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Published: September 3rd 2013
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The road to Carmel was chokka.. we hadn’t expected it and we spent more time than we would have liked sat in traffic in searing heat, the Mustang‘ s tempertaure guage indicated 104 degrees outside ...phew man it was hot!!. We set off towards San Jose with our two way radios keeping us together and Jackie the navigator kept us informed by relaying the information from the sat nav we brought with with us...good planning...working well... so well we were confident enough to leave the freeway and its gridlock (due to the closure of the Bay Bridge and the fact tomorrow was Labor Day and folks were migrating elsewhere) and head for the coast road. Plan A was successful in as much as the gridlock on the alternate route was more picturesque than the freeway. We saw vintage cars and stunt planes and Eagles soaring overhead (ok they may have been Buzzards but that’s not as exciting as Eagles or even better Jackie heard “ OMG look there are Beagles in the sky).. are they flying with their ears then she replied.. lol
We drove past field after field of poly tunnels containing berries for the big juice company Snapple
of which I can recommend the pink lemonade. After a while we seemed to be going the wrong way and the heat was so strong that Martin and I were burning and even Mike who always creams up was feeling the sizzle so we stopped topped up on ice cold water and put the top up on the Mustang for a few miles and had the aircon on full blast it was “lush” as Chloe would say... only a few miles before Martin had to stop.. “Bugger this he said ..I’m not having a car like this in this sun with the top up... so off it came again, and Garth Brookes went on and my husband serenaded me
We took a detour en route to Carmel to a place called 17 mile drive it’s a toll road that takes you past some view points and some of the homes belonging to the super rich, they have their own golf course which Jackie wanted to visit so we stopped for her to have a peek in the shop and she had her photo taken with a replica of the US Open Cup... just a little golf related moment to
keep the withdrawal symptoms in check...
We arrived at Carmel by the Sea (of Clint Eastwood fame - he was Mayor here ) and drove round the winding roads until we came across The Horizon Inn where we had room reserved for the night. John the concierge quickly checked us in and advised us about the local area. There are 50 restaurants in a one mile radius and they have a taxi delivery service that orders and collects your food from them..great idea... rather than lugging our heavy cases about we grabbed a few things for overnight and decided on Italian for supper with a few beers for the hard working drivers and a nice bottle of chilled Californian Sauvignon Blanc for the navigator... nothing for me because I didn’t do any work...lol
The Horizon Inn was perfect big American bed dressed with about a dozen pillows J&M had a beautiful stone fireplace in their room and we had a huge rubber plant again ... they has to be a joke here somewhere but I haven’t found it yet!and best of all... they had a beautiful private gated courtyard lit with hundreds of fairy lights and a large
outdoor fire place with an open fire and an ice machine drinks machine and a sunken hot tub with softly upholstered sun loungers and tables and chairs. We were in that tub within twenty minutes of arriving... Jackie was so quick off the mark getting her kit off she didn’t notice that she was in public view from their window.. luckily it was me not Martin that stopped her from presenting her bodily assets to the passing guests.. that was lucky Mrs I said.. you nearly exposed yourself ..”Oops too late” she said I’ve already done my bottom half... ..Such a Floosie
Mike ordered the food and the guy at the restaurant told him that his card was marked as stolen and Officers of the law would be there within the hour.. what?..
We all climbed slowly in the steaming hot tub and there was a collective sigh ... Ahhhh.....lovely... Mike kept a curious but slightly nervous eye on the gate waiting for someone to shout “ spread ‘em ” Jackie too was posed in the tub just waiting for a Police man to add to her collection...
The meal arrived and the delivery boy had the
beers in an ice bucket, he said his boss had a strange sense of humour. mmm
The next hour was blissful down time.. Pampered by the hot tub, fed and watered we sat in the glow of the fire and warmed ourselves in the cool of the evening ... Jackie fell asleep in her pj’s on the lounger Chillax Murley ...
The bed was soft and squidgy and about 7 feet across and welcoming, and the little picnic basket outside the door at 8 a.m. was welcomed too.. Fresh Californian OJ, Fresh milk and Granola pastries and fruit washed down with a cup of filer coffee.
We left the hotel and spent an hour in Carmel by the Sea browsing the shops and admiring the beautfiul buildings . It is absolutley gorgeous and I would recommend anyone to visit. The shops are cute and there is attention to detail everywhere. The shopfronts remind me of a children’s story book quaint and pretty and flowers everywhere all signposted with unique little wooden signs, they are expensive but the people that own the beautiful homes probably aren’t bothered about the cost.
We bought salt water taffy
from the English Sweet Shop (she sold Flakes at $2 a pop) the shop was bursting at the seams with chocolates and fudge and all manner of wonderful naughtiness..and I resisted... just looking at all our photos is enough to stop me eating chocolate forever... has it Buggery.. yes I would love to be the size I used to be but if you don’t love me for the person inside I don’t need you in my life anyway... shame its taken me fifty years to figure that one out
I could have stayed and shopped all day and wandered around the beautiful art galleries but it was time to move on to our next port of call Morro Beach.
It was a long stroll down hill so the boys left us at the bottom as my knee would have been a problem walking back up and they picked us up and we headed off, the beach at Carmel by the Sea is as pretty as the town... what a place I couldn’t help thinking that the places we have visited are like a fairground with the New York being the Helter Skelter , San Francisco the Hall of
Mirrors and Carmel was the beautifully painted Fairy Tale Carousel.
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