h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

hi

i have a few places to share but first off... Carmel-by-the-Sea
since i grew up here, i can tell you lots and can pick the best pix to show it !


Carmel-by-the-Sea is on the Monterey Peninsula in California, about 100 miles south of San Francisco... and yes, it is by the sea!
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Carmel-by-the-Sea+&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
In these images you can see charming cottages, an old spanish mission, beaches, fantastic cypress trees, maps, and a few pix that arn't of Carmel-by-the-Sea but of some other place... as you look through them you will get the feel of the place and recognize those that do not belong. You will also see a lot of paintings because many folks like to sit along side the roads and paint the scenery.

At the south end of Carmel Bay is Point Lobos... a State Reserve (like a State Park) Here is a great little album i found that best shows it off... included are some pictures of Carmel Beach! http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.calwalkers.com/2003/71403w.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.calwalkers.com/2003/71403.html&h=450&w=600&sz=79&hl=en&start=60&tbnid=KMM3dMQ8a4OzCM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3DCarmel%2BBeach%26start%3D60%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN Part of the interesting history of Point Lobos is that rum-runners used to drop anchor in its little coves and unload their cargo.

And here is a picture of some nice waves on Carmel Beach... winter is the best time to visit Carmel because it is still sunny but has great waves on the beach from storms elsewhere! http://www.henrylewis.org/photoblog/pictures/beach.jpg Behind these waves you can see Pebble Beach Golf course... which you may have seen on television when they show what used to be called the Bing Crosby Clambake... a national pro-am tournament in February. Pebble Beach is inside The Seventeen Mile Drive... which is an area that hosts a drive that takes you along some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in California. http://www.terragalleria.com/images/us-ca/usca9558.jpeg ...perhaps you have seen a picture of this tree before? It is called the Lone Cypress and i believe is the most photographed tree in the ...world?

There are three main beaches along Carmel Bay...
Carmel Beach http://www.seaviewinncarmel.com/carmel.jpg
Carmel River Beach http://www.monterey-carmel.com/DSCF0975.JPG
and the Monastery Beach http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/USA_West/CalN/Monastery_South/c006624.jpg
These aren't necessarily the real names of these beaches... just what the locals call them.

well... that's enuf for today... i will come back and show you around more later

. .. ..stops the bus and helps everyone off... .. .. .

see ya next time!

What a beautiful place. Thank you for sharing

How big is the town? Is it a tourist place or do people from neighbouring towns come to the festivals?

*Get's out her Atlas to place the town in a bigger perspective.*

Just honk the horn when the bus takes off again.

That is a beautiful location. Makes me feel very landlocked where I am. I could imagine a peaceful retirement in such a place.

yes Hypatia... many retirees are happy there... its a little expensive but it is doable if you plan right...
funny thing... the drugstore at the crossroads shopping area, Longs, has a special foods area... (all Longs drugstores do, offering imports most desired by the local clientele) and the funny thing is the one in Carmel features English delicacies Teas, biscuits, marmalades and candies....

tartaronne, the town is not very big... more like a village... but there are alot of people living within the city limits... but its all so cozy, with lots of trees and foliage. The weather is very mild... some say it is like New Zealand. There is a large amount of expensive homes where the owners are rarely there... sometimes they rent them out on a weekly or monthly basis... (you can rent a normal 3 bedroom home there for a month for about 2000 american dollars sometimes less) but for the most part they are empty but they are beautifully landscaped so it is nice to have them around i guess. Land prices are exhorbitant in town... but there are rentals that are as i said doable if you have a decent living. Where i was just living, when i was there, was up Carmel Valley 11 miles, which is just 15 minutes from the beach, and the rentals are more reasonable up there. There are retirement homes but there are waiting lists. You can google The Monterey Herald and look at the classifieds to see how things go. Oh wait... i have the classifieds right here ....pulls them outa my back pocket http://www.montereyherald.com/classifieds ...smooths them out for you

It IS a tourist place... but more for the walkers and nature seekers and lovers of fine food. There are no festivals... haha the town itself is a festival!

i am not running the bus today... i have been busy making a scrabble game room here A25398255 but i will run the bus tomorrow. i promise.

Hi again

I'll take a breather, then.

