Blogs from Carmel-By-The-Sea, California, United States, North America - page 3

(Excerpted from my book Our Summer in Carmel Amazon.com) From Carbrillo's misadventures in 1542 more than fifty yeas would pass before Spain would pay any attention to his expedition. Events on a larger scale prodded Spain into action. By the close of the 16th Century, Spain was engaged in extended trading between Mexico and its outpost in the Philippines, Manila. But their treasure laden ships were exposed to attack, particularly by the English, and the likes of Sir Francis Drake. Drake had already landed not far north of present day San Francisco, and claimed the entire Pacific coast for Queen Elizabeth. Something had to be done. Officials in Mexico decided it was time to organize an expedition for the specific purpose of surveying the California coast. The man chosen was Sebastian Vizcaino (Vis-Cane-nyo) an experienced seaman ... read more

This entry begins a new series of my travels which will get its input from my book Our Summer in Carmel (Amazon.com) The book describes the experiences my wife, Elysee, and I had while renting a summer home in Carmel for three plus months. What the book also does is provide an example of a lifestyle I champion and the reason behind my name no2ndhome. It is my belief that for many persons, especially retiring "Boomers", temporarily renting a second home each summer, preferably in a different place each year, is a superior financial and lifestyle strategy than buying a second home. While not for everyone, it has many advantages. I have been enchanted with the Monterey Peninsular ever since I first drove down 17 mile drive in December 1964. Returning from a tour of ... read more

My travels away from home begin in August of 1990 when I moved from Carmel Valley to Oakland, CA to go to school at Mills College.... read more

I have been fortunate to play many of the best courses in the world. Here is my top ten, listed from 10 to 1. 10. TPC Scottsdale (Stadium), Arizona 9. Sherwood Country Club, Westlake Village, CA 8. Valderama, Andalusia, Spain 7. Bandon Dunes, Bandon, OR 6. Carnoustie, Scotland 5. Pinehurst #2, Pinehurst, N.C. 4. Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland 3. Spyglass Hill GC, Pebble, Beach, CA 2. Pacific Dunes, Bandon, OR 1. Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, CA Honorable Mention: Poppy Hills(Pebble Beach), Turnberry(Scotland), Prestwick(Scotland), Troon(Scottsdale), Kapalua Plantation(Maui), Kauai Lagoons,(Kauai) Torrey Pines(San Diego), Olympic Club(Lake Course) and Hiddenbrook(Vallejo). What makes a golf course memorable? Is it the history of the course in golf lore? It is certainly not the price of a round or the difficulty of the course. Could it be the ... read more

Thursday: So we decided to put these 2 days together because there isn't a whole lot to tell you about since San Francisco. On the drive down we stopped in Santa Cruz. we saw some surfers and we had breakfast. It looked like there were a bunch of surfing lessons going on and I think we are going to take a lesson when we get down to LA. The drive from San Fran to Monterey took about 3 hours. Our bed and Breakfast is in Carmel (by-the-sea) but we stopped in monterey before checking in. Melissa wanted to see the aquarium so we killed a couple hours in there. there wasn't a lot to see there but there were a couple of otters that melissa wanted to take home. After the Aquarium melissa and I had ... read more

As usual, we start with a mammoth journey. Set off from Costa Rica at 6.00 AM, fly to Dallas/Fort Worth, which is a great airport. Then we off to Los Angeles, at LAX we catch the Flyaway Shuttle downtown to Union Station, this is where we connect with the Metro for Hollywood. On arrival we discover that the midnight Greyhound Bus doesn't stop here, it stops at North Hollywood, so we return downtown and catch the overnight bus to San Francisco. We arrived at 7.00 AM, more than 24hrs later. On our supposedly 10 minute walk along Sutter Street to the USA Hostel we stopped at a little cafe called Posh Bagels for a rest, spent over an hour relaxing as locals headed to their workplaces, many coming into the cafe for their early morning coffee ... read more