Over Thanksgiving break, my family and I went to Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo. While we were there, we spent one day exploring the famous Hearst Castle with Melanie, who is as close to a cousin as you can be without actually being related! When touring this 125 room mansion, we saw beautiful pools, rooms, furniture, gardens, and so much more.
Just before we reached Hearst Castle, we saw a bunch of cars pulled over on the side of the freeway, so we pulled over to see what they were looking at. When we hopped out of the car, THERE WERE ZEBRAS BY THE FENCE! It turns out that William Randolph Hearst at one point had his own private zoo. When it was getting shut down and the animals were being sent to zoos, his daughter let the zebras out and they have let them roam ever since!
We first stopped at the visitor’s center, browsed through the museum and store, and watched a movie about Hearst. Then we hopped on a bus that took us all the way to the top of the mountain where the extraordinary castle is built.