Santa Barbara

Day 2: Hearst Castle—Morro Bay—Solvang—Santa Barbara 📍Hearst Castle One of my favorite attractions. It was the private castle of 20th-century newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. After his death, it was donated to the California government. Designed by Julia Morgan, California's first female architect, it doesn't allow self-guided tours. You need to book a tour in advance on the official website, with tickets costing $30 per person. This time, I booked the most basic Grand Rooms Tour. A small drawback is that you can only join one tour at a time—even if you book two consecutive tours, you have to take the shuttle bus up and down the mountain with each group. It really made me realize what "extravagance beyond imagination" means. The floor of the swimming pool in Picture 1 is made of pure gold ✨. Putting aside the gorgeous artworks from around the world inside, even the building materials, water, and soil were transported to this mountaintop from miles away. 🍽️Thai Elephant Morro Bay We stumbled upon this amazing authentic Thai restaurant. After eating seafood for two days straight, my Chinese stomach really couldn't take it anymore 🤦🏻‍♀️—I was desperate for rice 🍚. We also had Mango Sticky Rice, which was so delicious that we finished it before I could take a photo. 📍Solvang This Danish - style town. The pastries at the bakeries are overly sweet and not that exquisite—don't buy them ❌. Just stroll around the town and take photos. 📍Santa Barbara A Spanish - style town. The must - visit spots are the pink church ⛪️ and the red - and - white architecture. The rose bushes in front of the church were a bit wilted, making it not very ideal for photos. It was my second time here, so we went straight for the food—haha 😆. 🍦Tondi Gelato My all - time favorite ice cream shop. It's getting more and more popular, and we waited in line for a long time this time. Feel free to order blindly. We tried six flavors in total, and each one perfectly captures the original taste of the ingredients. 🍽️Santa Barbara Shellfish Company Some of the world's best sea urchins come from Hokkaido, Japan, and Santa Barbara, California 😋. It's recommended to visit from September to March when the sea urchins are at their best. This seafood restaurant is right at the end of the pier, so the freshness is a given. You must order the Clam Linguini—I'd call it the most delicious white sauce seafood pasta ever! It has that perfect wok - hei (the smoky flavor from stir - frying)!! I'm pregnant and have to avoid raw food, which made me really sad 😫. Xiao Zheng said he'll take me again in December (🤫 actually, he thought the sea urchin wasn't as good as when we came here on a colder day last time). #Travel #California #TravelDiary #Highway1 #RoadTrip #Food #Record #SantaBarbara #BeautifulSceneryOnTheTrip #Vacation