"Monterey - Wild, Windswept Beauty " a Monterey Travel Page by Restless-in-kl

When you visit the Monterey Peninsula, you are in for a series of wonderful delights. The natural beauty of the area manifests itself in green rolling hills and the evocative Pacific Ocean. The ocean’s inhabitants also amuse visitors, with whales, sea otters and sea lions easily accessible.

From the centuries-old Lone Cypress to the wave-scrubbed Pacific coast, 17-Mile Drive is a study in superlatives, a spectacular set of twists on every must-drive list. Smooth, shiny pebbles first piqued the curiosity of turn-of-last century visitors to this sublime meeting of land and sea.

Home to gingerbread cottages and grand estates, Carmel’s subdued milieu is legendary: galleries, restaurants and specialty shops abound, while stringent laws forbid fast-food restaurants, parking meters and neon signs.

Ocean Avenue marks the entrance and heart of the Carmel shopping district, a walkable labyrinth of diverse galleries and boutiques. At The Barnyard and Crossroads Shopping Village, fountains, gardens and eclectic cafés elevate an afternoon of shopping and strolling from the mundane to the sublime.