Carmel: A Storybook Town on the California Coast

Carmel is like a picture you would see on a cover of an English classic: of a brightly painted door or a wood-framed window peeping out of a green facade of shrubs and creepers decked with flowers.

Take a walk around the town and you see a brick house here, an English cottage there, some Mission-styled architecture, some half-timbered structures; each of them prettied up with a garden full of flowers or planters overflowing with blooms. There are decorative lamps adorning the stone and brick buildings, and flower-laden vines taking over many a wall and roof.

Carmel is a seaside town in California that you could easily mistake for an English village with some Spanish touches.

Also called Carmel-by-the Sea, this charming town is also known for being home to several artists, poets, authors and musicians. The most famous resident of this city however must be Clint Eastwood. Mr. Eastwood has even served as the Mayor of Carmel in the 80s.

It has been a while since I was in Carmel. But I remember like it was just yesterday-that-I-was-there, how charming and picturesque the little town was. Even the businesses in the downtown area were housed in the story-book type houses this place is known for. Carmel looked like a good place to buy art, specially crafted jewelry and unique pieces of home decor. The city also seemed to have several inns, Italian restaurants and coffee shops with wrought iron patio furniture that were painted in white, and looking like they belonged in a period drama.

Another thing I must tell you is that there are no fast-food chains here, almost no swanky buildings and no door numbers. In a long time, I hadn’t seen houses with names written on the gates or front doors. It really did feel like another place, another country.

 I also couldn’t help noticing was that this city seemed to be an extremely dog-friendly one. There were so many furry friends out on the streets, big ones, tiny ones and dogs of every breed and colour. Several shops had doggie bowls with water at their doors so that the canine tourists walking around town could take a sip or two when thirsty.

 When I was reading up about the place, I found that this place had this rather unheard of law — of prohibiting the use of high heels without a permit. I hear that the idea is to prevent people from suing the city for the uneven pavement of the sidewalks. Unfortunately, I had come across this piece of information only after I got back from my visit, or I’d have definitely taken notice of what kind of footwear everybody wore. I’m not even sure many people know about this law. Maybe I’d have known if I had gone in heels. 😀 That was a day I was wearing the most comfortable flats I had (with soles like that of a running shoe) so I got to really enjoy the walk down Ocean Avenue.

 Ocean Avenue is a road that turns off Highway one, passes through downtown Carmel and then goes all the way down to the coast. If you like scenic drives, you can continue down past Carmel City Beach and embark on a seaside drive past several sea-front homes and inns and beaches, and finally get to Carmel River Beach.

Carmel City Beach

Carmel River State Beach

If you like this post, you may want to also read about — Solvang| A Danish Fairytale.

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