What time is it there?!

We decided to swap our planned visit to San Diego for a view of the Central Coast. Our experiences of the North Coast had been wonderful so we were hoping for more treats. Whilst San Diego would have also been fun, we probably didn’t have the time to do it justice so we will leave this for another occasion-any excuse! We based ourselves in Lompoc, known primarily for its’ Alcatraz style Federal Penitentiary and the Vandenberg Air Force base ...... hummm nice .... it was actually.

We were now getting into the real city dwellers weekend vacation territory and it was all a lot more crowded than we have been used to. Pismo Beach was a hive of activity with what appeared to be a local majorette competition (actually related to the Veterans Day weekend around November 11th we think). There were people everywhere in spangly outfits and t-shirts proclaiming the name of their band. It was fun and the award presentation brought a lot of excitement with lots of girls screaming!

Splash Cafe was recommended as serving award winning Clam Chowder, with people queuing around the block. Well, they really do queue around the block, so we joined the queue (well, ‘line’ actually, now that we speak fairly fluent American) just to see. Verdict - definitely the best Clam Chowder we have tasted out of our huge sample of ... 2 !

We then went on to Hearst Castle. 28 years of work and never officially finished. It certainly looked quite grand from out view point several hundred feet below. You can’t go for a quick nosey and a few pictures, you have to do a guided tour which includes the history etc. Next tour available was the next day.

TIP: Don’t just turn up hoping you will be able to just have a look around the outside and not bother with a tour. The carpark is at the bottom of the hill and it looks like a two mile bus journey to get to the top, which you can only do if you’ve paid $24 for the tour. Book in advance if you want to go (you can also do it online).

As the sun was beginning to set we went to Point Piedras Blancas which rewarded us with a sight (and smell) to put Hearst Castle to shame. The beach was literally covered with Elephant Seals fighting for space on the cool sand, cavorting in the sea and on the beach and sneezing (or what appeared to be sneezing). It was a truly wonderful sight (forget the smell!) and made for some superb photographs. The ‘David Bailey’ in us came out again but we have spared you with just a small sample.