A recent article from Wine Enthusiast about the area: “Carmel-by-the-Sea was named by a Spanish explorer after the Carmelite friars on his boat in 1602, making it one of the oldest European place names in the United States. Its rise as a fairytale-esque oceanside retreat for artists, writers and those seeking respite from San Francisco began in the early 1900s.”
We thought spending December by the sea would be a great way to close out a very eventful year for us, and we lucked out finding a beautiful airbnb near the main part of town. We were looking forward to a longer, more immersive experience than we’ve done before. In the past, we’ve spent 2-3 long weekends in Carmel-by-the-Sea (Carmel BTS), because we’ve always considered the area a great way to spend a “lux” weekend with our dog, since we’ve pretty much never found anywhere else quite as dog friendly. See, for example, the below doggy menu at one of the local restaurants and the flier for a Yappy Hour (!).
We also saw many dogs frolicking in the waves at the nearby beach with their people.
Much more on the beach later - first, getting to Carmel BTS. In the spirit of the Journey is the Destination, we decided to make sure the ~300 mile drive from LA was as enjoyable as possible. We drove by the ocean as much as possible on the way North and stopped for lunch at Hitching Post 2 in Buelton (Hitching Post made famous by that movie I talked about in this wine tasting post). In short, this stop Did Not Suck - see photo.
Arriving at our Airbnb was an adventure - Carmel BTS has no street numbers, very few sidewalks, and many of the two-way streets only have room for one car once you take into account all the cars parked LEGALLY on the street. On the other hand, the entrance to our place, known as “Poets Cottage,” was kinda magical.
And, speaking of magical, our morning routine most mornings looked a bit like this:
Wake up at whatever time we wanted
Throw comfy clothes on
Walk to one of the many specialty coffee shops nearby and grab coffee (this one ended up our favorite for both the best coffee and the best pastries).
Stroll down to the beach and walk along the cliffs for 2-4 miles to get our steps in
A selection of views from the cliffs, which were definitely food for the soul (more in the gallery). The last photo is the pastry selection from our fave coffee place - food for the tummy!
Otters! One morning, there were a whole bunch of otters playing in the surf - here’s a video of the one who was closest to us, preparing his breakfast while we watched:
We went hiking in the Point Lobos State Nature Reserve. When I looked up the first trail in All Trails, the summary promised “stunning views” and they definitely came through on that! I think I took a hundred photos, because it was all so pretty, and then the light kept changing so I occasionally took multiple photos of the same spot. We didn’t see any sea lions/otters, but there was a large variety of birds. Some teaser photos (and more in the gallery):
We also went to Monterey for sightseeing and to visit the justifiably famous aquarium. We started with a stroll along the marina-side walking path and lunched at Alvarado Street Brewery. Everything at the brewery was yummy, from their flagship Mai Tai IPA, to their actual Mai Tai, to the everything pretzels, sandwiches and burgers. As you can see below, the pretzels were so good we ate almost all of it before I remembered to take a photo. Here is also more info on the Mai Tai IPA and the awards the brewery has won for those interested.
At the aquarium, I think our favorite displays were the kelp forrest and the jelly fish.
Wine Tasting
Even though our primary focus while staying in Carmel-by-the-Sea was not wine tasting, it’s an obvious part of the experience and deserves mention. The Carmel Valley is very pretty and has a plethora of wineries, some of which are priced nicely for their value (compared to Napa/Sonoma) and Carmel-by-the-Sea has a crazy number of tasting rooms in the small downtown area, perfect for walking and tasting. One of the best wineries in the area is Bernardus, which we had drunk before in local restaurants. While visiting their Carmel Valley tasting room, they asked us if there was anything else we wanted to try that was not included in the tasting flight - the shock on the lady’s face when I asked to taste their Merlot! Apparently, people still don’t want 100% Merlot wines, even 20 years after the Sideways movie. So much so, that they were selling it for 50% off! It was a steal at that price.
Tis the Season
The first Friday of our visit there, they had a community tree lighting and menorah lighting extravaganza. I enjoyed quite a bit of it from the local brass band playing their hearts out, to the menorah lighting (with city council)!, the dancing kiddos, the hanukah elf handing out gelt and dreidels and of course the tree.
I also have to give the locals props on their holiday spirit. Here are some of my faves:
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