Carmel-by-the-Sea Favorites

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Favorite thing: Just being in Carmel is a delight. As I strolled the streets of this community I came to love it more. All the boutique shops, all those things to spend your money on, all the stuff you've never seen before.
Personally, I couldn't get enough of it.

Fondest memory: The Normandy or Tudor style architecture is eye candy for someone like me.

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Favorite thing: Point Lobos State Reserve at Carmel’s shore was one of my favorite things about Carmel. It is operated by the California State Park Service. When we arrived at the park, the ranger at the gate suggested three hikes that would help us best explore the reserve in the limited amount of time we had before sunset. The recommended walks would reveal the reserve’s diverse coastal scenery.

Fondest memory: The first walk suggested was at Whalers Cove. From the parking area at the trailhead, there is a nice view of the cove. We pursued the trail up some stairs and walked around Cannery Point, which provided some wonderful scenery of the rocky shore. This was a fairly short hike which rewarded us with views of the coast to the north.

Fondest memory: The second trail the ranger recommended was from a parking area near Cypress Cove. At this parking lot an information station and restrooms are conveniently located. We proceeded along a trail near the information station and followed it to Cypress Cove. Here we realized that this was not the loop trail the ranger had recommended. It was the wrong trail. But at a place like Point Lobos, can there be a wrong trail? We had taken the Old Veteran Trail, and were compensated with nice views of the cove that included an impressive cypress tree that was growing right out of the bluff above the water. We considered ourselves fortunate to have stumbled into this brief diversion from our planned course.

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Fondest memory: The second trail that the ranger recommended was the Cypress Grove Trail. The trailhead is at the parking lot where the Information Station is located. After our stroll along the adjacent Old Veteran Trail, we proceed to make the loop along the Cypress Grove Trail. This trail penetrates a cypress grove named Allan Memorial Grove that clings to the coast. Then it wraps along the shore and around a point. At the north most portion of the point, we saw some whales out in the ocean. This loop proved a very pleasant trail and presented a nice balance of trees and water.

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Fondest memory: The third trail that the ranger recommended was at the southern portion of the park. It is named Bird Island Trail. The trail traverses the rugged shoreline and looks down onto China Beach. The trial proceeds to a fork where you can either turn left towards Gibson’s Beach or continue along to the right towards Bird Island where the trail terminates. Along this trail we were treated to a nice sunset.

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Fondest memory: China Cove protects a beach that can be accessed from the Bird Island Trail. A natural arch spans the water at the cove. As the beach is much lower than the trail, one needs to descend a lengthy wooden staircase to reach the beach below. From the Bird Island Trail, China Cove presents a scenic vision.

Favorite thing: Let’s make no secret of it. We both like a nice cold glass of beer. Being abroad is always a challenge to find a beer we like, which reflects our taste of having a beer. In America it wasn’t really that hard to find the brand we liked, it was clearly Budweiser, popularly referred to as Bud.

Budweiser is a lager made with a proportion of rice as a substitute adjunct for barley malt. This immedaitely shows the problem for selling it in Europe as traditional brewers serve beer with only the four main ingredients (water, hops, wheat and barley). So Budweiser is not produced accoring to the German "Reinheitsgebot". But we found out that it didn’t taste distinctively different.

The Budweiser bottle is a rather familiar icon to most Americans. The bottle has remained relatively unchanged since its introduction in 1876. We liked it, but the fraze “King of all Beers” is a bid of an overstatement!

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Favorite thing: Monterey Cypress & Pines which grow in abundance in Carmel are native to Central California and Cedros Island off Baja Mexico.These rare and beautiful trees thrive on fertile soil, cool climates and low coastal fog. Some of the pines have been introduced in South Africa, Australia & New Zealand for timber. But the largest and healthiest native Monterey Pine Forests are located on the Monterey Peninsula.