Nobody 741

Sunday, May 18, 2008
Nobody # 741

Nobody Asked Me But:

Revenge is a dish best tasted cold. Or so I thought while we were in Carmel, as I eagerly awaited our rematch on The Quail Lodge’s 9-hole putting course. Barb had defeated me by 3 strokes in an abbreviated 6-hole first round. Today, despite a putter that was not to my liking, I would get my revenge.

Not quite. This time she won 10 strokes after 9 holes and rubbed it in by turning the tough 8th hole into a one-put.

(Note - I also had a one-put as we replayed # 9 but it was only for fun as the match was over.)

I would like to say that I let her win, but I didn’t. So let’s just say that had I used a good putter it would never have happened.<<<

Other highs, and a couple of lows from our 5-day spring trip last week – and, showing great restraint, I will save the food for last.

The lows:

The weather was a little too cool and cloudy – mid-to high 50s until our homecoming day when it was sunny and warm.

Thunderbird Bookstore, one of the great independents on the West Coast, is gone. No more sitting in their glass-enclosed sun porch, sipping a black or a root beer and starting a newly purchased book.

A favorite ice cream store (what else) in Pacific Grove has changed hands. Now they do not make their own ice cream. They serve Lapperts. But this ice cream cloud has a silver lining, as you will see below.

The highs:

The drive through Big Sur. We hadn’t taken this route for several years. Our mistake. The views are still breathtaking. The deck at Nepenthe with its mountain to sea vistas is still a primary peace spot for me.

Cambria – small shops, sleeping across the street from the surf…. And Sow’s Ear.

Arroyo Grande – Our first stop in this neat small town with its national treasure - about which I write more below.

Driving/wandering through Carmel. It still has one of the world’s most beautiful beaches, vivid, white sand and the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach as a backdrop, a few very cool stores and many houses right out of “The Hobbit.”

The Seventeen Mile Drive wandering through forests and by beaches with surreal-shaped trees, both living and dead, and the almost as beautiful beach drive between Pacific Grove and Monterey. It was while driving the latter that we saw our first deer of the trip – two, so close to the car that we could almost touch them. Later we saw six more on the Seventeen Mile Drive. Drinks and dinner at The Inn At Spanish Bay. The piper still closes out the day with his stroll across the dunes, and Roy’s is still one of the most beautiful settings of any restaurant in my experience.

The “pigs crossing” highway sign as you enter Carmel from the south and the “pavement rehabilitation” sign on Carmel Valley Road.

The good-looking woman (see picture) that tried to pick up on me while Barb was talking to one of her long-ago ex-students Debbie, who owns a sports clothing store in Carmel.

Quail Lodge where we spent our four nights. We had a very comfortable and spacious room in a beautiful setting.

Food highs

I will start with the national treasure – Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab in Arroyo Grande. Chalk up another fabulous discovery to my wife. She read about it somewhere, so we made our first stop ever in this neat small town. The store was charming, an elevated model train ever-circling, Doc’s Periodic table of Ice Cream displayed above the soda fountain and the dreamy, creamy ice cream as good as that at Fosselman’s. The stop on the way north was so good that we repeated on the way home.

AND! – If you seek samples of the various flavors you are served not with plastic but with a miniature pewter spoon!

Others Sea-salt Virginia peanuts from a small Cambria grocery store.

The chicken-fried steak at the Sow’s Ear, still the best in the west, and my pork chop in a garlic cream sauce was just as good.

English scones and crisp, thick bacon at The Tuck Box in Carmel. We have been going there for many years, and they have been in operation probably three times that long.

Our pizza at a Barnyard restaurant in Carmel Valley.

My crab cake appetizer at Roy’s.

And, of course, our pilgrimage to La Super Rica on the way home.

And finally, as we pulled into our Minnehaha driveway, I couldn’t help but think that even five-day vacations are small dreams come true.

(I will send more pictures of our trip later in the day.)