Carmel-by-the Sea 2017

Here is a photo of a painting by local artist Cindy Wilbur with our purchase, "Sunset Sonata". We met Cindy on the beach several years ago and stayed in contact. https://cindywilbur.com/

We had planned to spend several nights in Sausalito at the Inn Above Tide, followed by several nights in Carmel. However, due to the northern California wild fires, the air quality in the bay area became a problem. The Inn Above Tide was VERY NICE about the situation, and we ended up spending 7 nights in Carmel. It was really good to have the extra days in one place (we usually stay about 3 or 4 nights). I think I'm going to start "saving my allowance" for longer vacations!

We spent more time on the Carmel River beach which was much less crowded than Carmel Beach. Also, hiked along the ocean south of the River Beach (heading towards the Carmel Highlands.) And, on this trip it was really nice to have extra time and not feel like we had to go-go-go and "do something" every day!

We enjoyed the usual places, but found that Nico's is now Enzo's! (Enzo bought out Nico.)

There's plenty of information on our "Carmel highlights" page you can download. On this trip we added different beach hikes, including the Carmel River beach, the beach off Ribara Road, and Asilomar Beach near Pacific Grove.

With some extra time we find cooking in our room is more fun. We've found several rooms with a kitchen at Briarwood Inn, Hofsas House and The Carmel Fireplace Inn.

Remember to click on the photos to see captions!

Lunch in Monterey

We usually spend one day visiting Monterey, which has lots of possibilities. There's more info on the travel download above. It was a pleasant day, so we had an outdoor lunch at a restaurant on the wharf.

https://vimeo.com/359270845

Monterey Bay history.

The geology of the Pacific ocean at Monterey Bay is fascinating! Did you know that the underwater canyon is a big as the Grand Canyon? More info in this video...

https://vimeo.com/359271486

Running in Carmel

Here's a quick fun video of Ellen running on Scenic Road at Carmel Beach. Ellen needed to get "credit" for keeping up her runs while we were on vacation. So we emailed this video to her coach back in Houston!

https://vimeo.com/359272262

Rocky Point restaurant

This beautiful location is between Carmel and Big Sur. While the staff treats you like "an occasional tourist" if you know that going in, the veiw and the food are worth the fee...

https://vimeo.com/359285530

Big Sur from the highway

We took this video while driving down highway 1

https://vimeo.com/359292444