Carmel-by-the-Sea

"Odd" Carmel tidbits:

* The entire town does not have any traffic lights
* Residential areas do not have sidewalks or street lamps
* The entire town does not have addresses. As in 1234 Elm St., Carmel. So if you want to know where a shop or hotel is located it is written as "4th St. between San Carlos and Ocean."

GREAT Carmel tidbits:

* Dog friendliest town in the world!

Friday





We arrived at Svendsgaard's Inn in the early afternoon. It was a cute little inn that could remind you of a motel due to it's size but it had better hospitality. And, dogs are welcomed! After settling into our room we took a self-guided walking tour of the town. It was nice to see all the cute little courtyards they had and see areas that we may have glossed over if we didn't go on this tour.







After spending about 2 hours around the town we rested for a bit before heading to dinner. We dined at Portabella on Ocean Ave. The biggest plus was that it was dog-friendly. We were seated in an enclosed heated back patio. Herc was allowed to roam free since it was enclosed. There were other diners with their dogs so he got to sniff other dogs. We dined on paella and seafood pasta. It was quite good!










Saturday

Our day began at 8:00 a.m. Upon our door mat (Yes, we have a doormat!) was a little cooler with a newspaper tucked on the outside of the cooler.



And what was inside that cooler, you ask? BREAKFAST!!! We enjoyed a bagel, yogurt, cut fruit, cereal, and juice. There was also a banana and a slice of blueberry loaf but we saved that for snacks.



After having breakfast we headed off to Mission Trails to do a morning hike. The trail was very beautiful. We were surrounded by tons of trees. The weather was cool which made the hike a lot more enjoyable. What was even better was that good-behaving dogs are allowed to walk leash-free. Herc did a great job of walking alongside of us or at least responded when we called him. (Remember that tidbit for later on!) We hiked for a little over an hour. The trail was located across from Carmel Mission so after the hike we took a self-guided tour of the grounds. Unfortunately we couldn't go inside the church due to a wedding.





Afterwards we headed back to the main part of Carmel to have lunch. With the day being cold and a bit gloomy we had a craving for some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. It took us forever but we found a restaurant that served clam chowder in a bread bowl. Unfortunately they didn't have patio seating. Fortunately their sister restaurant was across the street with outdoor patio seating so they were willing to accommodate us and send the chowder to the other restaurant. Great, right? Well, the chowder wasn't the greatest. It wasn't as creamy and the potatoes were chopped instead of chunky.



After lunch we headed to the beach where dogs are allowed to run around leash-free! It was freezing out there but we had fun walking along the shore as Herc bounded all over the place. Of course when he started running excitedly towards other dogs while ignoring our calls we had to put him back on the leash. What a bum! And we thought he was doing well!





Once our toes and noses were frozen we decided to go to The Mall for some hot chocolate. Before leaving the beach I came across my dream home. *sigh*



We enjoyed some fancy hot chocolate at a Coffee and Cocoa Bar. Ray had a Ghiradelli dark chocolate and I had a Scharfenberger dark chocolate. Yummy! After enjoying the hot chocolate at one of their many outdoor tables we walked around a bit. Herc made friends with a horse, I mean dog, and we shopped at Coach. Herc even got a dog biscuit from a nice Coach salesperson!





After a nice nap we headed to dinner at Bahama Billy's. I would provide a link to the restaurant but their website isn't much to rave about. Luckily the food does not reflect the quality of the website! We shared a sampler appetizer of fried coconut shrimp, ahi tuna, ribs, and jerk chicken wings. We also had filet mignon (med.-rare), lobster, veggies, and mashed potatoes. For dessert we had a chocolate ganache cake with vanilla ice cream. The patio seating was very nice. Anywhere you sat you were within reach of a fireplace that kept us warm. Herc loved eating the bones from the ribs as we dined on our dinner!





Sunday- Last Day

We spent the morning driving the famous 17-mile drive. Herc loved the drive around the points of interest. We saw some really cool points of interest. It took us about two hours to go through the whole drive. Afterwards we had lunch at Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf. The clam chowder at Old Fisherman's Grotto was absolutely delicious! Totally made up for yesterday's clam chowder. We also had an appetizer sampler with calamari, a crab cake, and steamed balsamic artichoke. We ended our wonderful Carmel getaway with a scoop of ice cream at the sweet shop next to the Grotto.


Thank you to Handsome for a great weekend!