Dinner was on the patio at The Village Corner. This Mediterranean styled restaurant had patio heaters and a large outdoor fire to keep us warm. Food was great.
Our morning involved exploring the cute shops and alleyways that made up Carmel shopping centre. A description I read said that you might expect hobbits to pop out and it was exactly like that. Gavin found a pub to watch Chelsea v Liverpool in the Champions league so I left him to it to do a bit of shopping. Afterwards we spent some time looking around the galleries and deciding if we should buy a house or a painting first. We did find a great artist…Victor
The only downside of Carmel was leaving. There were so many more restaurants we would of liked to check out, not to mention Clint Eastwoods ranch. He used to be the mayor of Carmel and still lives in the area.
The sadness of leaving was soon replaced by the awesome scenery Highway one as we travelled down the Big Sur. We’re still not sure if this relates to the whole area or the small town. On the way we passed Bixby Bridge which was very picturesque.
Our hotel wasn’t as far down as I thought so we passed it by and went to the Julia Pfierer State park (after a false start at the Pfierer State Park) to see an 80 foot waterfall that passes over granite into the ocean. It was definitely worth the 10 minute walk passing under the road. The roaring of the sea was unbelievable.
We drove back to our motel to find Archie’s Cottage which I had rented for us for the night. It was back off the buy road and sitting on the balcony for the early evening was heaven. There was a bed so big I nearly needed a step ladder to get on it, and lying in the middle I couldn’t touch either side with my arms stretched out. There was a beautiful gas fire in a range heater style which was very romantic.
We headed up to Nepenthe restaurant around 6pm to watch the sun set over beautiful views along the coast. Not to mention the great food and wine. My desert was so huge I only ate half. Will need to get running again when I get home. Unfortunately the sun set behind a large cloud bank but it was still beautiful and peaceful. We were in bed by 9pm and with no TV and silence and darkness we were asleep really quickly.