Archaeology Club Winter Quarter Field Trip

On Friday, March 7th, the Cal Poly Archaeology took their winter quarter field trip to Hearst Castle! Upon arrival, the club was greeted by the museum director, Cara O’Brien, and a museum curator, Jenny Daly. From there, we were able to drive up to the castle while enjoying the beautiful views of San Simeon and the animals that roamed the hillside. It was a gorgeous and sunny day so the scenery was spectacular! Once everyone made it to the top, the club was taken on a behind the scenes tour of the castle. Members were still able to see all of the grand rooms that are included on a typical tour, such as the famous infinity pool and the movie theatre, but were also able to see some of the back rooms, including a hidden terrace that dated to one of the earlier versions of the castle. One of the club favorites was the Roman Pool - with gold laced tiles and changing rooms for all the Hollywood stars that came to visit. Afterwards, members were taken into the museum archives where all of the artifacts are kept, and we  were shown original sketches by Julia Morgan, the famous architect that designed the castle, as well as one of the original guest books and even a suitcase for William Hearst’s dog. Overall, the Archaeology Club enjoyed a great day of learning history, museum collections management, and seeing Hearst Castle in all its glory!