Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterey

I love this shot of Stacie sitting in a chair in the Big Sur river. There were tons of them set up behind a hotel in Big Sur.

When we left Big Sur, we headed north to Carmel-by-the-Sea. In Carmel, we stayed at the Cobblestone Inn. It was where we spent part of our honeymoon and we had fond memories of the place. Bow-chika-wow-wow. The room was smaller than I remember, but the price was still good and Stacie loved the afternoon wine and cheese. Carmel is a neat little village for walking and viewing all of the different architecture. It has a great sandy beach for relaxing but the water is way too cold to get in for us southern folk. We drove out to Clint Eastwood's Mission Ranch and toured the Carmel Mission.

After a few nights in Carmel, we headed back to San Francisco. Along the way, we stopped in Monterey for lunch and did some walking around. If you go to the Coast Guard pier / dock you can get very close to the sea lions. We were close enough to easily touch them, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea. I never realized how much they stink, but then again, I had never been that close. At the end of the pier was a "nursery" packed thick with dozens of young sea lions playing and learning in the water. That place was a little hard on the nose so you don't want to hang around very long.

Next up, Sausalito and San Fran.