Victor and I recently took a mini-vacation up the California coast to check out Hearst Castle, Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz and Carmel. We stayed at a different hotel each night, which was probably a bit much, but gave us the chance to check out some interesting places. The place we stayed at in Carmel was the Carmel Mission Inn. It was a pretty inconspicuous place located right off of Highway 1 but was peaceful and serene once you were inside.

The hotel property backs up to The Barnyard, a shopping center with some boutique stores and a good variety of restaurants. Once we checked in and dropped our stuff, we walked over to Flanagan’s Irish-American Pub for dinner and drinks. I love a hotel that has stuff in walking distance. After doing the tourist thing all day, it’s so nice to just park the car and relax for the night.