Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Hearst Castle

How does the Traveling Hillbilly even begin to describe Hearst Castle? Magnificent? Stunning? Grand? Glorious? All of the above!

What a truly amazing site. We saw Zebras roaming the grounds as we pulled into the road leading to the Visitors Center! The Traveling Hillbilly has seen some truly wonderful sites over the years and the Hearst Castle has now been added to the list. Both the indoor and outdoor pools are so inviting you just want to jump right in. The house itself is quite over the top, just as you would expect a “castle” to be. The Traveling Hillbilly’s whole house would fit in the living room. The grounds and the view however are what I enjoyed the most. I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves.

Paso Robles in 48 Hours!

A last minute trip to Paso Robles turns out to be just what the Traveling Hillbilly needed. After spending the morning trying to reschedule a few things, it was time to hit the road for a quick getaway. As a lot of you know, the Traveling Hillbilly has been wanting to spend more time wine tasting in this region since the great Highway 1 drive last year.

A friend of mine was on his way back from doing the infamous Highway 1 drive and we decided to meet up in Paso Rablos for a couple of nights.

Luckily the Traveling Hillbilly got out of town early enough to avoid the dreaded “rush hour” traffic and arrived in Paso Robles, just in time for dinner. Coincidentally, my friend arrived just ten minutes later. Where to go when there are so many choices?

We headed downtown and after walking around for a bit, decided on Berry Hill Bistro. What a great decision. If you’re ever in the area, the Traveling Hillbilly highly recommends (www.berryHillBistro.com 114 Pine Street Paso Robles, CA 93446, 805-238-3929). The Raspberry-Chipotle Chicken sandwich is delicious. And according to the Traveling Hillbilly’s friend, so is the Chicken Florentine sandwich. If you’re with a friend, share an order of the frites (fries), served with three dipping sauces (garlic aioli, wasabi source cream, chipotle ketchup). The wasabi sour cream is yummy! Plus, if you’re into wine, the pours are very generous.