Two quick stops, Carmel and Monterey

As we were leaving Gilroy the day after our visit to San Francisco, I couldn't resist making a lunch stop at Carmel. To me, it's one of the finest places for seafood, and by seafood, I mean clam chowder. The drive into town on that day in late spring was picturesque, as always...

... with quaint little shops like this lining both sides of the street. The shops are cute but I think it's the sunny tree-lined sidewalks that I'm more drawn to.

After lunch, we were hoping to take a leisurely drive down The 17-mile Drive to see the ocean. But first, we passed by lots of beautiful houses like this one and wondered if we might spot any of our favorite celebs out there. Driving through Carmel, you see flowers everywhere in all colors, it's like driving through a garden.

As it turned out, you now have to pay to enter The 17-mile Drive. I didn't know that. The last time I was there, it was still free. So we decided to skip it this time, and continued our drive to Monterey. This is the place where we always come to buy souvenirs. Seriously, how many souvenirs do we need from just Monterey alone?

And of course, no trip to Monterey would be complete without a walk down the pier to gaze out at the Pacific Ocean. I could spend hours sitting on a bench listening to the waves crash onto the rocks below and watching the gentle movement of the sea.

I wish we could've stayed longer but we had a long drive back to Fresno. Trust me to be still thinking about that clam chowder we had at that little Italian restaurant in Carmel (it's a shame I can't remember the name).