Our view from the Rocky Point Restaurant on Highway 1 near Carmel-by-the-Sea
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Well the time has come to fulfill a dream, my dream to drive highway 1 from Monterey to Big Sur. And this was one dream realization that did not disappoint. It was beyond words. One must see it to understand. I fell in love, I never wanted to leave.
The day started by driving over the Santa Cruz mountains and descending to highway 1 to start the journey in Monterey. There was not much on our “to-see” list in Monterey except for the 19 Mile Drive. We finally found the drive but realized it would cost 9 bucks just to drive a road past a bunch of ultra-rich people’s homes and a golf course I did not wish to see anyway so we took a skip card on it. It proved to be a wise decision we found out from several locals.
Carmel-by-the-Sea was the next stop. But before we could explore we needed to get some warmer gear. I parked and found a great deal on two jackets for us and we were ready for the cold foggy Carmel. We had read earlier about the Forge in the Forest restaurant so we tracked down its location and went to be seated. We read it was dog-friendly, but we did not expect it to have a totally devoted patio just for dog owners. It was so nice to find this kinda of acommodation. Also we spoke we other people in the section and made a few friends, which if we had been without the dogs, we would not have mingled at all. The dogs seemed to bond us instantly with the other dog lovers and we began speaking. It was a great lunch, and in the process learned that Carmel beach allows dogs off-leash.
It was chilly in Carmel but that always seems to energize the puggles. They had a blast on the beach, it was beautiful. This just made Carmel even more appealing. And I have not even mentioned the art galleries at every turn. This was an artist’s dream community (expect maybe the cost of living :) I hope we can get back there again to more fully explore the rich artistic community. But we were limited on time so we headed on to Big Sur.
It did not take long to be in utter awe of the coastal landscape. The fog gave way to blue skies and I snapped so many pictures along the way but I am not convinced they do it any justice, it was truly one of those places you have to personally experience to understand. There were huge rock cliffs and crashing waves around every tight turn. We saw many beaches that looked great to hike to and finally settled on one that had a great looking trail leading down the cliffside to it. It was perfect, we were the only ones down there (except for weird naked guy, but he kept his distance thank god :) The dogs got run and play to their hearts content and Sharon and I just enjoyed being together on a beach with our each other. It was truly a magical place. We stayed as long as we could but it was getting late and we had a ways to go to get back to the park and we saw a restaurant on our way to the beach that we felt would be awesome to stop at for wine and an appetizer…and it was that and more.
The Rocky Point Restaurant was something we could not have dreamed up any better. It was situated on a rocky cliff overlooking a view that was too good to be true. The wine was great and we highly recommend the calamari. It was mouth watering and unlike any calamari you will ever have! It was from this point that I got on of the best photos I think I have ever captured to date. The light was perfect, the golden light that photographers always speak of. I was truly blessed and fortunate for great timing by mother nature. I hated to leave this magical place…I hope to return someday, perhaps maybe live within driving distance so i can leave all of the real world stress far behind and just weave down highway 1 in search of another mystical beach on which to spend time with my lovely wife and two great dogs. I will never forget that day, it is burned into my memory until the day I die.