Natural mineral stones spread over “Moonstone Beach” 
On the morning of the second day, after we had breakfast at the motel, we took a walk to the beach.
This is a motel which we stayed one night called “PELICAN Inn”
This Moonstone Beach is in the northern part of the town of Cambria and also is a part of
“Hearst San Simeon State Park”.
This beach has 1.5 miles wooden boardwalk which is a scenic path.
Many residents and tourists were taking a walk in the early
morning.
We could see the wavy and rough coast from the boardwalk.
We saw some sea lions and many wild birds as well.
This place is rich in nature. Sometimes people can see whales from here, depending on
the whale migration season.
Also, there are several tide pools on the beach.
They are filled with ocean life like sea urchins, crabs, and tiny fishes and so on.
So kids can enjoy this beach as well!
As I walked the beach, I found that the upper half of the beach has sand but closer to the waves
there were many colorful small round stones.
Why so many stones at Moonstone Beach?
I am always curious about many things and want to try to understand what I am seeing.
So after I returned home then I researched the geology of the area on various websites.
Starting with Google, I figured out these interesting facts.
The town of Cambria sits on the Cambria Slab, a 5,000 foot-thick geological plate.
This place used to be under the sea, and then the seafloor was raised up in the Jurassic period
about 145 million years ago.
So we could see stratum, which is layers of rock, and could easily find some fossil shells!
This geologic stratum has red-green sometimes has dark blue minerals in it.
The geologic forces made a varied stratum which is twisted and folded over a very long time.
The Cambria slab layers include sandstone, which has fine particles and mineral from the earth.
During storms, these mineral stones are swept out of underground caves and down the streams into the
ocean.
Then they are patiently tumbled and polished by the turbulent Pacific along the rocky coast.
That is the reason that we can see many colorful and round small stones.
Wow! Finally, I got it.
Why so many colorful stones are here!
And also while I was searching the Internet about this beach, I found that early settlers
named it “Moonstone Beach”
Actually, Moonstone is one of the gems and it is said that the ancient Greeks used it
as a talisman for lovers.
To wear these stones were thought to arouse the most tender of passions and true love.
It was also believed that wearing the stone conveyed knowledge of future events and
could guide a person in making important decisions.
However, what is historically known as “moonstone” is not actually what Moonstone Beach
moonstones are.
Cambria’s Moonstones possess the mineral “chalcedony.” Chalcedony is a microcrystalline
quartz in which the crystals are so small they can only be seen under a microscope.
It is funny that I found many people posted on their blog or Youtube about how they could find Moonstones(Chalcedony) easily. Low tide is best.
So it is important to check the tide schedule before going to the beach for rock hunting. Haha 
Without knowing all this, I just picked up some just colorful stones. 
I want to go back there to pick up Moonstone after checking the tide schedule!
We joined a tour of a hilltop castle 
After we took a walk on the beach then we drove to a famous place called “Hearst Castle”.
This castle was built by the very successful newspaper businessman named
William Randolph Hearst in 1919.
He hired San Francisco architect Julia Morgan to build a hilltop house on what he called
his “ranch at San Simeon”.
This castle built is on a huge tract of land with outdoor pool, indoor pool, tennis courts, and zoo!
Unbelievable house!
The zoo does not exist now. All animals have been donated to the San Diego Zoo and other places.
However, some zebras were at the ranch, grazing on grass amongst the cows. Haha
We got on a shuttle bus from the visitor center to join a tour which we booked in advance.
◆It is better to book for a tour in advance from the website.
Packed at that time because of the holiday.
The specific information about “Hearst Castle” from here ↓ ↓ ↓
The castle has 150 rooms including 56-bedrooms and 61 bathrooms!
I wondered why Mr. Hearst built this huge house amidst this ranch and farms fields. 
Basically, his father bought and owned this huge tract of land. So Mr. Hearst would go there for
camping when he was a child.
After he became an adult, he started to think about building something on this land which he as
very familiar with.
So he imported many expensive things from Europe such as paintings, tapestries, wooden ceiling
and so on.
Honestly, I felt that this huge house is too complicated, and not the same theme from room to room.
Many of the decorations were expensive and famous artistic things, I think.
One of the fountains is from an Egyptian structure and one ceiling of the sitting rooms is decorated
with a Mexican design.
Such an uncomfortable huge house for me!
Mr. Hearst loved to invite guests from Hollywood and politicians. He held fabulous parties frequently.
The Hollywood and political elite often visited, usually flying into the estate’s private airfield or taking a
private Hearst-owned train car from Los Angeles along the coastal railroad route.
It is amazing things to do!
His guests included Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Whinston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt,
a famous politician.
Mr.Hearst desired to share his hilltop house with the citizens of his native state someday.
After he died in 1951, the Hearst Corporation started to discuss with the State of California
to transfer this huge piece of land and its castle to the State.
After completing this deal, the castle was officially opened to the public on June 2nd, 1958.
Now, this place is part of a California State Park.
If you have a chance to visit Monterey, why don’t you join the tour to see this interesting castle?
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