“We couldn’t get anyone else to do it . . . so after a few glasses of wine, I said I’d do it. Being a very determined person, I decided to win.”
~ Clint Eastwood, on his decision to run for mayor of Carmel in 1986.
Carmel-by-the-Sea is nothing if not quaint and quirky.
First of all, the name itself. I mean, how many other hyphenated-name-plus-location towns are there? Second, the town proper — the village — is exactly one square mile.
It has no neon lights and no chain restaurants, thus no Starbucks or Olive Gardens or McDonalds. It has no street addresses; mail is delivered to a central post office where residents pick up their mail. You have to have a permit to wear high heels. The town banned eating ice cream cones on city streets. That is, until Clint Eastwood became mayor in 1986 and lifted the ban. Having Dirty Harry as mayor is itself pretty quirky.
But the town is also afloat in charm, with small inns and hotels, dozens of good restaurants, shops and boutiques that range from upscale to more upscale — and it’s the most dog-friendly hotel I’ve ever been, especially the Cypress Hotel where I’m staying
Last night I had dinner in the small hotel bar, and there were six dogs, not including Annie, sitting at their owners’ feet — two Jack Russells, a tiny white Bichon, a rescue dog named Triscuit, a large white German Shepherd, and a black-and-white Basset Hound named Virgil, And as I was leaving a woman walked in leading a Great Dane. The next day an Irish Wolfhound moved in next door.
Everyone, including Annie, was quiet and well-behaved, but when the group started singing Happy Birthday to Tricuit’s “mom”, Virgil joined in with a deep mournful howl. (He reminded me of Flash, my brother Ron’s Basset Hound.)
It’s something of an obstacle course when I walk Annie in the mornings. Today a woman was walking two large dogs near the hotel, both straining at their leashes and making excitable sounds. The reason? Two small dogs being walked about half a block ahead of them. I thought that if the dogs had a mind to, they could just topple the woman — she was older than me . . . well, she had gray hair and looked frail 🙂 — and have the little dogs for lunch! I quickly herded Annie crossed the street and headed back to the hotel.
Okay, enough of the dog stories and Carmel quirkiness for now.
P.S. Clint Eastwood won by a landslide on a platform of promising to bring ice cream cones back to Carmel (a zoning law had prevented stores from selling take-out ice cream). He served as mayor of Carmel for two years and made good on his promise. He still lives in Carmel. He is 91 years old. I haven’t seen him yet.