Greenies & Gastronomes.

Soooo… Big Sur was a no-go for Saturday, but Friday at 7P until Sunday morning brought nothing less than greatness! Friday night we headed out for drinks and dinner with some friends and had a very quaint (and delicious!) night on the town. We ended up having a late-night dinner with fantastic folks that frequent Carmel and know what’s up! Dinner was at a place called Casanova’s; delicious Mediterranean (think Italian meets French!) food that’s served in 3-course meal style. The menu was limited (and not exactly inexpensive) but the atmosphere was top-notch and the wine menu was the length of a small novel!  Apparently they have an extensive wine collection (think wine from $60 a bottle to $1500 a bottle!) and although I’m not a huge wine drinker, I was definitely impressed! Note that there aren’t a slough of vegetarian options on the menu but the butternut squash ravioli (which almost our entire table ordered!) was sooooooo delicious; I’m currently scouring the internet for a comparable recipe! If you’re in Carmel with a significant other, this is definitely a place to check out! Like I mentioned, our dinner reservations were at 8:15P, and although that would have normally been okay, in Carmel it’s a tid late. The town shuts down around 10P so if you want to really take your time to enjoy your investment in dinner, a 7:30P reservation may be a better bet! <3.

Saturday was our day for some alone time and we definitely made the most of it! We started out with breakfast at a little place called the Village Corner(which we also hit up today!) Let me say — I’m not a huge breakfast person (my body is usually just fiending for coffee in the AM and food isn’t really on the top of my list until about 930 or 10A), but this place has AMAZING veggie benedict and exceptional coffee! I never get to have eggs benedict because they use meat so typically my breakfasts consist of egg white omelets with mushrooms, avocado, spinach and maybe –if I’m super lucky– some tempeh. This place, however, made eggs benedict with spinach & mushrooms in lieu of ham and it was FANTASTIC! Their dinner menu also looked top-notch but we never got a chance to experience it.

After breakfast, we headed down to the Del Monte Shopping Center in nearby Monterey to pick up some clothes, baubles, etc. and then made our way down Highway 1 to Point Lobos State Park. Although I’m not a fan of paying $10 to enter a not-so-large state park (I think Yosemite was only $7!!) it was definitely a sight. The hiking was nice; definitely more leisurely than strenuous but it gave us a chance to get outside and move and see the amazing Carmel coast. Lots of birds, seals and general wildlife which made the area fun, and the sun– which came out of hiding at around 1P– made the hike that much more enjoyable. If you’re looking for something active, this could definitely be a fun place, but I would park right outside of the park (and save the $10!) and not go too early as the coast is a little too chilly before the sun is fully awake!

All in all, our trip was great! When I have millions of dollars to my name it would definitely be a town with property worth looking into! The $5+ million homes lining the beach were definitely fantastic; we couldn’t stop commenting on how storybook the entire town was. Very clean, very quaint and very perfect. The entire town is comprised of boutiques, art, spas and fantastic eateries. Great little spot in California — we’ll definitely be down again some time this year! <3.

Hiking at Point Lobos.

Chris & I at dinner

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In a nutshell ::  Carmel, CA = shopping + food + nature at its best