Beverly Hills has Rodeo Drive. Carmel-by-the-Sea has Ocean Avenue. With its mix of tony boutiques, art galleries, and bistros, this tight-knit community caters to an eclectic clientele. In a town where Clint Eastwood was once mayor, neon signs, billboards, and food stands are banned. Its residents voted overwhelmingly in the early 20th century to remain address-less and not receive home delivery of mail. That remains the case to this day.
The authentic European walking village is styled in a Bavarian tradition with gingerbread architecture, famed alfresco dining options, and a labyrinth of quaint cobblestone side streets. Situated along the famous white sands of Carmel Beach, this artist colony has been and continues to be a haven for artists, retirees, and beach lovers.
Father Junipero Serra, father of California missions, was one of Carmel’s earliest European settlers to establish a presence by building a mission in 1771. He chose the location near the ocean as his favorite spot to live and is buried at the Carmel Mission, a magnificent adobe structure with a lost-in-time feel. A century later, the land was snatched up by San Jose land developer Frank Devendorf, who subdivided it with dreams of creating a village of writers, poets, and painters. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake drove many creative types including Mary Austin, Sinclair Lewis, Xavier Martinez, David Starr Jordan, and Jack London to the area.
Nowadays, Carmel-by-the-Sea and its countless bed and breakfasts is a laid-back, romantic refuge for discriminating tourists and newlyweds who appreciate a sophisticated yet slower pace of living. Aside from the well-heeled clientele, dogs reign supreme in Carmel-by-the-Sea; and most retail establishments greet the four-legged friends with bowls of water and biscuits. Many restaurants offer pet-friendly outdoor dining patios; some even have doggie menus bearing quirky entrées such as The Quarter Hounder or Hot Diggity Dog. When Fido isn’t running at the leash-free Carmel Beach or mixing and mingling at the Fountain of Woof at Carmel Plaza, there are pooch-centric parades, including the annual Reindoggie Parade, where hundreds of Carmel’s canine citizens come out to compete and raise money for the SPCA of Carmel.
For the culturally minded, Sunset Center, a regional center for the performing arts, presents world-class programs worthy of any urban arena, such as the Carmel Bach Festival, a long standing music tradition in Carmel. Since its 2003 renovation, Sunset Center has hosted more than 50 classical music performances each year, and welcomes contemporary artists such as Wynton Marsalis and his jazz ensemble and Lyle Lovett to its stage.
Carmel-by-the-Sea is also home to the Pacific Repertory Theatre, also known as Pac Rep, a professional equity theater offering everything from Shakespeare to Tony- and Pulitzer-winning plays, along with fairy tales and family musicals.
GuestLife Romance
La Playa Hotel & Cottages
Set in the fairy-tale village of Carmel-by-the-Sea, La Playa Hotel & Cottages was originally built in 1905 by artist Christopher Jorgensen as a home for his bride, the heiress to the Ghirardelli chocolate empire in San Francisco. Today, the Spanish Mediterranean-inspired enclave is the epitome of quaint Carmel — luxurious, with lavish accommodations, ocean-view rooms, European antiques, and a swimming pool with sprawling lawns that beckon leisure. Intentionally romantic accommodations hug an open open-air courtyard. Award-winning flowering gardens lovingly tended to by veteran green thumb Sara Henderson for nearly three decades offer the backdrop for La Playa’s popular annual Garden Party each June. Guests can dine alfresco at the Terrace Grill, grab a glass of local Monterey County wine, and meander around the blooming Shasta daisies, bougainvillea, and rose bushes before curling up fireside in one of the five nearby cottages that surround the historic pink-hued hotel.
Information: (831) 624-6476.
GuestLife Don’t Miss
Mission Trail Park and the Flanders Mansion
For a taste of local history, a walk through Mission Trail Park to Flanders Mansion is a must. Start across the street from the Carmel Mission on Rio Road near Lasuen Drive and walk the easy oak- and pine-tree lined trails once used by the Franciscans to travel to the Presidio or San Carlos Church in Monterey. Breathe in the dramatic views of the ragged coves of Point Lobos and grassy meadows near Carmel Mission. Wind your way by one of only two buildings in Carmel registered on the National Register of Historic Structures: the Flanders Mansion. Created during the Arts and Crafts Period, this structure was designed by prominent Bay Area architect Henry Higbee Gutterson and described in great detail in late 1800s novelist Gertrude Atherton’s book, The Splendid Idle Forties. Adjacent the mansion is a native plant garden. Loop back on the Doolittle and Mesa trails for a 1.5-mile, round-trip journey.
Information: (831) 236-6689.