First time around I happened to click on one of the photos and got this -

"Numerious art galleries and annual events including the Carmel Art Festival, Carmel Shakespeare Festival and Carmel Bach Festival contribute to the villages prominence as an intellectual and cultural oasis on the central California coast".

But have only skimmed the text which I believe is about a firm doing coach tours. I see now that it probably covers a greater area.

I think I'll retire with Hyp - in a do-doable house - but still close to the sea.

okay i am sorry. i misunderstood. i was thinking in terms of the little fairs and local festivals that happen in the summer ...featuring street dances, booths and merriment. Also... when i wrote that i had just gotten off the phone talking to a friend in colorado who had just attended an annual fair we have gone to for 20 years...

yes the Bach Festival and the Shakespearean Festival! And the Art Festival! I just didnt see them in that light. They are culture events... i am sorry i dont know how to explain it. they are not street dancing, booth type affairs. The Bach Festival takes place in my old school... Sunset. I dont know much about the Art and
Shakespeare Festivals because when i came back 6 years ago it was to help my aging dad. We didnt get out much.

Yeah... i think i need a few days off...

actually i didnt get out much ever, there. maybe it would be better if someone else takes over this tour....

all i can show you is favorite tidepools and favorite haunts... mostly natural.

Watching the sea is calming and always causes me to wax philosophical. The sea coasts I like the best are the ones with coves and jagged rocks with the waves breaking around them and sending up spray. Teh long flat sandy beaches, wile good for swimming and sun bathing, aren't nearly as interesting.

But I also love being in the mountains. It is hard for me to choose what would be my perfect location.

Ahem. Need to preview my posts. Too many typos.

Hey ..fluffy .. it is much more fun to get to know a place via someone showing and telling about favorite places and experiences than getting a touristguide's explanation.

So, please, keep the bus rolling.

I live in a country with no cliffs at all (except on a small island close to Sweden).

The sea has always been my friend, whether I was sad, mad or happy. It has so many tempers itself. But I also do like mountains.

My husband Sig. S. and I want a house (preferably a mideval (sp?) castle) on top of a mountain, with a view of the sea.

Now, if these lotto-numbers will behave, you can all come and visit for the castle-warming-party. Italy, Slovenia, Croatia are the most likely places...

Thanks Fluffy that was fantastic...

I will be a frequent visitor to your castle overlooking the sea, tartaronne. I was trying to think of a place I've been where there is a good view of the sea from a height. The only one I can think of is the area around Acapulco. I'm afraid I couldn't afford one of those houses. Unless I win the lottery, of course. In which case you will have to visit me.

I've never been to California. There are a lot of places I've never been.

Hi Hypatia

Sorry to hear that where would you like to go?

Is the bus driver taking requests?

About anyplace would be interesting, Bob. Like most folks, there are more places I haven't visited than ones I have. And when you live where I do, cyber trips are easier to arrange than real ones.

I was in your neck of the woods not too long ago. Lovely Kent. I went to Canterbury, Sissinghurst Castle, and Great Dixter.

I hope you enjoyed it, it is one of the best counties of England

I did! I was there the last of April. The weather was just fabulous. Talk about good timing. As soon as I flew home it started raining.

Kent is a family name on my mother's side, so I was wanting to visit. I haven't seen all the counties in england, but I have to agree that Kent is one of the best ones I've seen.

Have you studied your family history then.

Not extensively. The ancestors I know the most about were Londoners for many generations. I probably still have distant relatives there. That isn't the sort of thing I would try to find out, even if I could. About the modern ones, I mean. I'm pretty sure no one wants to hear from a long lost cousin.

I had an aunt who was heavily into genealogy, plus my sister is interested in it. I leave the research to her.

I have never been to England. I did have a month long tour of Europe though, hippie style... Spain, Tangiers, Germany, The Netherlands, and France. Ah, Paris! There was a student uprising at the time so the Louvre was closed but i did get to do the street cafe things.

The bus for Carmel kinda had a breakdown but i found a shadetree mechanic and he is working on it now...
... . .clanging and swearing in the background.. . . .

Pretty soon, though, he says, so we can resume then
. ... .goes back to holding tools for the mechanic.. . . ..

*Passing tools to ..fluffy...to hold for the mechanic*