CARMEL & MONTEREY

Lou and I celebrated an early Valentine’s Day with an overnight trip to Carmel and Monterey. As usual, Lou found a few things we hadn’t done – and together we visited several places we'd seen separately in the past.

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny as we made our way to Santa Cruz at the northern tip of Monterey Bay. Along with Frank Lloyd Wright houses and state capitols, we both love visiting lighthouses. Our first stop was the Santa Cruz Walton Lighthouse constructed in 2002.

Walton Lighthouse in Santa Cruz.

Next on our agenda was the Monterey County Fairgrounds – there is a whole story behind that visit which I’ve included as a separate post below.

We continued on to Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove. Oddly enough as many times as we have both been to the Monterey Peninsula neither of us had visited this lighthouse.

Sign marking the entrance to the lighthouse.

The back of Point Pinos Lighthouse.

Damn scafolding! We always seem to get unlucky with construction for our pictures.

We spotted several deer in the Asilomar Conference grounds on our way to Carmel.

Our home for the night was the Normandy Inn on Carmel's Ocean Avenue. We were a few blocks from the beach and right in the middle of lots of shops and restaurants – all of which are pretty pricey which seems to be Carmel's claim to fame.

The Normandy Inn in downtown Carmel.

We walked a few blocks to the nearby Carmel Beach.

Carmel Beach is a popular place to watch the sunset.

The next morning we stopped by Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, better known as simply the Carmel Mission, where Father Junipero Serra is buried beneath the floor. 

The courtyard and Carmel Mission.

Red Hot Pokers were blooming all over Carmel.

There were even a few hibiscus in bloom in January.

Next we took a drive around Carmel Point with its gorgeous high end homes and spectacular views. We grabbed a flyer from one of the many homes for sale – the asking price was a mere $7,750,000, but it did say it was possibly the best lot on Scenic Drive. I wondered if we offered them six million would they take it?

Someone's backyard view on Scenic Drive.

My normally completely-on-top-of-things guy was dismayed to find out upon our arrival back home that we likely drove right by a Frank Lloyd Wright home on Scenic Drive. In our defense, many of the homes were completely secluded. Even if we'd known it was there, it would have been easy to miss. Oh, well, guess we’ll catch in next time. J

The Seventeen Mile Drive was our next destination. The sightseeing is amazing with the immaculate golf courses, unbelievable “homes” (more like castles or palaces) and incredible coastline views. Although we had both been there in the past, this was our first time together.

Bird Rock on the Seventeen Mile Drive.

One of the many types of sea gulls.

The Lone Cypress - the symbol of Monterey and the Seventeen Mile Drive.

For some reason, I fell in love with these twisted, barren trees (maybe sticks is a better word) that were everywhere at Pescadero Point. They were kind of like living driftwood.

Our final stop on the Seventeen Mile Drive was Pebble Beach Golf Links where they were in the midst of putting up grandstands for the AT & T Pro Am golf tournament next weekend. Pebble Beach is famous for its 18th fairway that is perched on bluffs above the Pacific Ocean.

Plaques showing past winners of the Pro-Am tournament.

Unfortunately the portable seating blocked the fairway views.

I have lived within a couple hours of our Northern California coast my entire life. The ocean with its constant waves crashing on the sand and its rugged rocky shore seems to renew my spirit. I can watch the endless ebb and flow of the water for hours. Our early Valentine's getaway was all I hoped it would be.