The first week of November 2025, we headed off for a long weekend on the California Coast. We flew into the San Francisco airport, and, arriving late we spent the night at the Grand Hyatt in the airport before heading out early the next morning. Heading south on the Pacific Coast Highway, we meandered our way to Carmel. The views were beautiful and we stopped multiple times for pictures. We also stopped for a snack in Castroville, “The artichoke capitol of the world”, and, “home of the giant artichoke” because, well, I do love artichokes.
We also drove the famous 17 Mile Drive to the Pebble Beach Golf course. The views were stunning.
Carmel is an adorable little town. We stayed at Tradewinds Carmel. It was a unique little spot with an ocean view, beautiful garden area, and breakfast delivered daily to the room. We spent a couple of days puttering around doing some walking along the beach, a little shopping, some wine tasting and some yummy food.
One day we drove into Monterey. We walked along the pier and had lunch at Old Fisherman’s Grotto – this was some of the best seafood.
Carmel is a great little town for a long weekend.