Carmel

On Sunday, June 5, 2011, Di Yin, her parents (they were visiting), and I drove to Carmel. The forecast was horrid, predicting rain all day. Nevertheless, Di Yin's parents had already rearranged their schedule to be free this day, so we continued our plan to go to Carmel.

It was pouring during the drive through San Jose. We drove ten miles per hour under the speed limit. The rain let up near Gilroy. By the time we got to Carmel, it was misting.

But this was no ordinary misting. No precipitation fell from the sky. Rather, clouds of mist blew horizontally. One could see the flow of air currents as they sweep around roofs and reflected off the ground.

We parked and trotted over to The Tuck Box for lunch. Di Yin had tried to bring me to this adorable little cafe in a hundred-year-old building on every previous visit to Carmel but it was closed every time (wrong hours, wrong day of week during low season, closed for vacation, etc.). In contrast, Di Yin brought her parents to The Tuck Box on every visit to Carmel, and it was open every time for them. This time, The Tuck Box was open--I guess her parents' luck is more powerful than my bad luck.

As for lunch, Di Yin and I split a turkey sandwich and some scones. The sandwich came with a side of fruit salad topped with whipped cream! How strange. Also, the Tuck Box is known for its scones. They're non-traditional (at least to me), tasting like they're made with buttermilk and corn meal. For spreads, we chose between orange marmalade, some kind of berry jam, and whipped cream. The scones were good with the definitely good quality whipped cream.

By the end of lunch, the weather was rather nice: partially cloudy, no rain. We only needed jackets because it was windy. Despite the clouds, it was bright. I wished I brought my sunglasses (but how could I have known given the forecast?). It was brighter than a cloudless Paris. Is that possible? Maybe it's because of the difference in latitude.

We walked around Carmel. In town, I enjoyed peering through the windows of the many art galleries.

We took a walk on the beach. It was long time-wise but short length-wise because we kept pausing to take pictures and enjoy the sights. We watched dogs playing in the surf, dogs playing for dominance, and even one person kitesurfing.

By the way, Di Yin took many pictures (not just of the beach but also of the town, of lunch, and more) as did her mom, though her mom's photographs aren't online. I didn't bother taking any pictures because I felt that three of us running around snapping pictures like mad would be absurd. The link goes to Di Yin's first picture from this day (picture #6) in one of her albums covering her parent's visit to California. If you're in slideshow mode and see pictures of Di Yin's parents at Google, you've cycled back to the beginning of the album and are viewing pictures unconnected with Carmel.

We walked through the residential areas and admired houses. We even wandered through a nicely staged open house with four bedrooms, four baths and two half-baths, a fireplace, a garden with a stone plaza patio and a grill, ... Six million dollars.

It was a nice time to visit Carmel. Everything was in bloom (gardens by houses, planters of flowers by businesses, etc.).

On the way home, we stopped by the Gilroy outlets.

Carmel's forecast, like that of the rest of the bay area, was for rain. Carmel's was the only forecast that was wrong. For instance, San Francisco saw record rainfall. (Of course, as a rule it doesn't rain in June, thus making virtually any rainfall a record.)

In conclusion, Di Yin's parents have great Carmel luck. I appreciate it.