The plan - head to Carmel for some Independence Day beach time. The players - Flahertys and Downings. We set out at 9am under cloudy skies. Beach chairs, ice chests, blankets and money (remember, this is Carmel!!) Heading down 101 all was good. A little apprehension as we realized that it was race weekend at Laguna Seca. Turned out to be a non-issue as "race" traffic wasn't too bad. In less than 2 hours we were in Carmel, driving down Ocean Street to the beach. Unfortunately so was everyone else! Traffic was thick and slow. We were still three blocks from the beach, stuck in traffic, and already trying to figure out plan "B". We decided we would turn around at the bottom of the hill, get a side street heading south, and find a less crowded beach. Slowly we inched our way down to the turn-around at the beach. Right when we thought all hope was lost, WAIT!!! THAT GUY IS LEAVING!!! Some guy right in front of us was pulling out. A DREAM SPOT!! There were maybe 10 parking places that are right on the beach. All the rest were up the hill. We were golden!!
You could really tell it was a holiday. People were streaming onto the the beach. Most were walking down the hill because they couldn't get a great parking spot like us! It was really busy there. Most people were taking the main entrance onto the beach. We chose to take the path to the left and head down where it wasn't so busy. As we were walking we were trying to eye a good spot to spend the day. We settled on a spot that had to be one of the best spots on the beach. A DREAM SPOT!! Up on a little bluff, overlooking the beach. In the distance to our right, we could see the 17th and 18th holes at Pebble Beach. It was almost like we had a corner booth on the beach. We had ice plant behind us and to the left, and being on a small bluff, nobody was setting up in front of us. It was almost in a sea of people. Really cool.
After a few hours of beach time, we walked up into town for lunch. The eight block up hill walk felt good. Checking out the cool, multi-million dollar houses, the shops, the people, the dogs (Carmel is "dog friendly"). We found the deli (Bruno's!) we were looking for. We split a half bbq'd chicken, tri-tip sandwich, corn on the cob and a soda. YUM! Only problem, where to eat this holiday feast? Too far to walk back to the beach with all this food. Everything was CROWDED. People everywhere! We decided to head across the street to the park where the city was hosting its 4th of July festivities. A good, old-fashioned 4th of July picnic. We'd find a place to sit and eat. The park was crowded with people. Some kid was just finishing singing songs from Oliver Twist. The 6-8 year old sack race was just starting. John took a quick right and headed to the back of the park, away from the crowd, and....DREAM SPOT!!! An empty park bench! ITS GREAT TO BE AN AMERICAN!!! We settled in and ate our lunch. We were tempted to take part in the adult pie eating contest but decided against it. We walked back down to the beach to chill. The sun was out and the beach was crowded, and life was good. Sipped a cold beverage, soaked in the summer sun, talked, laughed and savored our freedom.
At some point, and regretfully, (hated to give up that parking spot! HA HA), we decided to head home. John and Michelle had some Black Angus gift cards that were burning a hole in their pockets. I guess Black Angus's are closing down all over, so they wanted to spend them before they went out of business altogether. And who better to spend them with but us? : ) A little back seat sluething ( I called directory assistance) showed a Black Angus in San Jose! We took a short detour to Blossom Hill Road and were there before we knew it. We finished off our great day with a 4th of July feast! Ribeye steak on 4th of July is about as American as you can get! From appitizer (onion rings and grilled artichokes) to dessert (root beer floats and Choc fudge cake w/vanilla ice cream), it was all good. We've found some good friends in Michelle and John, and its great to spend some fun times with them. And I'm not just saying that because they bought dinner!
Dinner was over and we were back on the road and heading home right at the time all the fireworks were starting. Made for a nice conclusion to our 4th of July. We could see rockets red glare and bombs bursting in air all the way home.
God Bless America
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