A Charming Little Town: Carmel-by-the-Sea

Since the small town Carmel was only 15 minutes away from Monterey, we of course, had to stop by. It’s only 1 square mile – the perfect size to just walk around and explore. However, we learned the hard way that all shops closed at 5 pm (#beachtownproblems), so we were only able to window shop. Looking on the bright side, though, we pretty much got the entire place to ourselves!

Little plazas and squares were all over, but you have to be adventurous to find them! A lot of them were tucked away behind unassuming archways and alleys.

Be a little curious, and then you are rewarded with this. Sooo nice!

Another plaza:

I asked Jiwon to go sit there, otherwise the place looked too empty, lol.

Our version of window shopping: taking photos of all the pretty things!

A monkey plant?! Someone get me one for my future house-warming party, please

When we turned the corner into here, I thought we were in Greece or something. Everything looked like the stuff of movies (or at least, my impression of what Greek villages look like based off The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants xD).

Pretending we’re actual customers…

California friends described this town as “quaint” and “cute” to me; after seeing it for myself, I can wholly agree.

This window display was most enticing…

So that was my experience with Carmel! If I go again, I’ll know to go out before 5 pm…that afternoon nap could always wait!

Have you been to Carmel before? Where were your favorite places to eat and shop?

P.S. We ate breakfast at From Scratch the next morning, and apparently Guy Ferrari from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives had a meal there too! Only difference was, he had a much more savory meal than I (biscuits with sausage gravy). I don’t get to eat crab omelettes very often, so I got one without hesitation!

Crab omelette. Mmm.