Friday, September 26, 2025
For my birthday, Inna arranged a weekend getaway to Carmel-by-the-Sea with tickets to the Monterey Jazz Festival on Saturday (a big, unexpected surprise for me).
We finished work early, packed our suitcases, and started the drive to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Usually, it takes about 75 minutes to reach Carmel, but there was heavy traffic with multiple slowdowns. We eventually reached Carmel at 6:20 p.m., stopping near the Stilwell Hotel (and initially parking on the street).
After checking in, I reparked our Tesla Model Y in the hotel's hidden parking lot. Tesla-compatible chargers were available, but they were not free. We unloaded our suitcases in our room (#11) and decided to enjoy the last remnants of sunshine.
Room #11, Upstairs, overlooking the street
Wifi: Stilwell Hotel Guest / 8316241255
We walked down Ocean Avenue to the Pacific Ocean. The sun had already set, but we could still see a glow on the beach. Lots of people were walking their dogs, and there were a couple of bonfires on the beach.
After a long stroll along the sidewalk (our usual path), I followed Inna to the Anton & Michel restaurant, along Mission Street. We had dinner reservations for 20:00 (and we arrived a few minutes early). After being seated, we ordered the following items:
- Appetizer: Duck Liver Pate
- Boris: King Salmon
- Inna: Seafood Fricasse (scallops, shrimp)
The Duck Liver Pate was excellent, and my King Salmon was
tenderly prepared. Inna's Seafood Fricasse was also delicious.
After dinner, we strolled around Ocean Ave for a bit and then returned to the
Stilwell Hotel. The hotel had a lovely patio area with a gas-burning fire pit.
We hung around for 45 minutes (until 22:00) just relaxing and enjoying the
beautiful night.
The Stilwell Hotel looked brand new, and so was our room #11. Although the
small studio was small, it had all the expected amenities, including a large
TV, a small refrigerator, and a shower.
The very nice feature was the built-in movement-activated lights. When I had
to use the restroom at night, the lights would automatically turn on.
Saturday, September 27, 2025
Although we didn't get a great sleep, we still managed to rest and wake up at
08:15. I had set the alarm for 07:30 (I usually wake up naturally at 06:30,
but not this time). The weather forecast called for colder mornings around
59°F, with a high of 68°F.
After we showered, we dressed and walked downstairs for breakfast. There was a
wide selection of pre-made breakfast items, including eggs, Brussels sprouts,
pancakes, small sandwiches, muffins, and scones. We really enjoyed the wide
variety of breakfast items and the freshly brewed coffee.
After breakfast, we walked down Ocean Ave toward the shore and strolled along
the beach for an hour. We saw a few homes already decorated for Halloween.
We returned, stopping back at
Mad Dogs & Englishmen Cafe
(our favorite cafe in Carmel). We stopped by for a few drinks, including:
- Boris: Cappuccino
- Inna: London Fog
- Pastries: Raisin
After we rested, we returned to the Stilwell Hotel. We ordered an UberX to take us to the Monterey Jazz Festival after
inquiring about parking. Parking at the Fairgrounds is expensive (could be
$50/day) and difficult, so taking UberX was faster and more convenient.
Our planned program was to see the following artists:
- Mr. Sipp at 12:00 on Jimmy Lyons Stage
- Diana Reeves at 13:30 on Jimmy Lyons Stage
- Davina & the Vagabonds at 13:30 on the Jackson Garden Stage (if we had time after Diana Reeves)
- Gunhild Carling at 20:00 on Jackson Garden Stage
- Ledisi at 20:30 on Jimmy Lyons Stage
After getting through security, we walked to Jimmy Lyons Stage,
where Mr. Sipp was still
playing (he was supposed to finish at 13:30). Mr. Sipp played a funky version
of "A Change Is Gonna Come", written and sung originally by
Sam Cooke in 1963. He played
well past his 13:00 finish time, delaying Diana Reeves, who was supposed to start at 13:30 but didn't start until 14:10.
I liked Mr. Sipp because he had lots of energy and got the crowd
going wild, though Inna was more ambivalent.
Diana Reeves sang the
following songs (among many that I missed):
- Welcome Monterey
- Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
- Empty stations / Atmosphere of never never
- All we need is time in this world for peace
- It's a lazy afternoon
Diana certainly had the chops to belt out all the tunes, but she stuck
to singing the lesser-known (at least to me) songs. I was surprised to hear
her version of Fleetwood Mac's
Dreams:
Oh, thunder only happens when it's rainin'
Players only love you when they're playing
Say, "Women, they will come and they will go"
When the rain washes you clean, you'll know
Around 15:00, we decided to return to Carmel and spend more time there. We
stopped by Mad Dogs & Englishmen Cafe for drinks and a slice of quiche.
Inna decided to explore the nearby boutiques and galleries while I returned to
the Stilwell Hotel to read my Kindle, "The Buried Giant" by Kazuo Ishiguro. I also wanted to charge my Tesla Model Y (but the
hotel's chargers did not have adapters for Tesla).
After Inna returned, we decided to eat a small dinner at our
Stilwell Hotel's informal outdoor restaurant. We ordered a salad and a mushroom pizza.
It was a nice, relaxing dinner (though a bit chilly in the shade).
After dinner, we decided to stroll back to the ocean for some exercise, then
ordered another UberX back to the Monterey Jazz Festival. We arrived at around 19:20, and the
University of Texas One O'Clock Lab Band was still playing at the Tim
Jackson Garden Stage. We sat down and listened to it as it played big-band
classics. (It was truly a "big band" which included a piano, guitar, a
vocalist, and multiple trumpets, trombones, and saxophones).
After the Lab Band had finished, we moved closer for the next act,
Gunhild Carling, which we came to see.
Gunhild and her band arrived a few minutes later (in blue dresses) and started
preparing for the concert. Her band played the following instruments: piano,
bass, banjo, trombone, saxophone, and drums.
Gunhild Carling is a Swedish Jazz Star. She plays multiple instruments, sings and tap dances. She performs all over the world, Over 50 million views in Youtube, facebook and other platforms. She was born 1975 in Gothenburg, Sweden in a family of musicians.Gunhild kicked off the concert with a fast, uptempo jazz piece, getting everyone excited. She played all the instruments, including trombone, trumpet, recorder, bagpipes, and harmonica, while also dancing, singing, and sometimes juggling.
Gunhild plays several instruments as trombone, trumpet, recorder, bagpipe, harmonica, drums and piano and tour around Europe since a very early age together with her family.
Her set included many well-known American standards such as "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and "Mack the Knife" (sung in German and English).
Here is a short video of Carling playing the trumpet in "Dream a Little Dream of Me":
It was a truly great show, and we thoroughly enjoyed every song. It was
deafening, too, so we wore Apple AirPods to lower the volume (and
protect our hearing).
Monterey Jazz Festival Review
Highlights
- Watching/listening to Gunhild Carling (the entire audience was dancing)
- Watching Mr. Sipp perform.
- We should have come earlier to see the beginning of his show
Lowlights
- Expensive parking ($60), so we used UberX
- Overlapping schedules of vocalists I wanted to see (i.e., Gunhild Carling and her band) were playing at the same time as Ledisi.
Concert Schedule
Links