Day Trip to Carmel
1.15.01
 Sometimes things
fall from the sky.
I have never worked for a company that actually observed Martin Luther
King Day. It's a state holiday. Optional. Most companies don't take that
option. Imagine my surprise when I discovered on Friday that I didn't have
to come into work on Monday. Shows that I should actually read my HR package.
Well, I found out in time and that's all that matters.
So, in a spontaneous sort of way, I decided to visit my friend Christy
in Monterey.
In one of those typical Northern California weather things, although
the weather had been lousy all week (rain, wind, clouds), the weather was
clear and dry on Monday. The drive down was nice.
I went over the hill on Hwy. 17 from San Jose to Santa Cruz and then
1 South to Monterey. I find it to be the fastest way. 101 South of San
Jose can be pleasantly pastoral, but the road narrows around Morgan Hill
and you can get some nasty traffic jams.
Also, on a pleasant day, you have a good view of the Pacific from Hwy.
1. There are several pleasantly white sandy beaches along the way and that
day the water was exceptionally blue.
Anyway, it was such a nice day that Christy and I decided to spend the
day outside with jackets (it is still winter after all).
We went to the Carmel Mission in (oddly enough) Carmel. Entry cost $2.
The mission is the second oldest mission in California and is still in
operation as a Catholic Church. Junnipero Serra (the man responsible for
all those fine missions) is buried in the cemetery next to the Church.
 One
the things I like about Mission architecture is the inevitable interior
courtyard with fountain. (As an aside, I would like to thank the Moors
for invading Spain in 900whatever and giving the Spanish, who built the
California missions, such nice architecture). The sun was warm and pleasant.
The falling water pleasing to my ear. The bougainvillea flowers on the
mission's church were pretty and colorful. Very nice.
There were several small museums which contained items from regular
family life at the time of the missions.
We had lunch across the way at the Carmel Mission Wildlife Preserve.
It kind of made me think of some parks you see on the East Coast (Mass).
Big wide white sand paths. Lots of deciduous trees. A little creek. Ok,
so East Coast in September, not January, but still. There were plenty of
benches and we had a nice picnic lunch of shrimp pasta salad with garbanzo
beans, apricots, olives, parmesan, and olive oil. It took Christy five
minutes to make and was delicious.
 From there
we went about 1/2 mile to the Carmel Valley Wine country. We went to two
wineries. The white wines were a little thin for my taste, but I had an
excellent Port at Chateau Julien. Very chocolaty.
It is a very pleasant drive and there are several pleasant vista's of
rural hills, trees and of course a golf course. (This is after all the
home of Pebble Beach).
If I had left earlier, I would have taken Hwy. 1 all the way up to Half
Moon Bay and over the hill to San Mateo. There are excellent views of meadows,
hills, coastal mountains, and of course the ocean. However, it being dark,
(ah, the short days of winter) I drove back the way I came and made it
home just in time for The Invisible Man on the Sci Fi channel.
|
