Half Moon Bay, Pescadero, and Carmel-by-the Sea

Our trusty woody chauffeured us out of the City of San Francisco, and while we enjoyed the row houses of south San Francisco, soon enough we were on the coastal road south again. This time Route 1 was more forgiving, and we motored along with traffic while enjoying the spectacular beaches and occasionally pulling over for 'moderns' to pass. It was good to be on the road again, and exhilarating to be driving the California coast in our Ford Model A Station Wagon.

We passed beach after beach, and the tide must have been right as surfers plied the waves everywhere. The road took us past Half Mood Bay and into Pescadero, a historic village that is the home of Duarte's Tavern, an entity that has operated since 1894. The restaurant is quite a destination on the coast here, and as we were traveling south, we took our lunch to go. We ate at a park overlooking the Pescadero Beach, and when we exchanged photography duties with the couple in the car next to ours, we were surprised to find that (a) the were from Natick, Massachusetts, and (b) their eldest daughter had graduated from Vassar. And again the world was a smaller place.

We landed in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and quickly settled into The Carmel Village Inn, a motel with excellent parking and which is located in the heart of Carmel. After securing a room, we toured the town's many shops and wound our way down to the beach. A cool fog had settled in, but the village was charming and the beach beautiful. We sought out a lemonade for Madeline and ended up at Ah, Shucks, an oyster bar with a well-rounded menu. I passed on the tequila oyster shooter in favor of a salsa shooter and a pair on the half-shell. Madeline had the Bay Shrimp Caesar, and and after another great day, we crashed.

We plan to explore Carmel tomorrow, and to visit the Woodies of Carmel shop on our way out of town before making our way north to San Francisco - the final leg of our journey.