Carmel-By-The-Sea

Carmel-By-The-Sea is probably the prettiest little seaside town I have ever visited. Everything about it is quaint and welcoming. We spent a long weekend there recently and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

This is very typical of a lot of the architecture in Carmel. It is very cottage-ish or Hobbit-esque. :)

This is the Tuck Box restaurant, famous for its Scottish scones. It's also famous for being featured in one of Thomas Kinkade's paintings.

Don't you love the cute buildings? :)

This was a darling little bed-and-breakfast inn that we found during one of our jaunts around the town. No, we weren't staying there--we just wished we were. :)

Here's one new thing we tried--caviar! We stopped at this little place called "Bubbly Fish" that was offering a sampler of four different caviars for $20. Neither of us had ever had it before. I think the verdict was that we both liked it. But not so much that I can't wait to have it again. It's a bit of a splurge and call me unrefined, but I'd rather have a steak or something. ;)

Carmel beach . . . famous for its white sand.

These pictures are from the coastline near Big Sur. Some moments, all was perfectly clear. Other moments, we were enveloped in marine mist. I thought the misty pictures were especially cool. :)

I have never been to Scotland, but this is sort of how I imagine it looks.




Yet another coastline picture (we seem to take a lot of these) . . .

I have no idea what that red stuff is growing on the hillside. But isn't this a great picture? Dan took it. :)

"Historic" Bixby Bridge near Big Sur.

Okay, I know I said I wouldn't have much narrative in this post, but I wanted to share one story. :) One of the days we were in Carmel we stopped at a little bistro-type place for lunch. It was one of those places where the tables are close enough together that you can easily chat with your neighbors if you feel like making some new friends. There was an older couple sitting near us and when we were seated, I overheard them saying they'd been coming to that restaurant for 25 years. Then the husband wished his wife 45 more years, and they toasted each other. I thought that was cute, because they were obviously both in their 70s. A little later, after I greeted them and asked if they came there often, if the food was good, etc., the husband proudly announced that that day was their 51st wedding anniversary. We spent the next hour enjoying our lunches together and listening to them tell their love story. They met when they were only 15, at a school dance. They'd moved all over the country during their marriage and raised three kids. And they were still, quite obviously, very much in love with each other.

I love stories like that. I love seeing marriages that truly have lasted a lifetime and are still going strong. After lunch they ambled off together, arm-in-arm, with him fondly calling her "Carrie" (her name was Carol) and her giggling at one of his jokes. I told Daniel, "I want to be just like that on our 51st wedding anniversary." :)