Secret squirrel stuff.


Jk. I fly drones on the civilian side and helicopters on the Army side. Ps, this town kind of sucks.

Haha yup. Not much beyond the wine ghetto

How the heck do you book a tee time at Pebble Beach unless you stay at the resort?

austinag1997 said:

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How the heck do you book a tee time at Pebble Beach unless you stay at the resort?

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We stayed at The Inn at Spanish Bay. If you aren't staying on property and aren't a member, your only other shot at a tee time is to walk into the pro shop in the morning and put your name on a list. People do, from time to time, fail to show up for their tee times. Although you certainly couldn't count on that. Spanish Bay and Spyglass are a lot easier to get tee times, though.

Kool said:

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austinag1997 said:

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How the heck do you book a tee time at Pebble Beach unless you stay at the resort?

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We stayed at The Inn at Spanish Bay. If you aren't staying on property and aren't a member, your only other shot at a tee time is to walk into the pro shop in the morning and put your name on a list. People do, from time to time, fail to show up for their tee times. Although you certainly couldn't count on that. Spanish Bay and Spyglass are a lot easier to get tee times, though.

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If youre not staying at the resort, you can call 24 hrs in advance to get a tee time. I did this around memorial day last year. It was easy for me cause I was playing as a single, but the tee times available arent the greatest, I had a 6:40 start.

My wife and I love Carmel; we've been there twice now. It's very chill. You have some good recs already here but on your trip down into Big Sur, which you really have to do, hit Andrew Molera State Park. This is a little gem that doesn't get near the hype or the crowds of the other parks. It's a relatively short, flat, fairly lame walk from the parking lot, but the reason you go is for the beach. A little river flows into the beach and you can walk in fresh and salt water, with a great sand beach you can walk out into the water at, and great scenery. And the best thing is the lack of crowds. Bring a picnic and a bottle of wine and you can spend a great few hours there. Had a school of dolphins hanging out in the bay last time we were there.

Do the 17 mile drive. Spectacular scenery. Lots of seals.

Carmel beach is a great town beach.

Lots of good wines on the Monterey peninsula, and we hit a few tasting rooms in Carmel and a few at the wineries themselves. Let me know if you need lodging recommendations.

Carmel has a weird micro-climate. It's much cooler than you would think it would be at some times of the year and hotter than you would think at others.

Parking can be a chore, so look into the parking situation if you're staying in town.

So we rented a really cool house in Pacific Grove a block from Pacific Grove Golf Links. Anyone play there?

E said:

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Kool said:

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austinag1997 said:

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How the heck do you book a tee time at Pebble Beach unless you stay at the resort?

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We stayed at The Inn at Spanish Bay. If you aren't staying on property and aren't a member, your only other shot at a tee time is to walk into the pro shop in the morning and put your name on a list. People do, from time to time, fail to show up for their tee times. Although you certainly couldn't count on that. Spanish Bay and Spyglass are a lot easier to get tee times, though.

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If youre not staying at the resort, you can call 24 hrs in advance to get a tee time. I did this around memorial day last year. It was easy for me cause I was playing as a single, but the tee times available arent the greatest, I had a 6:40 start.

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E said:

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Kool said:

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austinag1997 said:

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How the heck do you book a tee time at Pebble Beach unless you stay at the resort?

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We stayed at The Inn at Spanish Bay. If you aren't staying on property and aren't a member, your only other shot at a tee time is to walk into the pro shop in the morning and put your name on a list. People do, from time to time, fail to show up for their tee times. Although you certainly couldn't count on that. Spanish Bay and Spyglass are a lot easier to get tee times, though.

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If youre not staying at the resort, you can call 24 hrs in advance to get a tee time. I did this around memorial day last year. It was easy for me cause I was playing as a single, but the tee times available arent the greatest, I had a 6:40 start.

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Will they pair you, or do you play as a single?

Pro Sandy said:

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Jock 07 said:

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following. I live ~2 hours south and have been meaning to get up there to visit a buddy who is probably moving this summer. Planning on hitting the aquarium but looking for other family friendly stuff to check out.

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You live in SLO?

We lived in Pacific Grove for 2 years, almost 10 years ago. Beautiful place.

Aquarium is nice, but expensive. We use to have annual passes that includes 2 guest passes that we would loan out. If you happen to know any one living there, wouldn't hurt to ask.

Cannery Row is a tourist trap. Don't eat there. If you want sea food in a formal setting, Fisherman's Wharf has plenty. Fisherman's Grotto is pry the best, but do not go if you have small kids. They have a no strollers sign posted and would pry kick out crying kids. Up in Marina, Phil's always was worth the drive.

