An unlikely mayor of Carmel, perhaps? When local resident Clint Eastwood got fed up with the bureaucracy in his hometown, he announced he would run for the top job himself. WIth a record voter turnout and 72.5 percent of the vote, Mayor Clint Eastwood moved into City Hall in 1986 to get stuff done his way.
Clint’s Legacy
Eastwood is quoted as saying, “We got things built – beach walkways, a library annex which had been waiting 25 years, and so on.” Saved from the wrecker’s ball, Eastwood’s 22-acre Mission Ranch Hotel and Restaurant on the ocean is a former dairy inn where sheep still graze in the meadow while guests enjoy the dining and drinks by the piano bar, complete with outdoor deck and fireplace. Another spot made famous by his previous ownership is Hog’s Breath Inn, a downtown bar and restaurant with outdoor fireplace pit, its tiny bar decorated with Clint Eastwood movie posters.
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Along the Pacific Ocean stretch of beautiful Monterey Bay, Carmel-by-the-Sea is unquestionably a posh small town where the main drag is lined with tony art galleries, glittering jewelry stores, a couple of dozen charming inns, pricey designer shops, and realtors’ windows with photos of mansions in the millions. Take a walk through the retail heart of town on Ocean Avenue, then kick off your shoes; this street leads straight to the most beautiful dead-end one can imagine: an expanse of white sand at Carmel Beach.
Carmel Calendar
The calendar of events is a busy one through summer. The Summerfest Arts & Crafts Faire is followed by a Father’s Day 5K run, a Fourth of July party, a TheatreFest and Bach Festival, Winemakers’ Celebration, Grand Prix car races, and a Concours on the Avenue in mid-August. Just down the road a few miles, Monterey hosts the Monterey Jazz Festival in mid-September while the great Mediterranean-style weather continues.
Carmel is proud of its reputation as a pet-friendly place. No fewer than 25 lodging establishments and 30 restaurants are listed as pet-friendly in the Chamber of Commerce official guidebook, distributed free from news kiosks in town. Indeed, the town of 3,700 residents turns the beach into a virtual country club for Fido and Rover at sunset. On a sunny Sunday, the whole of Ocean Avenue seems to be a parade of handsome dogs looking forward to a time off the leash at the beach.
