Where?

Carmel and Monterey, California.

We're holding the ceremony on a beach just south of Carmel, and the reception in an adobe in Monterey that dates back to 1847. Map links for both coming real soon now.

Ribera beach is Cameron's favorite beach going back to very-small-childhood


Cameron at Ribera, age 7 (8?)

and one of my favorites since I found it in high school. The ceremony will be held in the early evening (before sunset). This is Carmel; it may be foggy. Bring a wrap.

Travel info

The most convenient airport to fly into is, not surprisingly, Monterey (MRY). It's tiny and friendly and the security lines are always really short. If you're not okay with turbo-prop planes (I personally love them), though, don't do it. The only airlines that fly into Monterey are American, United, and America West.

Flying directly into Monterey tends to be expensive, so unless you get lucky or are using frequent flyer miles, you'll more likely wind up at San Jose (SJC), San Francisco (SFO), or Oakland (OAK). Of these, the closest is San Jose. San Francisco and Oakland are pretty much a toss-up.

And we hate to say it, especially to anyone coming from a city that actually offers usable public transport, but you will probably want to rent a car.

Where to stay

Carmel, Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Pebble Beach are all close to each other; for convenience, it doesn’t matter which town you stay in. Carmel is cute and walkable and has art galleries; Monterey has more nightlife (okay, by ‘nightlife’ we mean coffee shops and places to get food ‘late’ at night); PG is quiet, pretty, Victorian, and a good place to walk around eating cookies; Pebble Beach is more resorty, residential, and a bit surreal. They all have beaches.

We both grew up around here and usually crash with Heather's parents when we visit, so we haven't tried any of these hotels out. Instead, we heard about them by osmosis, eating at their restaurants, etc., and they're where we’d stay if we visited. Carmel and PG especially are packed with really cool places to stay, so we’d generally advise skipping the chains (and whatever you do, avoid the Embassy Suites – Heather’s mad at it because it’s ugly and it blocks the view. If you want something tall, do the downtown Marriott in Monterey instead). This is a tourist area, take advantage!

And now the info:

Referral services that can find rooms at more than one hotel: http://www.monterey.com/mc4/mc4c.html, Resort 2 Me, and http://www.gomonterey.com/lodging/.

Nifty places to stay in the upwards of a hundred bucks range:

Pacific Grove (all Victorian all the time): Gosby House Inn, Green Gables Inn, Grand View Inn, and others. We’ve never heard of a bad PG B&B.

Carmel (all downtown so you can walk places): Cobblestone Inn, Best Western Carmel Mission Inn, Cypress Inn, Pine Inn (oldest hotel in Carmel), La Playa Hotel (Heather used to hostess in their restaurant; they have nice gardens and cool old photos).

Monterey (walking distance to the wedding reception): Hotel Pacific, the Marriott (a chain, of course, but very tall so good views).

Pebble Beach (not the bargain option, but you’re almost guaranteed to see deer. And golfers.): Inn at Spanish Bay, the Lodge at Pebble Beach.


Nifty places to stay in the slightly under a hundred bucks range (mostly in Monterey):

Days Inn Monterey Downtown, Mariposa Inn Hotel Monterey, Howard Johnson Pacific Grove, and almost any of the hotels on Munras Ave (all totally acceptable and pretty convenient but not ragingly fabulous). Slightly out of the way (but near Heather’s parents and right on the beach): Monterey Beach Hotel - Best Western.