After seeing the Living Social offer at Briarwood Inn in Carmel, we decided to take the plunge and try it. We enjoy visiting Carmel, which would give us extra time to visit the nearby beautiful Point Lobos State Reserve.
Our room at Briarwood Inn was very nice and clean, and was a good value for the price. It even had two queen beds, which we did not expect. We were tired after arriving late on Friday and went to bed early.
May 10, 2014
On Saturday morning, we woke up and ate breakfast. The breakfast was elementary - some bagels and muffins with oranges and apples. This was disappointing because we are used to much better breakfasts from other B&Bs.
We changed into our hiking gear and drove 10 minutes south to the Point Lobos State Reserve. We were surprised by how busy it already was around 9:15am. We had to park at the next parking lot and walk on the shore for the 10:00am nature hike around Allan Memorial Grove.
We had a lovely nature walk around the park, mainly in the wooded section, starting at the Cypress Grove trail.
We walked along the trail, marveling at the beautiful Monterey cypress and other trees.
We saw a few birds, wildflowers, and sea otters. Other people have spotted humpback whales, but I saw no spouts.
Some wildflowers were in bloom.
In the bay below, we spotted a sea otter. It was pretty windy, and the ocean was rough. There was a lot of white spray in the surf below.
The trails through the Alan Memorial Grove are covered mainly by Monterey pines.
Some trees are covered by rust-colored lichens and algae. These organisms don't hurt the trees but give them that rust-colored look. Algae don't usually grow on trees, but they do here at Point Lobos because of the Pacific Ocean's humid air.
Point Lobos was once inhabited by Native Americans, and there are remnants of seashells discarded by the natives (some kind of native garbage dump).
We enjoyed our walk around Alan Memorial Grove in Point Lobos and hope to return again soon.
Our room at Briarwood Inn was very nice and clean, and was a good value for the price. It even had two queen beds, which we did not expect. We were tired after arriving late on Friday and went to bed early.
May 10, 2014
On Saturday morning, we woke up and ate breakfast. The breakfast was elementary - some bagels and muffins with oranges and apples. This was disappointing because we are used to much better breakfasts from other B&Bs.
We changed into our hiking gear and drove 10 minutes south to the Point Lobos State Reserve. We were surprised by how busy it already was around 9:15am. We had to park at the next parking lot and walk on the shore for the 10:00am nature hike around Allan Memorial Grove.
We had a lovely nature walk around the park, mainly in the wooded section, starting at the Cypress Grove trail.
We walked along the trail, marveling at the beautiful Monterey cypress and other trees.
We saw a few birds, wildflowers, and sea otters. Other people have spotted humpback whales, but I saw no spouts.
Some wildflowers were in bloom.
In the bay below, we spotted a sea otter. It was pretty windy, and the ocean was rough. There was a lot of white spray in the surf below.
The trails through the Alan Memorial Grove are covered mainly by Monterey pines.
Some trees are covered by rust-colored lichens and algae. These organisms don't hurt the trees but give them that rust-colored look. Algae don't usually grow on trees, but they do here at Point Lobos because of the Pacific Ocean's humid air.
Point Lobos was once inhabited by Native Americans, and there are remnants of seashells discarded by the natives (some kind of native garbage dump).
We enjoyed our walk around Alan Memorial Grove in Point Lobos and hope to return again soon.