Big Sur is a must. Point Lobos is nice, but can get crowded. California state parks charge by the car, so you will see a lot of cars parked on 1 and they walk in. Beaches, I like sand dollar best, but it's a good 1.5 hours south. Pfeiffer is popular and has a cool arch and purple sand.



Garrapata is a popular beach and pretty close to Carmel.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns state park is a must. But again, park on the highway and don't pay the parking fee. Check out the waterfall into the ocean and the remains of an old house.

You will likely see whales and dolphins. I saw them on a daily basis just walking along Monterey Bay. You can take whale watching trips year round. Seals are always on the beach at Ocean View and 1st in PG. Sea Lions always on the floating platform at the wharf. Otters in the kelp bed along the bay or go to the Elkhorn Slough and see the huge raft that's usually there.

Beautiful place. Enjoy!

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Thanks. We are going in June. Place is on Pacific Ave near the golf course.

austinag1997 said:

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E said:

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Kool said:

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austinag1997 said:

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How the heck do you book a tee time at Pebble Beach unless you stay at the resort?

---

We stayed at The Inn at Spanish Bay. If you aren't staying on property and aren't a member, your only other shot at a tee time is to walk into the pro shop in the morning and put your name on a list. People do, from time to time, fail to show up for their tee times. Although you certainly couldn't count on that. Spanish Bay and Spyglass are a lot easier to get tee times, though.

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If youre not staying at the resort, you can call 24 hrs in advance to get a tee time. I did this around memorial day last year. It was easy for me cause I was playing as a single, but the tee times available arent the greatest, I had a 6:40 start.

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Will they pair you, or do you play as a single?

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.

They paired me with a threesome. It was a family who were nice and easy to get along with and I split the forecaddie with them.

I will say that this plan is prob much harder for groups larger then one as they just fit you in where they can.

austinag1997 said:

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So we rented a really cool house in Pacific Grove a block from Pacific Grove Golf Links. Anyone play there?

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I played it as a warm-up to Pebble/Spanish Bay years ago. I thought it was a really nice municipal course. And, obviously, it's a fraction of the price of Pebble. Enjoy.

Any "reasonable" places to stay? Best airport to use?

"Reasonable" is a relative term. VRBO might be the best way to go. Several times we have stayed at The Colonial Terrace Inn. It is across the street from the beach and is about a 6 block walk to town. Nice rooms with a really good breakfast. With that said, I don't know how breakfasts are being handled since COVID. But do remember that in Carmel, just about every place provides you breakfast.

It is cheaper to stay in Monterrey or Pacific Grove, but not be a lot. Parking is a pain in Carmel so we enjoy staying there so we do not have to worry about parking.

For just 2 people, am I looking at >$500/night regardless?

I stayed at the Monterey Bay Inn and really liked it. Great view with a balcony, comfy bed, and nice staff. It's walking distance to Cannery Row so just depends on where you want to be.

You can easily find a nice boutique hotel, such as the Colonial Terrace Inn, for less than $500/night. Go online and look at the different options. You can get something closer to downtown Carmel but we enjoyed the stroll. The weather is always great so you don't have to worry about walking in 95 heat with high humidity.

Next time we go we may stay at Mission Ranch. We would have to drive to downtown but we really like it at Mission Ranch. Great place to eat with beautiful views.

Caution, do not get a place on Ocean nor Junipero. We did once and around 5:00-5:30 every morning the food trucks start showing up and unloading. So make sure you stay a couple of blocks off those 2 busy streets. There are lots of places to choose from. We stayed at several different places each time we went and settled on The Colonial Terrace Inn for about 4 trips. We may be ready for a new location, but it is fun trying new places in Carmel.

TP Ag '87 said:

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Any "reasonable" places to stay? Best airport to use?

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As Pirate said, you don't HAVE to stay in Carmel itself. There's so much to see outside of Carmel, all along Pebble Beach, along 17-mile drive, in Monterrey, Point Lobos, etc. As far as airports, every time I have been to the area I have flown into San Jose. It's still a schlep to get down to Carmel from there.
Edit: the couple from Sweden in my fotos on the first page stayed in the Monterey Peninsula Inn in Pacific Grove while we stayed at the Inn at Spanish Bay (in order to get tee times). They were traveling from Sweden and doing things somewhat "on the cheap" (other than the golf rounds, of course. It was a nice, clean motel type space just off of 17-mile drive. If a hotel means just a place to sleep, and you'd rather spend your money on other aspects of the trip, there are plenty of similar options.

I would highly recommend flying into SJC. It's a great little airport and easy as hell to get in and out of. Rental cars are connected to the airport and you walk to them.

