Marcelle Calder, my roommate from BYU Freshmen year and I have always talked about taking a girls trip. After being friends for 16 years, we finally pulled it off! And took our darling little girls with us. This trip was full of all the best things.
Carmel-by-the-Sea was more charming than I ever expected. I heard a lady on the plane describe it as “Disneyland for Adults” and she was so right. This small and quaint town was bursting with charm. Dutch doors, vine-lined walls, fresh flowers in window boxes, art galleries, yummy restaurants, the perfect weather, fairy-tale cottages, darling alleyways, and markets made this little gem so much fun to explore.
We caught the same flight from Phoenix together. The girls sat together and Marcelle and I sat behind them. They became fast friends and as always I love chatting ideas, business, family, and home design with Marcelle.
Our first stop was to La Bicyclette for dinner. I was feeling sick from the flight, so E and I went back for a short nap and then we ventured down to Carmel Beach.
The first full day was food tour day, hopping from place to place tasting tea cakes, giant Bavarian pretzels, sampling farmer’s market bounties including fresh fruit and hummus, and more.
Day 2 was adventure day…driving down the Big Sur coastline, stopping for gorgeous views, thwarting off car sickness, and going to McWay Falls. (Which we thought we could go to, but it was just a viewpoint.) We took the long and bumpy road to the beach which was ever so windy, but the girls had a blast playing in the waves and sand and Marcelle and I had a great chat!
Day 3 was photo day! We didn’t want to leave Carmel-by-the-Sea without exploring (I mean taking pictures) of all the darling doors, backdrops, and details of this Euorpean-inspired town. And since Marcelle loves to take pictures just as much I do, we took our merry time which was so fun for us. The girls were champs to go along with their mother photographers’ whims. We treated them to a trip to the cutest candy shop in town as a reward, but I’m pretty sure they had fun with the photos from their smiles. And then we picked up some more giant bavarian pretzels for the trip home. Our last adventure was driving part of the 17-mile drive, which was so scenic! We loved the lone cypress and what it represented, but also had a magical travel moment when we stopped to use the bathroom at Bird Beach, only to see hundreds of sea lions playing, barking, diving, and jumping in eye sight.
I’m so so grateful I got to go on this trip with Evelyn! Travelling fills my bucket and I’m grateful Brandon supported me in going and taking care of the boys at home so we could go. These memories will be priceless to me, but even more is the closer relationship Evelyn and I developed by having some one-on-one time together outside of our regular routine. I can’t wait to go on another with her!
