Castle Warehouse

Visited Cambria a few weeks ago and ventured up the road. As we were returning from Hearst Castle visitor center, I turned into the driveway to purchase some postcards from the little shack on the side of the road. Well, my friends and I were shocked to find trays and trays of beautiful jewelry at this convenience store. Coyote, the proprietor, was delightful and spent over an hour with me ’cause I was like a kid in a candy store with all these jewels in front of me. I bought a beautiful moonstone bracelet and earrings at a great price. Another friend bought a beautiful leather purse and my other friend bought a pair of moonstone earrings. I didn’t want to leave. I will return. If you want to buy jewelry, this is the place. If you don’t want to buy jewelry, just stop by to visit with Coyote. He is a hoot. He kept us laughing. I forgot to purchase the postcards I went in for.
Schedule a stop during you visit. This is a hidden treasure.

At first I thought I was at Wampum Trading Post; apparently there are two stores at this location, that and the Castle Warehouse. Turns out I was at the latter. Better signage might be helpful, but it doesn’t seem they get enough business to get a new sign.
This gift shop/​convenience store doesn’t have much to offer, but the owners are super sweet. They even have a cute dog named spanky. The lady running the place had a wonderful sense of humor and was very sweet. As far as gift shop, they have the usual run of the mill shot glasses, post cards and coffee mugs. They also had swim trunks but no bathing suits… slightly saddened by that considering I’d forgotten mine; I probably wouldn’t have bought one anyway… but still, having them for men and not for women? Lacking…
They have an ample supply of beer which perhaps makes up for the fact that they didn’t have women’s bathing suits. They also had a random supply of convenience store goodies… shampoo, other toiletries and whatnot.
They have a couple of chairs out front that we sat in for a while and enjoyed the view.

Located on a walkway of stones between Motel 6 and Quality Inn, we walked by on our way to Manta Rey for dinner, but didn’t stop by until the next morning on our way to Hearst Castle. It looks very grungy and not the sort of place I’d normally frequent, but we stopped in anyway. It’s a total mix of snacks, leather goods, postcards, glass wares, rocks, and gemstones. Well, as it turns out, the nephew had just destroyed a geode he had received for his birthday and was upset because he wasn’t able to see the crystals that were supposed to be inside once it was cracked open. Castle Warehouse was selling pieces of amethyst for $ 1.99. It looked just like his geode would have if he had cracked it open correctly, so we picked one up for him. Just what he wanted!

This store is why I believe that life happens in between stories.
As my travel companion and I were walking home from our mediocre meal to our less than desirable hotel we pass a tackle shop looking dive store. Three woman pour out laughing and I overhear one say «I can’t believe we just spent three hours in that place.» Thinking that it will be a hoot to make fun of the women, the store, and everything in it, I pull my travel buddy in.
The store is just as I thought it would be: a total hodge podge of candy, purses, liquor and jewelry. As I poke fun of the assortment of glass sea creatures I notice a large pink and green stone set in silver. I fall in love instantly, as I very seldom do. The lady pulls out the ring and I slip it on to my finger and I realize that it has found a new home. As I sit there admiring the way it complements my skin, she slashes the price three times — not knowing that I would have gladly paid full price.