Los Angeles, California
We flew home from Monterey on Election Day. Our flight was delayed by an hour which stuck us on the 405 at rush hour. I was anxious to get home to watch election returns, and looking forward to finally land back in my home after an oddly hectic travel day. Monterey is an hour's flight away. How is it that our travel time amounted to six hours? You can actually drive from LA to Carmel in five.
I am retired and I am aware that to many people this means travel. Occasionally someone will ask me if I am traveling a lot now that I am retired. The answer is definitively no. Are there places I would love to see for the first time? Yeah, I guess so. Are there places, besides Carmel, that I would love to revisit? Kinda. But the truth is that I really do not like the travel part of travel. And as time goes by, that travel part is enough of a deterrent that I am more or less fine with not traveling much. In the last few years, Joel and I have traveled to New York City and to Santa Fe, New Mexico. They were great, fun trips. But I'm not longing to go anywhere else at the moment, except to return to Carmel. Always Carmel.
And speaking of Carmel, it was a wonderful! The first night there, we met a couple who recommended a restaurant in Monterey. The next morning, another couple breakfasting beside us, told us that it was their favorite restaurant. We ended up going there for both my birthday dinner and our final (and election-eve) night. They had the most insanely wonderful oysters. The first night I followed that with steamed clams. That last night I ordered sand dabs. Both were perfect. We sat at the bar and watched boats pulling into the marina at sunset. Joel had a lively conversation en español with the bar back, Luis, who is also from Mexico City.
One evening, as we had last year, we sat on the stones ringing the median strip of trees on Ocean Avenue, and watched the Halloween parade. The Halloween parade is really a commemoration of Carmel's incorporation 130 years ago. You have to love a city who starts a parade with a police patrol car looping the street while loudly playing the song The Monster Mash. We raced over to AW Shucks as the parade finished, for more oysters and crab cakes.
So there was eating, and walking, and some shopping. We also went out to bars to watch the World Series. Not as much fun as when the Dodgers are in it, but we marveled at how astoundingly well the Brewers played. And then, one night, there was...salsa dancing! It was the first time I have ever danced salsa in Carmel/Monterey. The club was close by, right in town at the Plaza. As we walked in, the young woman working the door (Cal State Monterey Bay, golf scholarship) explained to us that this was a salsa club. It was latin dance and there was a class going on which we were welcome to join. Or we could just watch. I held up my shoe bag. What's that? she asked. My dance shoes. She suggested we just go on in.
And it was a terrific little club. The floor wasn't too crowded. Dancers pretty much respected each other's space. The DJ played great music, and at a volume which enabled you to actually speak to each other. Joel is still leading with his left hand, solamente, but he effectively led me through a couple of salsas, a bachata, and a cumbia. No cover charge and all the free water you needed to drink. It was like a throwback to earlier times. Especially the volume issue. In LA we all wear earplugs. I just don't know why LA is so loud in so many ways.
There not being salsa clubs in the area has been one of the things Joel has raised as a reason not to move to Carmel. Well, we can now check that box. And the truth is, I would move there in a hot minute if he would agree. But for now, it's a we'll see. My salsera friend, Joy, once said that I'll try is the latino no. I'm trying to figure out if we'll see has another meaning or hidden message. I guess we'll see...
