Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Carmel-by-the-Sea
With borderline fanatical devotion to its canine citizens, quaint Carmel has the well-mani-
cured feel of a country club. Watch the parade of behatted ladies toting fancy-label shop-
ping bags to lunch and dapper gents driving top-down convertibles along Ocean Ave, the
village's slow-mo main drag.
Founded as a seaside resort in the 1880s - fairly odd, given that its beach is often
blanketed in fog - Carmel quickly attracted famous artists and writers, such as Sinclair
Lewis and Jack London, and their hangers-on. Artistic flavor survives in more than 100
galleries that line downtown's immaculate streets, but sky-high property values have long
obliterated any salt-of-the-earth bohemia.
Dating from the 1920s, Comstock cottages, with their characteristic stone chimneys and
pitched gable roofs, still dot the town, making it look vaguely reminiscent of the English
countryside. Even payphones, garbage cans and newspaper vending boxes are quaintly
shingled.
Sights & Activities
Escape downtown's harried shopping streets and stroll tree-lined neighborhoods on the
lookout for domiciles charming and peculiar. The Hansel and Gretel houses on Torres St,
between 5th and 6th Avenues, are just how you'd imagine them. Another eye-catching
house in the shape of a ship, made from local river rocks and salvaged ship parts, is on
Guadalupe St near 6th Ave.
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
PARK
831-624-4909;
www.pointlobos.org
; Hwy 1; per car $10;
8am-7pm,
closes 30min after sunset early Nov-mid-Mar; )
They bark, they bathe and they're fun to watch - sea lions are the stars here at Punta de los
Lobos Marinos (Point of the Sea Wolves), almost 4 miles south of Carmel, where a dra-
matically rocky coastline offers excellent tide-pooling. The full perimeter hike is 6 miles,
but shorter walks take in wild scenery too, including Bird Island, shady cypress groves, the
historical Whaler's Cabin and Devil's Cauldron, a whirlpool that gets splashy at high tide.
