Mills-Monterey! Day 2

Deep breaths. I'm scared about how long this post is going to be.

Saturday morning we went to Tommy's. I've blogged about this place before, so I'll just remind you all why I love it so much: everything under $3. Yup.

We are so cool sitting at the bar.

We both ordered the Tommy's special - eggs, pancakes, hash browns, and bacon (or sausage if that's your thing).

After breakfast we drove from Marina to Carmel. The plan was to start as far south as possible and hit up the tourist spots as we headed north. First stop, the Carmel Mission!

The Mission itself isn't that tall looking, but somehow when Kmills stood in front of it and I snapped this picture, it looked so much taller! Optical illusion making is one of Kerry's hidden talents. Inside the choir was practicing. It was nice to see the inside because last time I was here (for Easter mass) we had to stand in the entrance because of how packed it was!

There's something so pretty about the Catholic Missions. Kinda creepy how people are buried right there in the church - reminded us of our trip to Westmister Abbey back in the summer of 2007, where patriots like Oliver Cromwell, scientists like Isaac Newton, poets like Chaucer, etc are buried under your feet!

Throwback pic on right: Okay so this guy's not dead - but it is from our trip to London, and yes, I want everyone to know we met Zac Efron... plus, I didn't take any Westmister Abbey pictures :)

We played around in the strange room, taking fun mirror pictures, then we went outside and painted.

Isn't Kerry's picture coming together beautifully? She's such a talented artist.

There was a small little fair. We rubbed olive oil on our hands to make them smooth....

Then we passed through their gift shop. Kerry begged me to get her BibleOpoly but I refused to spend another dime on buying her versions of Monopoly. I've already given her Birdopoly, Elvis edition Monopoly, The Lord of the Rings edition Monopoly, and Sponge Bob Square Pants edition....





Next stop: Carmel-by-the-sea's Ocean Avenue!

We walked around for a while with one major destination in mind: the Cottage of Sweets! I've blogged about this place a lot too so here's why I love it: SWEETS, sold in a COTTAGE.

Kerry chose white chocolate covered pretzel balls and salted carmel fudge. I went with chocolate covered gummy bears in memory of Natalie, peanut butter chocolate malt balls (my recent favorite), and their peanut butter squares.

We grabbed coffee from a cafe up the street and then walked down to the beautiful beach to enjoy our treats.

  

Continuing on our journey, we drove 17 Mile Drive the back way through Carmel towards Pebble Beach. They still had some of the tents up from the US Open, which was going on the week before.

Look! It's the Lone Cypress ("a salt pruned tree which is the official symbol of Pebble Beach and a frequent fixture of television broadcasts from this area" Wikipedia... and since I know you are curious: "Salt pruning is the process by which saline mists generated by seawater are driven ashore by winds to alter the shape of trees over considerable times throughout the growth cycle of the affected plant... [it] selectively degrades foliage and branches on the windward side of the plant facing the body of saline water. The resultant growth form is an asymmetrical plant form, swept back away from the ocean")

Much to our delight there was a wedding party that arrived via trolley to take pictures. When they abandoned their vehicle to walk down to the Lone Cypress, we hijacked it for our own pictures hah!

The 17 Mile Drive continued on along the coast. We drove through Pacific Grove and then parked on Lighthouse. After a quick stop in the liquor store nearby and then another quick stop at Nob Hill for a light lunch of fruits, we walked to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Get ready for a compilation of Kerry Mills at the Aquarium photos:

Kerry with the jellyfish

Kerry with the crazy looking seahorses

Kerry with this cow statue

Kerry getting ZAPped!

The clam shell! Max if you are reading this: this is my first time actually seeing the clam shell at the Aquarium. Up until recently I didn't think it existed, only in your photoshopping abilities.

We left the aquarium and walked up and down Cannery Row. We stopped in the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a second and I saw these chocolate covered potato chips. Weird!!

When we were driving back to my house, I spotted Mrs. Delish's Cupcake Boutique. I was literally like "WTF?? Since WHEN has that been there?" Kerry, I don't know if I said that out loud, but I was definitely thinking it! Since Kerry's visit I've read a review about the place on Special Edible's blog. I really want to go check that place out soon!

P.S. If you are local to Monterey I suggest you start following that blog because the author, Mark Anderson, works for Monterey County Weekly and reviews a lot of awesome local spots!
P.P.S. Also, if you don't yet, pick up a copy of the Weekly or read their stuff online. LOVE the local paper. I hear about neat events and free stuff from it. Oh and they have the Best Of list that I'm trying to tackle.

We decided to get Baan Thai takeout for dinner. We picked the pumpkin curry (no surprise, if you know me) and pad thai. Kerry let me order, so I of course chose extra hot. The combination of EXTREME heat and an ongoing sinus cold made it impossible to taste our high class $2 bottle of wine.

Empty! :)

Victor, Max, Maren, and Tyler came over (except that Tyler now lives here so I can't really phrase it that way anymore haha) and we busted out the deck of cards!

King's cup is always such a fun game to play.... especially when the rule made up is you have to say your appointed nickname before you say ANYTHING. Slippy Slappy Hippy Happy Trippy Trappy. TOUGH STUFF.

Slappy and Hippy make me Happy.

Sarah was there too - her bro showed us his new tattoo. Then Tyler iced her. Despite the fact that she was on her way to bed, she took it like a champ on one knee!

Then we went downtown.... if you take one good look at the picture below you'll realize how much fun we were having at the Mucky Duck.... such a good dance spot ;)

Not pictured: our trip to the Hippodrome "club" that had cages ... annnnddd yes - we did dance in them.

