cellboy

1. Last Friday, I did go out on my own. None of my usual friends were available, or too busy which was fine with me. I was too tired from the time consuming work stuff, and so just thought I'd go up to the Edge for Cody's Bare Chest Calendar pre-sale event. Didn't stay too long. After that, and seeing a few other friends at 440, I was home in bed and asleep by 10 pm. It was fine with me. I worked out 7 days straight at the gym, due to knowing I'd be away, having fun, doing no gym, and eating. So I was tired.

2. Saturday I was up early to pack, meet with, Carlos, our weekend person to go over some stuff, then off to SF to meet friends Griff, Ho, and Mark for our drive down to San Simenon.

3. Griff drove. The drive down Hwy 1 was beautiful. But seemed to take forever. Upon arriving at Big Sur, we stopped for lunch at Nepenthe

4. The views were awesome. And my Ambrosia Burger delicious! This was the view from the outdoor dining terrace

5. We finally arrived at our destination, San Simeon Lodge, for check in. It is a nice standard Motel, with restaurant, bar. That night, Saturday, the large bar had Karaoke night, with Elvis! Of course we'll go see that!

6. But before hand we ventured not too far south to the town of Cambria. Looked at the shops then ate at a fabulous bistro, called the Black Cat Bistro. . We ate at the bar, which was a perfect spot for getting to know the staff. Nice staff (very very cute waiters, and chefs!)

7. I had the Idaho Rainbow Trout, Cauliflower, raisin butter, eggplant, Bloom micro mint, chili oil. It was too die for. Even at $25, it was worth every bite.

8. After dinner we then went back to the Lodge for Karaoke night. The large bar was packed! Mostly with straight men and women (we think there was a table of men, students of the gay kind from Cal Poly (in San Luis Obispo, 40 miles south), but we were not sure.

9. Anyway, tired old Elvis Presley, hosted the show, introducing the many Karaoke singers. As the evening wore on, the English songs slowly turned into Spanish songs, as the local Mexican men and woman performed. It was a hoot. Many were really good. And as always, with Karaoke, many were bad too! But the point is all were having fun.

10. We stood against the wall watching (no seating, place was packed). Later on Elvis came up to Ho, and told him that many tourists come to this show. They welcome "everyone". "All Kinds". Were we that obvious? LOL

12. Mark and Griff left fairly early to back to the room. Of course Ho and I stayed out, finally got a table, then some interesting fun started to happen...

13. I got up to go to the bar, and ahead of me was a tall, slender (otter type) handsome man. After he got his pitcher of beer, he turned around and said hi. Introduced himself as Grant. I could hardly understand him with his thick Australian accent.

14. He said he was visiting with his wife. They had just gotten married

15. As the night rolled on, he was all over the place, inside talking to people, outside smoking, chatting away. At one point I guess he went to the bathroom then came back to his table next to us.

16. His bride was at the table, came over and started to talk with us. She was telling us, that she is from London, married Grant, quit her good job, and is moving to his home in Australia. She has never been to Australia. Now that is Love I responded!

17. Midway during our conversation, she asked if I would like a hickey (she used a different word on my tricep ).

18. But she first asked if Ho, my partner would not mind. I responded that he was just a friend. So she proceeded to give me a hickey on my arm, while Grant was talking Ho's ear off.

19. After that I asked how she knew we were gay. She said she spotted us 4 pansy's the moment we walked into the bar. LOL

20. Anyway we all had a great time. We ended out on the patio with the smokers, and talked with others. Grant of course was gay friendly as his wife.

21. Last call was announced, Grant asked Ho and I to join them at their hotel room down the road to smoke some pot. We said we couldn't but will probably see them tomorrow while on tour at Hearst Castle (which we didn't. Bet they overslept}.

22. So we kissed his wife on the cheek goodbye, and surprisingly Grant kissed Ho and I on our cheeks (and padded my butt while doing it :)

23. Well that was a fun night!

24. Aside from a bit of indjestion from dinner the night before, I slept just OK

25. We were all up early for our IMAX movie reservations at Hearst Castle were at 9:30am

26. The movie was good, about 45 minutes. And the tour was nice. What a dump! LOL

26. With state budget cuts, the length of the tours have been cut back substantially. We took the general tour, which last time I was here, really went through the main house's first floor in more detail.

27. The difference is, is that now, you are free to roam the grounds.

28. Our guide was pretty good. Hearst was a pretty popular guy. His ongoing affair with silent film star Marion Davies was interesting too. And they criticize us about having open relationships? LOL

29. So after the tour, we spent about an hour walking the grounds, and pools. We were then back on the road by 3pm. And I was home by 7 pm. We had a great time!

30. My friends took most of the pictures...so when they get too it and send them to me (this usually takes awhile), I'll post a few.
The dining room. The whole estate with its 3 large separate guest houses has only one kitchen, in the main house