A re-cap...

An update of the past two days...

We left San Francisco on Wednesday morning and made our way to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Aunty Hallie and Uncle Rob had paid for our accomodations (an awesome wedding gift!)at Edgemere Cottages in Carmel, which was an experience that we will always remember. The town of Carmel is set right alongside the Monterey Peninsula, with an abundance of restaurants and art shops. The feeling in the town is very laid back, although the people visiting/living in the area are clearly high class.

We arrived at lunch time and were greeted by Scott and Barbara. They gave us a map of the area and, while the room was being prepared, we headed out on foot to explore. Our travels brought us up and down Ocean Ave. and back to the Cottages where we had a power nap for two hours...apparently we were tired. We woke up, got in the Mustang and decided to explore the Pebble Beach area on what is called the "17 Mile Drive". The houses along the drive were not houses...they were mansions...estates! (See pics) We fed our stomachs with some mexican food at Club Jalapeno (JA-LAP-EN-OH)...which was interesting. Marc had halibut with a honey/banana/cheyenne pepper mix that he didn't like so much, however the mango margarita washed it down nicely. My montrosity of a burrito (one foot long X 4 inches in diameter)was rather good, but hard to finish. My passionfruit margarita was "meh". Somehow the beans in MY food, made Marc's 1/4 inch speaker over active...um, ya.

We ended our field trip with a stop at the beach to listen to the waves hit the shore. Marc took his Mac down to the water and recorded the ocean music...a souvenir we will listen to over and over again.

The next morning we got organized and started our day off with...you guessed it Deb!...EGGS BENEDICT at a restaurant called Katy's Place. There were 15 choices on the menu! Marc figured that this place ranked #3-4 on the top 10 list, until breakfast this morning...which we'll get to.

Our day was consumed with DRIVING...driving...and more driving...with the top down, heading to Venice Beach, just outside of LA.

O.k. so I've been driving Cari nuts by poking her and teasing her since she started this blog, so she has officially quit and walked away. Back to the story...

For any of you who think Yellowhead is a pain in the butt around 5:30pm on a monday night, we have 4 words for you... "You have no Idea!" We drove anywhere's from 0Mph to 30Mph for over 2 hours! The mustang may need a new clutch after that... We did however finaly arrive around 9:00pm. Paul helped us unload, and find a parking spot which after 15 mins of driving around the neighborhood, ended up finding what I call "Pornstar Parking" just 100ft away from Paul's Mediteranian Condo. Total score! We accidently forgot unpack the unloaded bags, and got right into catching up and drinking wine (Thanks uncle Rob and aunt Hallie!) Quickly running out of vino and realizing we hadn't eaten since 11:00am, we took a leisurely stroll along the ocean to Washington avenue and purchased two more bottles of wine and a bottle of Grand Marnier (we ran out again... Cari can't stop drinking it... ok..ok.. I helped a little). We also ordered pizza from Domino's which was waiting for us as we returned to the condo.

We returned to the rooftop patio where Cari and I decided it would be unforgetable to set up the tent and sleep on the rooftop. So we did! We fell asleep last night, listening to waves only a city block away crashing onto the beach. Very romantic.

This morning, Paul treated us to his "Best Cappuccino on the westside" and they were so good, I just had to shave (which broke Cari's heart). After cleaning up, we walked back to Washington street to have breakfast at Mercedes Grill and I had the "florentine eggs benedict" and Cari had "mama's egg sandwich". Breakfast was excellent and this morning's eggs benedict were better than Katy's... sorry Carmel.
We then headed north up the beach boardwalk towards Santa Monica and did some sight seeing. Once we walked to the end of the shops, we enjoyed a Ben and Jerry's cup of banana rum ice cream and headed back for the condo for some shade and R&R time.

By the way, regardless of the spf-45, my face still red'nd up just a bit more, to add to my tanning style, "The Racoon".

Plans for tommorow consist of Universal Studios... and probably so more R&R time. I'm almost done my book. Ask Cari how much she's read so far... hehe

Love,

Us.

Our accomodations in Carmel...really cool place!


Carmels beach...


An estate in the area...anyone wanna guess the code?!


This house reminded us of a Smurf house...check out the roof! (in Carmel townsite)


The lonely tree...growing out on a rock...by Pebble Beach


One of the mansions on the 17 Mile Drive, by Pebble Beach...this guy even has his own green and sand pits to practise!


En route to Venice...

Paul's photography...


Venice beach...


Under the Venice Pier...see the surfer?


On the boardwalk...


Our tent on the roof top...high class camping!