For a relatively small area on the California Central Coast, Monterey County enjoys worldwide notoriety and a year-round influx of vacationers. For many first-time visitors the wild Pacific shore with its sandy dunes, cypress groves, and verdant valleys supersedes just about anything in nature previously thought beautiful and engaging. No matter how many times I come […]
Carmel-by-the-Sea in Monterey County, California, is a fairy tale town designed more than a century ago as an artist colony, and indeed it has been visited or occupied by world-famous artists, poets, and all kinds of creative dreamers. Buildings here don’t have numbers but proper names. Gnarly old trees and cascading flowers take over the sidewalks. […]
Sunny and mild most of the time, California is a big envying point in winter for our back East relatives and far away (Midwest) friends.
Reaching the half-century mark is a significant turning point for any human being. Often, it’s a time of reflection and renewal: Where have I been? Where am I going? For the creative folks running Carmel Valley’s iconic Quail Lodge, hitting the 50-year marker seems to have been approached with that same depth of observation. After […]
Geographically, administrative or natural borders do not define Big Sur. It is not a town, and population-wise it is the opposite of big. Even its name is an awkward Spanglish combination of “Big” and “South” (from el sur). And yet, this enormously beautiful wild stretch of land on the Central Coast of California is on […]
Heading to Stonepine Estate and Equestrian Center on a calm autumn afternoon, I planned so many things to do in Carmel Valley—one of the most precious jewels of Northern California.
Picture yourself in a quiet, countryside getaway with an old, carriage-style hacienda house on a hill and views till the cows come home. Well, technically, the cows are already home given this is a ranch—but you get the drift.
When I checked in to the Portola Hotel & Spa in Monterey, California, I knew my companion and I were in for a treat. The front desk dispensed warm chocolate chip cookies before handing over our room key. We were attending a wine dinner later that evening featuring the wines of Central Coast winery J. […]
I have many nice things to say about Carmel-by-the-Sea, a coastal California town like no other. Just one square mile of the incorporated town includes a white-sand Carmel Beach and a grid of tree-lined streets with toy houses drowning in cascades of jasmine and bougainvillea. Cozy restaurants, trendy art galleries, new wine tasting rooms, and […]
Although the Monterey coast is breathtaking and Carmel-by-the-Sea idyllic, there is a whole other side to Monterey County that shouldn’t be missed: the Santa Lucia Highlands (SLH) wine region in the lush Salinas Valley and the laid-back, dog-friendly Carmel Valley Village, with its tasting rooms, restaurants, galleries, and shops.