Carmel with Kids {travel}
Carmel is one of our favorite family travel weekend getaways. Carmel is a small town close to Monterey, on the Central California coast. It’s about a four hour drive north from Santa Barbara, 5 hour drive from Los Angeles, and two hour drive south from San Francisco.
Last weekend we surprised the girls with a weekend at the Carmel Valley Ranch. Yummy Hubby was going to be at the Laguna Seca racetrack watching the Moto GP motorcycle races, so I was on my own with the girls. I knew from last time, we would have plenty to do. The Carmel Valley Ranch is so much more than “a hotel” – it’s park, playground, vineyard, farm, and luxurious (but not at all pretentious) resort all rolled into one. It’s so kid and pet-friendly – everyone feels welcome.
There are always fun activities going on at the Ranch. Recently there have been pickle-making classes, honey harvests, organic garden tours, and as always, nightly s’mores by the pool. The last time we visited, B and I did the amazing Bee Keeping Experience. We were lucky enough to visit during the annual lavender harvest last weekend. The girls and I met John, the beekeeper and lavender expert at the Ranch to harvest bunches upon bunches of lavender. We then took it to a lovely tea party in the organic garden and made our own lavender tea. John said that empty tea bags are available at Cost Plus, and I also found them on Amazon. We simply pulled some lavender buds off the plants, filled the bags, and steeped our tea. We could not believe how delicious this fresh tea was. Especially with the buttery lavender shortbread and other cookies the Ranch provided, along with lavender honey lemonade. Yum! I highly recommend making your own tea if you have fresh herbs growing in your garden.
Has someone invented a scratch-n-sniff feature for computer screens yet? I wish you could smell the relaxing perfume of the lavender fields. We found many interesting feathers on our nature walks over the weekend, but our favorite was this Red Tailed Hawk feather the girls found in the garden. We thought it made a nice addition to our lavender bouquets.
A small portion of the beautiful organic garden at Carmel Valley Ranch. Tall sunflowers, vegetables, and herbs that go directly to the Ranch kitchen.
One of our favorite parts of visiting the Ranch is the wildlife. Deer and wild turkey roam freely throughout the property.
Our glorious suite had not one, but TWO fireplaces. The living room and bedroom were separated by a long hallway and two doors. If you have little kiddos, you know how amazing this is – it means mom and dad don’t have to go to bed silently at 7PM! Woo! You can put the kids to bed and then sit on the balcony with a glass of delicious Monterey wine. Pictured above is the serene adult pool. I have yet to experience it, but that’s okay, because the family pool is pretty darn fun…
I had planned on venturing out into the town of Carmel, but the girls and I never left the Ranch. Thanks to the fun childcare activity cottage, I even got to work out for an hour while the girls did arts and crafts. The food was wonderful – pictured above is the Pea Ravioli with Truffles – and they had everything the kids and I needed for the weekend.
Things to do in Carmel and Monterey with kids
- Visit Earthbound Organic’s Farm Stand for a garden tour or snack.
- Drive 20 minutes into Monterey to the Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Visit the town of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Our kids love running around the outdoor shopping center.
- Go on a trail ride through Pebble Beach. Kids 7 and over can ride.
- Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey
- Go to the beach!
I love Carmel (used to live 30 minutes away) and often spent time in Carmel Valley. Beautiful photos!
What a fabulous trip and vacation for the whole family to relax and have some fun. Love the photos of the ranch and its property and the fresh air – oh how perfect!
I just love Carmel and Monterey! My in-laws rent a beach house each year in Monterey for the month of March and you better believe that we are down there most weekends. If it's cool in Monterey then we head over to Carmel Valley, where it's always sunny and warm. My best friend is actually moving down to Carmel Valley to live next month and while I'm totally going to miss her, I'm also excited that I can go down and visit her often and hang out in beautiful Carmel Valley.
I love the lavender tea idea! Thanks for the tip. We have tons of lavender growing in our backyard, so I'm going to pick up some bags from cost plus and make some tea! The tea bags would be a great hostess gift! xoxo, Jackie
Looks gorgeous! What a fun day with your girls!
It looks like a dream! Haven;t been there before but sure would love to! The kids are adorable
What a fun trip! Such gorgeous pictures!!
I so want to go there someday soon! Looks like Heaven.
Beautiful! I don't think Philip needs to be so nicely dressed for a visit on a ranch! 🙂 🙂
My husband and I love going to Carmel, but we haven't since our son was born a year and a half ago. We went while I was pregnant and we thought it just didn't seem like a place for little kids — but your post has changed our minds! I didn't even realize there was a place like this down there. Thank you so much for sharing!
What a delicious post! Jenn is right it looks like Heaven. Takes me away 🙂
Thank you!
I know – isn't that funny?! Can you he ran out the door from work and jumped in the car to go? 🙂 Funny guy.
Yes! They would be great gifts. Have fun in Carmel with your friend 🙂
I can imagine that! It just shows passion to want to be with his family.
I can only imagine the memories my family and I can create there. How beautiful. Thank you so much for posting such gorgeous pictures
My goodness, it looks absolutely glorious there! I look at that first photo and it has such a European feel to me…like a place in Italy or some such thing. What a wonderful place to visit 🙂
Thank you for a beautiful and inspiring blog. Also for the chance to win the Cracker Barrel basket- I never win anything…but I did today! Thank you! Peggy
My goal is to own a B and B in that area…sometime 🙂
Marina,
We used to take our children to Carmel…it has always been a favorite destination. We still visit although our sons are adults and married. They can travel there on their own!
What a fun post.
Karen
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