Carmel: Carmel

Carmel takes quality-of-life matters very seriously, which is why you will see no neon signs, telephone poles or street numbers on houses, and may be scolded by a perfect stranger if you are seen eating in the street. Affluent Carmel preserves its idyllic gracefulness with a stern propriety one might associate with Martha's Vineyard. Known far and wide for exclusive gift shops, award-winning restaurants and secluded resort hotels, the town has been a popular tourist destination for more than a century. The city fathers remain adamantly opposed to the intrusions of the late 20th century (to say nothing of the 21st), which has inevitably brought them into conflict with the interests of development-minded area businessmen. It was just this that swept Mayor Clint Eastwood into office (his intent on loosening the stricture over business permits of the sort needed for his now-closed Hog's Breath Inn restaurant). Mr. Eastwood has served his term and stepped away from Carmel politics, although he remains a Carmel resident. The 1771 Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo, or more succinctly, Carmel Mission, is Carmel's biggest single attraction. A handsomely preserved piece of Spanish colonial history, the mission's bell tower was not the one that starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. That was a bit of movie magic Hitch added when he found that the actual tower was not up to his cinematic standards. © WCities