The Lonely Castle
Posted on | July 27, 2011 | No Comments
Hearst Castle Dining Room, San Simeon, California
California’s budget problems aren’t limited solely to the wilderness state parks but also to state parks such as Hearst Castle. It wasn’t obvious to me initially while on a tour last week until our surprisingly short tour of the bottom floor of Hearst Castle. The outdoor portion is no longer guided but allows you to roam freely. There are only three tours now. My girlfriend, Samantha, and I took the Grand Rooms Tour but the guided indoor portion barely lasted over half an hour and only took us to four rooms. I remember my previous tour to the North Wing (tour no longer available) taking us to many different areas over 1.5 hours. Apparently Hearst Castle had given the same tours for 53 years until deciding to reduce their offerings recently.
Samantha had never been to Hearst Castle before so she said she enjoyed it but I was really disappointed since I had been on the regular tours several times in the past. The first-time tourist probably wouldn’t notice any difference but I also heard the same gripes from several other people complaining about the budget cuts and hoping that they would revert back to the old tours once the budget issue is resolved. At $25, I’m not sure that I’ll be going to Hearst Castle anymore unless they go back to giving the old guided tours of the grounds and interiors.
The strange thing about the tour cuts is that Hearst Castle gets about 750,000 visitors per year so obviously our politicians are not allocating the revenue properly because that is a lot of money. Don’t mess with your cash cow!
See more of my California Central Coast photos.
Comments
Leave a Reply
Popular Posts
- Top 10 Most Influential Nature Photographers of All-Time 64 comment(s)
- Wildlife Photography Ethics 48 comment(s)
- Kristin Parisi – Glendora City Council Candidate / Environmental Activist 43 comment(s)
- Why PC’s Suck: Mac Switch – My New Digital Photography Darkroom 34 comment(s)
- Five Places to Take Pictures in All 50 U.S. States 30 comment(s)
Recent Comments
Categories
- Alaska (23)
- Chugach NF (3)
- Kenai Fjords NP (4)
- Lake Clark NP (13)
- Announcements (88)
- Arizona (9)
- Coconino National Forest (4)
- Petrified Forest NP (2)
- Wupatki NM (1)
- California (444)
- Central Coast (64)
- 17 Mile Drive (4)
- Big Sur (4)
- Cambria (3)
- Capitola (1)
- Carmel (7)
- Lompoc (2)
- Los Padres NF (4)
- Monterey (7)
- Morro Bay (15)
- Salinas Valley (2)
- San Luis Obispo (2)
- San Simeon (7)
- Santa Barbara (3)
- Santa Cruz (2)
- Solvang (2)
- Central Valley (12)
- Antelope Valley (2)
- Red Rock Canyon SP (1)
- Sacramento NWR (1)
- Eastern Sierra (35)
- Bishop Creek Canyon (14)
- Mammoth Lakes (5)
- Manzanar NHS (5)
- McGee Creek Canyon (1)
- Mono Lake (3)
- Owens Valley (7)
- Rock Creek Canyon (1)
- Inland Empire (60)
- Anza Borrego Desert SP (5)
- Joshua Tree NP (10)
- Lake Elsinore (2)
- Mojave Desert (13)
- Palm Springs (1)
- Riverside (3)
- Salton Sea (13)
- San Bernardino NF (5)
- Los Angeles (140)
- Beverly Hills (1)
- Downtown LA (14)
- Fair (4)
- Griffith Park (5)
- Hollywood (3)
- Malibu (6)
- Olvera Street (2)
- Point Vicente (2)
- San Gabriel Mountains (23)
- Mount Baldy (12)
- San Gabriel Valley (66)
- Descanso Gardens (2)
- Glendora (19)
- Huntington Botanical Gardens (23)
- Pasadena (8)
- Santa Monica (7)
- Santa Monica Mountains (3)
- Venice Beach (8)
- Ventura (1)
- Missions (9)
- Mother Lode (12)
- Amador County (1)
- Coloma (1)
- Empire Mine SHP (1)
- Nevada City (2)
- Sacramento (4)
- Mount Shasta (1)
- North Coast (18)
- Humboldt County (10)
- Klamath (3)
- Prairie Creek SP (1)
- Redwood NP (2)
- Orange County (33)
- Corona Del Mar (3)
- Crystal Cove SP (2)
- Dana Point (2)
- Fullerton Arboretum (4)
- Huntington Beach (5)
- Laguna Beach (3)
- Newport Beach (7)
- San Diego (22)
- Balboa Park (2)
- Border Field SP (6)
- Carlsbad (1)
- Coronado Island (2)
- La Jolla (4)
- Point Loma (1)
- San Francisco (33)
- Berkeley (2)
- Fisherman's Wharf (1)
- Golden Gate Bridge (3)
- Golden Gate Park (1)
- Marin County (8)
- Point Reyes NS (1)
- San Mateo County (5)
- Fitzgerald Marine Reserve (1)
- Pacifica (1)
- Yosemite NP (12)
- Central Coast (64)
- Canada (45)
- British Columbia (45)
- Chilliwack (4)
- Richmond (2)
- Vancouver (20)
- Capilano River (2)
- Chinatown (2)
- English Bay (1)
- Gastown (1)
- Granville Island (2)
- Queen Elizabeth Park (2)
- Stanley Park (3)
- UBC (3)
- Vancouver Island (19)
- Butchart Gardens (5)
- Hatley Castle (1)
- Victoria (12)
- British Columbia (45)
- Colorado (3)
- Boulder (1)
- Maroon Bells (1)
- environmental issues (31)
- Events (2)
- Furry Critters (8)
- historical sites (18)
- Illinois (4)
- Chicago (3)
- Quad Cities (1)
- Indiana (6)
- Clifty Falls SP (2)
- Falls of the Ohio SP (1)
- Indianapolis (1)
- Iowa (4)
- Kansas (2)
- Abilene (1)
- Kentucky (9)
- Louisiana (2)
- New Orleans (1)
- Massachusetts (2)
- Minute Man NHS (1)
- Minnesota (2)
- Minneapolis (1)
- Missouri (3)
- St Louis (1)
- Montana (2)
- Bozeman (1)
- Nevada (13)
- Las Vegas (4)
- Valley of Fire SP (4)
- New Mexico (21)
- Albuquerque (3)
- Santa Fe (6)
- Taos (6)
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial SP (2)
- Ohio (2)
- Cincinnati (1)
- Oklahoma (3)
- Route 66 (2)
- Opinion (61)
- still life (3)
- Technique (21)
- Texas (5)
- Amarillo (1)
- Fort Worth (3)
- Uncategorized (11)
- Utah (5)
- Washington (2)
- Mount Rainier (1)
- wildlife (44)
- Wyoming (25)
- Yellowstone NP (24)
Tags
Meta
My Sites
Photo Archive
Google+
Partner Sites
The Non-Glamorous Side of Photography