Swanning around Carmel with Mini-me

It was the all-girl get-away--just me and my daughter (who is taller than me, which I guess makes me the "mini"). We wanted to see the Monterey Aquarium again after many years. We stayed in a modest little hotel closer to Carmel than central Monterey: America's Best Value Presidents Inn Monterey on Munras (it has so many names it should have been more than a glorified motel, but it wasn't). I think the owners were new, as they were renovating the place--it was inexpensive, clean and quiet. My favorite thing about this hotel (even more than the well-kept hot tub nobody used): the waffle-maker in the lobby. Seriously. You'd fill this thing with batter from the dispenser, flip it over, and it would produce maximum-wonderful waffles in three minutes. Even my daughter, a confirmed waffle-hater, loved them. We figured out how to get there early enough to beat the waffle stampede.

The Aquarium was even more amazing than I remembered. The only sour note: I left my tickets at home, and had to buy new ones, not an inexpensive mistake. Ah, travel. The jellyfish exhibit is non-pareil, the otters adorable, and every "tenant" of the exhibits seemed lively and content--not always true for places where live animals are kept for the amusement and enlightenment of human visitors.

For dinner, we trusted Yelp--much as I love Yelp, I know what can happen. We chose a place in downtown Monterey called Sea Harvest on Foam Street; the owners must have a lot of relatives willing to give it four stars. For a place that sells fresh fish, the cooked version tasted suspiciously like dog food--but the "cuisine" wasn't the worst part. The bathroom was in a cinder-block building in the back; some dissatisfied customer ripped out the inside of the doorknob, so when it was time to leave, I discovered there was no way to open the door. I called for help thirty times, then proceeded to karate kick the door until I managed to bang my way open. My daughter thought I had instant food poisoning--a tip, take your cell phone with you if you have to make a journey to the loo.

Carmel Mission

Dametra Cafe

The next morning we awoke to faucet water the color of Coca Cola. A water main down the street broke. No showers for us! Fortunately, they gave out bottled water in the lobby, so we wandered down to Carmel for a long walk on the beach and a fantastic lunch at the Dametra Cafe on Ocean Ave. Delicious Mediterranean food in a charming place--well priced, well placed, and well worth 4.5 stars.

We also made a stop at the Carmel Mission, where Saint Junipero Serra is enshrined. The mission itself is historic and full of character, in spite of Catholic missionaries' misuse of the native population. On the last day, we hung out in the quiet town of Pacific Grove, and had a delightful snack at the 17th Street Grill.

Photo courtesy  of Adriayn Lee

See a better-quality version of this video on Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/170577746

All in all, a great get-away, and a superb chance to bond over waffles with  my best gal.

A BEACH DAY, PLUS GOATS

Up late as usual, and then a trip to the beach, to the town of Salobrena on the Costa del Sol, about an hour away. Salobrena is an attractive little resort town that isn’t listed in guidebooks, and the better for it. Marching down the pebbly beach, I swam in the Mediteranean for first time (it’s cold). Groups of teens and families peddled what looked like brightly colored plastic cars with slides on the back in the water. It began to rain, which discouraged very few people from their beach day; we walked around, desperately searching for a public bathroom (no luck); we encountered a cute Mexican girl with a lovely smile selling onyx pipes. Both Nick and Ron were smitten.

  We ended up at funky café, searching for a waiter (it had a bathroom, thank you!); an ancient fellow brought our tinto de veranos (half red wine, half lemonade, and the drink of choice for all concerned). We had to send out a search party to find him again to pay—the entire clientele (three locals) were completely involved in a dubbed western/kung fu movie on TV in the main bar.

We attempted to drive up the hill to a Moorish castle at the top. Ron, at the wheel, guided us through Mr. Toad’s wild ride; the old village streets were only about eight inches wider than our tiny Peugeot. It made for some thrilling twists and turns. We found space to park, started walking (the wrong way, of course), and were redirected by a lady couple that had rented a flat there with an awe-inspiring garden. We got to the castle at 8, and the fellow at the gate wouldn’t let us in—it closed at 8:30, but he wanted to hurry home to his dinner.

On the way down, we crossed the green fields we had seen from the summit, and made an unplanned stop for roughly 300 goats and their goatherd in the road. He finally rounded them up into the pasture—and we return to Salobrena to dine at a nearby restaurant—great views of the beach and sunset (I had a traditional dish, Zarzuela, a mixed fish stew in a tomato base).

Check out the video: https://vimeo.com/70760985