Coach Store, Downtown Carmel

My mom, sister, and I always find great deals at the Coach factory store (San Carlos St & Ocean Ave, Carmel). Once we had chowed down on the slice of chocolate cherry cheesecake from Cafe Carmel, it was time to go handbag shopping. The last time the three of us went to Coach, Nicole and I got matching wallets (hers brown, mine black). This time we got matching "swingbacks" (hers black, mine brown). I got the Penelope Signature Swingback for ~$70 (online it retails for $140). They gave us the above coupon when we walked in, so our total purchase was discounted even further after picking out seven items (some were gifts!)

Read their Yelp reviews here.

Cafe Carmel Coffee House

After visiting both Georis and Bernardus' tasting rooms in Carmel Valley, my mom, sister, and I decided to do a little shopping. Before we hit up the Coach Factory store, we ducked into Cafe Carmel Coffee House (top of Ocean Avenue, Carmel) . Check out their reviews on Yelp.

The coffee house had lots of pastries, various desserts, fruit salads, pasta salads, yogurt parfaits, quiches, etc. Their website also mentions that they carry paninis, sandwiches, and wraps. The long glass cases display all their yummy products, and large blackboards highlight their drink offerings, which include: coffee, tea, espresso, frappes, and smoothies!

Window displays drawing in the crowds.

 My mom ordered a slice of Cafe Carmel's chocolate cherry cheesecake. The cheesecake itself seemed almost like a mix between cheesecake and cookies and cream ice cream. It was coated in a gloopy cherry topping and a ribbon of whipped cream. Cafe Carmel used an oreo cookie crust instead of the typical graham cracker crust. Good choice. I snuck a few bites from my mom's plate and was glad I did! I'm not the biggest cheesecake person, but I did thoroughly enjoy this!

Nicole ordered a tall cup of coffee that she shared with us. As shown below, they had four flavors available for customers: Decaf French Roast, Dark French Roast, Medium House Blend, and Light Kona Blend. They have the whole spectrum! I wonder if they have free wifi...

Carmel Bakery and Coffee Co.

Yelp!

Since 1906 or 1911, this bakery has been shelling out cannolis, biscottis, and pretzels galore. As we walked back up to our car from the Cottage of Sweets, we passed by this cute little bakery and decided it was high time for coffee. Sarah mentioned that when visiting her grandma back in the day, she'd duck in to this bakery and gobble up one of their -at least I think- iconic pastry pretzels. The website for Carmel Bakery and Coffee Co. (Ocean Ave & Lincoln, Carmel) is currently under construction, but it did offer the following info:

Since 1911, Carmel Bakery has been a Carmel tradition... equal parts bakery, deli, Starbucks coffee bar, and neighborhood hangout, Carmel Bakery specializes in Scottish shortbread, English scones, Italian biscotti, and giant soft Bavarian pretzels.

WOW. Got the whole Europe thing covered now, don't ya?

As you walk by, there is a wide window that just cannot be avoided. The caramel apples strike first, followed by the gingerbread men whisper hello, and then you see them - a mountainous stack of glazed, salted, crispy, crumbly pretzel pastries. Oh heaven. Yes, I would like to go inside...

Sarah ordered one of those scrumptious, knotted, sweet baked dough beings and thankfully let us all try. It provoked a conversation about the nature of pretzels. This was a sweet pretzel, but most people think only in terms of savory (salty) pretzels. Wikipedia helps clarify (as always) "The pretzel shape is used for a variety of sweet pastries made of different kinds of dough (flaky, brittle, soft, crispy) with a variety of toppings (icing, nuts, seeds, cinnamon)." I also learned that the phrase "tying the knot" originated when a pretzel was used to tie the knot between two prominent families. The loops were symbolic of everlasting love. How funny! The article is actually extremely interesting believe it or not. Read more here (at least open it in a new tab - you might want to read it sometime).

They offer sandwiches for ($6.95) including Turkey & Swiss, Baked Ham & Swiss, Roast Beef & jack, Chicken Salad & Jack, Tuna Salad & Jack, HOT French Dip Tri Tip with Jack Cheese, and a HOT Meatball sub. Other lunch items include, homemade soups, salads (mixed greens, tuna salad, chicken salad, Caesar), and garden wraps (steak Caesar, chicken Caesar, turkey & jack).

Tyler was pleased to see that they offer a Bakery Breakfast Burrito for $5.50 (two other types Arturo's for $0.50 more and Grande for $1.50 more). If you'd like to read about his breakfast burrito experience at Carmel Bakery, click here (when he posts I'll link to it). Last weekend I was able to join him on his trek to Baldemiros to try their breakfast burrito. I'll let you know my thoughts in an upcoming post.

As for drinks, this place has DUN DUN DUN Starbucks! Everyone on Yelp was freaking out about that. OH Heavens! Starbucks is in one of OURRR Carmel shops?? ... But we reject big businesses for the mom & pop variety. Oh wait! The businesses lining Ocean Avenue still manage to sell everything ridiculously over priced so why does it matter?? Sheesh. I like Starbucks.

Anyways. Drinks include all the iced drinks you can think of. Prices are steep with a 16 oz. frappe at $4.65, an iced vanilla latte at $3.95, a grande americano at $2.50 and a grande cappuccino at $3.50. Their coffe of the day will run you $1.60 - $2.10. They offer teas, chai, cider, hot chocolate (MMM sounds good right now, I'm cold in my house). They also have the cutest doggie cookies!

Here's an idea, grab a yummy treat for yourself and trot down to the beach (photo from Yelp):

We just sat around and talked for a few hours, it wasn't that busy on a Wednesday night. Eventually they dimmed the lights and we knew that we had to leave. They were polite though and didn't yell at us about closing hours.