Cottage Hideaway

Not ordinarily our style, but we indulged in a little luxury to facilitate our escape from the world for a few days. 

First we stayed at The Gilroy Fitzgerald House:

After a delicious dinner at Mama Mia's we enjoyed a cool and quiet night's rest in this lovely room. The next morning our host spread a beautiful table with a home-cooked breakfast of Grand Marnier French Toast and Raspberry Sauce with a side of Chicken/Apple Sausage and Grilled Apples. There was also fresh cantaloupe and berries. Oh my!

It was foggy and 55 at 10:30 a.m. so we ditched plans for kayaking at Moss Landing and headed on to Monterey Bay Aquarium. But the line there was a half-mile long so we ditched that idea, too. Instead we browsed a bookstore and an antique warehouse, and when fog burned off we picnicked at the waterfront. 

Then we took a leisurely scenic drive along the coast at Pacific Grove and the 17-Mile Drive. We pulled out and sat at a little patch of beach for about an hour while the tide came in and turned back out again in the mid-afternoon. I took exactly zero pictures of the ocean, but the Pacific still looks a beautiful as you remember.

Late afternoon we checked into the Friar Tuck Cottage at Lincoln Green in Carmel, and walked two blocks to the beach before dinner. We dined outdoors around a firepit while live guitar music played at Bistro Beaujolais.


Yes. It was a special treat that was rather decadent and expensive, but it accomplished just what we were hoping for: a calm, quiet, romantic escape to settle the soul and deliver some peace.