Monterey Peninsula, Pebble Beach and Carmel
Tuesday Nov. 8, 2005
More rain was promised for Tuesday but it never appeared other than what you can see passing over the mountains. We left the house about 9'ish and found the 17 Mile Drive which is actually a loop that goes through the Pebble Beach resort. Pebble Beach is actually a collection of golf courses, hotels, and private homes that is located on the Monterey Peninsula between Pacific Grove and Carmel. We took the beach road south and they give you a map (when you pay the toll) that lists stops of interest. We stopped frequently along the way to look at the ocean and walk on the beach. We also walked around the lodge at Pebble Beach. Very Ritzy! We arrived in Carmel around noon and parked very close to Tiffany's - again, very ritzy! We looked around for somewhere to have lunch and settled on Nico. It was a Mediterranean restaurant and we selected it based on the garlic smell. The food was very good and we BS'ed with the staff etc. Susan had arugula, pear, and blue cheese salad and grilled prawns. I had field green salad with roma tomatoes and gnocchi with gorgonzola cream sauce. It was very good. Carmel has no parking meters but you are limited to 90 minutes parking. We decided to move the car and look for the mission that was founded by Junipero Serra. We located that and made plans to come back for 5:30 Mass and tour the mission. We then went to the beach which was unusually expansive based on what we'd seen and we walked up and down and sat and watched the surf for a while. We headed back to explore the village some more but wound up getting lost on the local streets. We spied the entrance to 17 Mile Drive and went for that and headed home. We didn't make it to Mass. When we got back to Pacific Grove we stopped for a sunset cocktail at the restaurant around the corner on the beach. We went to the grocery store and picked up a couple of potatoes, vegetables, and a skirt steak which I had never heard of so had to try. The house has a charcoal grill so we fired that up and ate in. Tomorrow, Napa Valley