Sue had a wonderful idea when we were planning the Paso trip…since my birthday was the day after we were checking out of the Paso home, and since we were flying out of Monterey she thought it would be nice to spend a couple of days in Carmel. As luck would have it, Laura and Tracy were also able to spend the two nights and Tori and Paul one night. After looking at various places to stay, and having one oddly cancel about a month before the actual trip, we picked Villa Mara (https://villamaracarmel.com/). What a remarkable place. It was steps from Carmel beach, our room looked across the bay to Pebble Beach golf course and it was simply amazing.

We arrived fairly early, and I asked George for some place we could go for lunch in town, he made a great recommendation, so we parked and took an Uber in with Tori and Paul and had a great lunch at a local brew pub. Upon returning, we were met with welcome drinks (fully stocked bar, and some great wine selections), we checked in and off we went to relax before continuing the day. While we were checking in, I had asked George if there was any place I could get Pliny the Elder, the beer I was chasing, so far unsuccessfully, as I really just wanted to try it to compare to Heady Topper (my favorite VT Dipa). He said he’d check around, that he had seen it and he’d let me know.

We went up to a very comfortable room complete with….are you ready…a full Toto toilet with its own remote control (IYKYK). After a quick wake up shower, we headed down to start polishing off the remainder of the wines we had brought along with us from Paso, (the whites, graciously kept chilled by Rocky and Robert and George). After many more laughs, the six of us headed to dinner (again via Uber, it was so nice to have it easily available) at La Bicyclette (http://www.labicycletterestaurant.com/). Very quaint, great service. Sue and I shared the steak au poivre for our main course, it was nicely done though I would have preferred a more robust and plentiful au poivre sauce. The company was, of course, stellar. Upon Ubering back we sat outside by the fire pit (it was so nice to be slightly chilled and not living has we had been for the past two months, on the surface of the sun), and as I started to sip, Sue came down from the room with a picture she said I had to see…George, Rocky and Robert conspired to go and get some Pliny the Elder and there, in the room, on ice, was three bottles…talk about extraordinary service…

La Bicyclette

Waiting for me in the room after dinner!!

Tori and Paul were leaving the next morning so we said our goodbyes (after a lot more wine) and headed up for a great sleep.

The next morning, my birthday, we headed down to a terrific breakfast and then took a walk along Carmel Beach (remember my cut toe from the first night? well off into the ocean it went as salt water cures everything…and it did), came back up and took a walk into town…a long, uphill, hot walk that seemed like a good idea while planning it…We had a nice, non-de script lunch in town and then got an Uber for the trip back…

Dinner that evening was at Grasing’s (https://grasings.com/) and it was early due to the fact that the next morning we had a 5:15 AM flight out of Monterey airport…while it was close, it was still early and Sue still had a bag to check.

Sue had made all the arrangements for the dinners in Carmel, so to my surprise when we arrived there was a birthday card for me from the chef…Dinner was terrific, we all shared some Waygu that was done to perfection, some great wine, and simply had a fabulous time recapping the trip and spending time with folks we won’t see again for a little while.

Uber back to the Villa, and after packing and loading the big bag into the car to avoid having to do it a 3:30 am, we spent our last few hours finishing off our last Paso wine with Laura and Tracy.

Since we were leaving well before breakfast, Rocky had made arrangements to have a take away bag and fresh coffee for us to pick up as we were leaving….the perfect end to a perfect stay.

The flights home were smooth, the layover in Dallas made easier by the Amex lounge. The only hiccup was that just as we landed in Savannah, there was a typical southern summer storm that we were told would prevent them from unloading the luggage for an unspecified amount of time. The benefit of living only 20 miles from the airport was that we simply went home and then picked it up a day later!

And that…is the rest of the story….