SLO, Hearst Castle, and good food

Why did I have to go all the way up to the Central Coast to find some decent clam strips (though super-salty) and TCBY-esque frozen yogurt?

OK, supposedly (I just checked) there are a handful of TCBYs in LA, but none are close. Sigh. Maybe I'll try Studio Yogurt sometime. Maybe that's what I'm looking for.

So I have a friend who lives in Shell Beach and I drove up the 101 Friday night. It took me 4 hours, but only 3 hours today coming back (though I left from Burbank on Friday, not Sherman Oaks). There was a little traffic around Santa Barbara, but if you have to be stuck in traffic on the 101, Santa Barbara's where to do it. Total gorgeousness. Perfect blue skies, healthy blue sea, warm, but not wicked hot. Lots of green. Very nice.

Saturday, I hung around SLO and then we went to see Aida (my first time) at a tricked-out public school theater the likes of which just don't exist back in CT. If you ever get the chance to hear Joanna Jones sing, take it.
Sunday, we went to Hearst Castle, which is about an hour north of SLO. Considering the castle is not run by the Hearsts anymore, I don't really get why there's so much blind idolatry to WRH. I mean, he hired Julia Morgan to mesh together all the architecture he'd seen in Europe as a kid on some of the ridiculously vast Hearst lands once he was done being a newspaper baron. The guides there are like cult members, and the National Geographic film an attempt at indoctrination.

But the castle is gorgeous, particularly the guest houses and the Neptune Pool. I really hope I become friends with someone who one day has a wedding there because I would very much like to attend that. Even if the bus ride from the visitor center to the castle is akin to a Magic Mountain roller coaster.

This morning, we played tennis (badly), I ate clam strips, and now I'm home. Exhausted. Nothing quite like a road trip up the coast. Must do it again soon.