You are now on Highway 1 proper, aka the Cabrillo Highway named after Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo who was the first European to map this part of the coast when he sailed past in 1542. Its original name, Route 56, dates back to when convict road gangs from San Quentin built this highway along the cliffs. It hugs the most spectacular coast of the whole trip.
All this eye-aching beauty comes with a side serve of wildlife: the elephant seal rookery at Piedras Blancas and the zebras that inhabit San Simeon’s paddocks. The zebras are descended from those that were part of William Randolph Hearst’s menagerie at his baroque folly, Hearst Castle. If you have time, take a tour of this property where movie moguls, Hollywood starlets and established stars like Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo weekended with the great newspaper baron. You won’t be disappointed by its collection of antiques, a Roman swimming pool that featured in the movie Spartacus, or the narrow refectory dining table handpicked by Hearst so he could witness the outcome when rivals in love or business were forced to eat nose to nose and cheek by jowl, tongues and tempers loosened by alcohol or drugs.