey, and that was the one thing I didn't like about SB was all the new agey stuff, but here I am doing it myself.
I had a funny life there. I went to UCSB from 89-91 and then drove a cab for 8 years. So at night I got to soak up the drunks and the violence and the adventure and the floozies who wanted to make love to you in the back seat of the cab, and the 12 year old school girls that ran out on me in the middle of the night without paying the fare.
Then on my days off, at least three or four of those every week, I could go skiing on deserted slopes, or hiking in the wilderness behind SB.
I know many people think SB is a boring whitebread town, which it is, but there is much more to it than that. It is what you make of it. Sure there are boring rich people there, with no imagination, but there are a ton of very cool people, and some of the best friends I have ever made there too.
I live in San Francisco and agree it is a great city, but I disagree with your review of Cambria. It's very charming and my pick of destinations when leaving the city. It's like Carmel without the attitude. Your close to the sea elephants and you get some great views of the coast driving in. There are charming old victorians and lots of gallerys. What more could you want?? Seems you need to mabe go back again and not rush around so much!
ruby
