Alameda's Classic Car Show 10/13/2007
Nancy and I just returned from our first visit to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It left me speechless. Where or when was the last time you drove down a street and saw probably close to $4,000,000 in cars parked on the STREET in one blocks distance? I'm not speaking about the Concours yet, I'm talking about Ocean Avenue in Carmel. We arrived Friday afternoon and grabbed a quick lunch at Pebble Beach then returned to Pacific Grove just down the road to check into our room. Nancy and I have been staying at the Seven Gables and the former Grandview (sister B&B's next to one another) for our wedding anniversaries for the last 11 years. Once checked in we went for a bicycle ride before dinner at Fandango's that evening. After dinner we decided to drive to the more popular areas just to see what might be going on. First stop was Cannery Row. After navigating around a Bentley Continental we came face to face with a newer Rolls Royce. Was this a precursor to what we were going to see? Well we left Monterey for Carmel around 9pm. If you've been to Carmel you'll know it closes pretty early. So at 9pm we're coming down the hill following a Maserati and being followed by Lamborghini. Once in town and about 2 blocks into the center of the main street my expectations were met. On one block alone was a Ferrari Enzo along with no less than 10 other Ferrari's, Lamborghini's and one Ford GT40. I have the photos to prove it too.
Saturday was much the same with the exception of the bicycle ride, it was replaced by shopping at our favorite shops such as The Succulent Garden shop at the Barnyard and Woodies of Carmel at the Crossroads Shopping Center's. The latter is my favorite hawaiian shirt store. Those of you that know me know I love my hawaiian shirts and especially the Reyn Spooner brand. So I picked up a new shirt by an artist I've not "wore" yet, Niles Nakaoka from Honolulu. I was told I just missed the artist by a couple of hours. I would have liked to have met him, well I did anyway, Sunday at the Concours he was sitting in his booth and we greeted each other with "Hey nice shirt!" We has wearing the same as I bought the day earlier earlier. He was really a nice down to earth guy, must have something to do with hawaiian shirts? Getting back to Saturday after the shopping spree Nancy wanted to visit Spanish Bay and have a cocktail outside next to Roy's (the restaurant), yes the same name as is in the islands and now in San Francisco. Pulling into the roundabout to drop Nancy off (her foot was sore from a fall on a stair) I gasped again! In the parking lot in front of the hotel, Ferrari's times 4, Rolls Royce Phantom's times 2, Buggatti Veyron, Bentley's times 4. What a beautiful site.
Want to see my pictures from Sunday's Concours? Send me an email and I'll send you a link.