After reading your post it made us want to go to Carmel. I looked at The Old Monterrey Inn. It looks nice and pretty affordable for your budget. If you stay at some of the boutique hotels that are on Ocean in Carmel make sure you get one towards the bottom of Ocean closer to the beach. Just look at a map and make sure it is a block or so away from the restaurants. By doing that you will be close to the ocean (almost no places there have AC) so the ocean breeze will be plenty cool at night AND you will be away from the early morning noise.

Being that close to downtown Carmel makes it easy to go back in the afternoon for a nap--you are on vacation-- and makes it easy to buy sandwiches or sandwich fixings and wine and bring them back to your hotel where you can then eat in your room or on a deck or outside sitting area, which just about all hotels have.

And flying into San Jose is fine. Get an early afternoon flight out and you will not be that rushed getting up and getting to the airport in time. DO NOT fly into SF.

Another option if you want to drive up PCH on the way up through spots like San Simeon & Big Sur you can fly into SBP. Apparently they just rebuilt their airport recently. Small, nice and easy to get in/out of. Flights might be a bit more limited though.

Anyone stay at Tickle Pink Inn in Carmel? Looks pretty nice and good reviews on TripAdvisor.

https://www.homesteadcarmel.com/

We stayed a couple nights in the Homestead and it was quite reasonably priced; cute, clean and comfortable, unpretentious, with a cool outside lounging area with a firepit and attractive landscaping, and a big room with a fireplace as well. They have different cottage type rooms so the set-up would likely be different in each one.

I know you're probably thinking "firepit, fireplace?" but as I mentioned above Carmel has a unique microclimate and it can get pretty cool during the summer at night.

Location is really good IMO. Everything in Carmel-by-the-sea is walkable, but this is close to the "downtown" area with all the dining options but still a block or two off so it's quiet. It's about 8 short blocks from the ocean. It's a sister hotel with Clint Eastwood's more famous Mission Ranch, so you could have free breakfast at the Mission Ranch if you want it.

As I recall, this may have been a place that you had to book directly with the hotel.

While I'm at it, a few dining suggestions:

- there is a really good casual breakfast spot near the hotel, but I can't remember the name. If you stay there, ask the front desk.
- Aubergine
- Treehouse Cafe

There's a gourmet cheese place in the plaza area in downtown which is a good place to stock up for a picnic.

We also stayed once at the Normandy Inn which would be a good value option. Not quite as charming as the Homestead, but great location and in-room fireplace as well. I can't remember if it had AC or not (many Carmel hotels do not), so check into that because it was not as airy as the Homestead in terms of number of windows to open for sea breezes.

If you want a more rural setting we stayed several nights at Bernardus Lodge which was a very nice, low-key spa/resort setting. It's located at their vineyard and their wines and restaurant are excellent. Croquet lawn outside your patio, very nice, comfortable and romantic rooms without being pretentious. But not a value choice.

TP Ag '87 said:

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Anyone stay at Tickle Pink Inn in Carmel? Looks pretty nice and good reviews on TripAdvisor.

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We haven't but we have 2 sets of friends who have stayed there and they loved it.

TP Ag '87 said:

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Anyone stay at Tickle Pink Inn in Carmel? Looks pretty nice and good reviews on TripAdvisor.

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Stayed here one night on my honeymoon in Aug 2020. It was nice, great views. Wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

RiverAg 80 said:

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TP Ag '87 said:

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Anyone stay at Tickle Pink Inn in Carmel? Looks pretty nice and good reviews on TripAdvisor.

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We haven't but we have 2 sets of friends who have stayed there and they loved it.

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Stayed at tickled pink in 2017. Great little place with amazing views.

Can anyone tell me about how long it takes to see everything at the Monterey Bay Aquarium? And can you purchase tickets at the door, or do we need to purchase them in advance?

All booked for September. Thanks for recs, all.

Right now you have to buy in advance. If you know someone in the area, perfectly acceptable to ask if they have guest passes or know someone who does. We routinely gave ours out to Ags when we lived there.

I would plan on at least 3 hours. You can get a stamp at the door to return if you need go leave but want to see something again. Dont miss the open sea. Towards the back. I could spend an hour sitting there.

TP Ag '87 said:

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All booked for September. Thanks for recs, all.

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If it's just you and the wife rent a jeep or a convertible. You won't regret it

BrokeAssAggie said:

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TP Ag '87 said:

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All booked for September. Thanks for recs, all.

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If it's just you and the wife rent a jeep or a convertible. You won't regret it

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Absolutely. We rented a convertible Mustang.

Definitely buy in advance because they do sell out.

I got there as soon as it opened and was out in just over an hour. Granted, I was alone and I had to drive 3-4 more hours so I was in a time crunch. Still absolutely worth the visit!

I am playing golf; girls are going to a spa. Please ask your wives of nearby spa locations. Thanks.