Monday, December 6, 2021

T Stands for Flowers Were Blooming

 Hi everyone. 

Time is flying by and it is already once again Tuesday and time for T over  Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog.  Are you into the December spirit yet? I keep thinking it is November still because it feels like November, even if I do have my holiday decorations up, have been listening to some holiday tunes and have  watched a couple of holiday films. Smile.

Today I am taking you back to California for T.

At the end of our trip to California, we had driven up the coast from Ventura (near Los Angeles) up to the Monterey Peninsula, which is south of San Francisco.  This was the stretch of California coast we had never driven, as we did the very southern end of the coast (the Mexican border to the southern  side of LA) and the northern end (Oregon border to San Francisco) on 2 different trips many years earlier. 

This part of the coast was gorgeous and quite dramatic. 


I'll share more photos of this drive in another post on another day. At the end of this gorgeous road trip, we stayed in Carmel. Carmel is rather pricey, but we found a Best Western Hotel which was  reasonably priced, and even better, was  located right in town so we could leave the car at the hotel and walk around.

Since it is T day, I thought I would start with my T day drink as well as with the breakfast we had with it. 


You can see my drink is Diet Coke and my husband had a blue mug with some coffee. 

This little restaurant , The Cottage in Carmel, served breakfast and lunch. In some ways it reminded me of a cuter version of the hole in the wall place we used to frequent in our area before Covid. I had an omelet with cheddar cheese, avocado and chorizo sausage. We can't usually find chorizo in New Hampshire and I like it, so I definitely wanted that in my omelette. You had a choice of 2 sides so I got the fresh fruit and a thick slice of their cinnamon raisin bread. 

Sorry if this makes you hungry. It is making me hungry too, and since I love a big breakfast, wish I could have this now.

This was a yummy filling breakfast, and if I lived local I would go back there often. Seeing many of our trip breakfasts were the uninviting hotel freebies, this one was like breakfast of the gods. 

One thing I noticed and really enjoyed was that there were blooming flowers and plants everywhere. 
Here's the view from my seat at our table, looking out onto the sidewalk.


And as we walked through town after breakfast, I took lots of plant photos. 








And if you look carefully in the next few  photos, you should be able to pick out the hummingbird. (I only had my phone, not my camera, on me.) It was thrilling. Not only blooming flowers but hummingbirds in November!





Can anyone tell me what kind? (I am guessing Anna's hummingbird.) You can see the pop of that pretty pink-red on it in the last and this next photo.






And how about the giant succulents too?



Carmel was a lovely little town. If I had lots and lots of money I would buy a little bungalow in town and move there for the winter or at least for November so I could enjoy some green and flowers and even hummingbirds  while everything in New Hampshire goes into its winter sleep mode. Smile.

It is good to dream.

I hope you have a happy T day and week ahead.


16 comments:

Kate Yetter said...

That breakfast looks yummy! I agree, the hotel free breakfasts are not very good and leave you wanting to eat elsewhere.
CA is in bloom! That giant succulent is fabulous!! I have never seen one so big. I have a smaller version of that one. Very small, perhaps mini. That hummingbird is a pretty color. I have never seen one that is pink.
Gorgeous views!
Happy Tea Day,
Kate

kathyinozarks said...

Wow Your breakfast looks so delicious we really like chirozo too and to be able to order fresh fruits that was really nice. I enjoyed all the flower photos, I have never seen a hummingbird like this before-beautiful
Happy T hugs Kathy

Angie's Recipes said...

All those blooming flowers just brighten up my day...so wonderful! That breakfast is fit the queen :-))

Iris Flavia said...

An omelet with cheddar cheese!!! Ohhh! And avocado! I SO miss this! You cannot get avocado(e?)s here. Either hard as stone or foul already...

Yes, sorry, you - I am hungry now! ;-)

And such a nice place! Have a happy T-day!

Valerie-Jael said...

How lovely to see so many blooms in winter! The are all breathtaking, it's a beautiful place indeed. Your omelette breakfast looks wonderful, I think I will make something like that for breakfast today. If you ever can buy a house there, I'll come and visit you! Hapy T Day! Hugs, Valerie

Empire of the Cat said...

Hoe charming it all looks. I haven't been to Carmel but I bet it's a lovely place to live. I could see the pink hummingbird but not the others. Your breakfast looks really healthy and delicious, I would eat there too if I lived there. Happy T Day Elle/EOTC xx

Jackie McGuinness said...

I love that part of California!

Jeanie said...

Isn't Carmel and the surrounding area beautiful? I think it's extra nice to visit places with wonderful flowers when it is getting cold and snowy in our own areas. It's like a breath of fresh air!

CJ Kennedy said...

That breakfast looks so good. I love raisin bread! Had to laugh, you and Himself having tonic for breakfast! Everything flowering makes me think of Spring or Summer and then the Fall trees. Odd in a fun way from a New England perspective. Happy T Day

craftytrog said...

Carmel looks like a very pretty town, and your breakfast looks delicious Erika. Fortunately I've just cooked and eaten some spicy sweet potato and bean stew, so it's not making me hungry :D
Happy T-Day!
Alison

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I am not one to eat breakfast, so hotel freebie breakfasts are always enjoyable for me. Yes, you can tell I don't eat many breakfasts. Your omelet looked good and chorizo is something we can get at our local grocery stores/markets because of the large Hispanic population in Wichita (along with Asian, i.e. Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese). So glad you enjoyed your breakfast, and diet Coke.

CA weather simply can't be beat. I really miss the warmth of November and December in CA. Your photos of the flowers, plants, and succulents are marvelous, and I so miss that "winter" weather. Thanks for sharing this incredible post filled with beauty and memories for me, as well as your diet Coke and coffee for T this Tuesday, dear.

Mae Travels said...

You really make me miss California! I've spent several long stays in Santa Barbara which is on your route, so I'm familiar with that part of the coast, and it's really heaven on earth.

best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

Lisca said...

Carmel sounds like a really lovely place. The climate sounds like the climate of the coast of southern Spain. My sister has a house near Marbella on the Costa del Sol, but it is very touristy (and expensive). But it's nice to be able to have sub tropical plants and keep them through the winter as they don't get frosts.
The breakfast looks delicious. It's something I would love to have. Yes, we have chorizo. Of course I live in the area that has invented the chorizo, so we have it in abundance.
I loved your book reviews the other day (was it last week?) and I will soon do one too.
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Your breakfast looks wonderful. When we travel and have a breakfast like that we often skip lunch and make sure we walk lots between breakfast and dinner! As for the complimentary breakfasts hotel chains offer, I have nothing good to say about them. Even though they are included with the price of the room we sometimes skip them. If they have fresh fruit we'll grab some of that to take with us. Looks like you had a great vacation and now it's back to your familiar routine, made all the more enjoyable by a little time away from it. Muchos abrazos. David

DVArtist said...

There are some really beautiful places in CA. Breakfast looks very good. Have a wonderful day today.

Divers and Sundry said...

That scenic drive!

That breakfast is perfect! It's definitely making me hungry. I'm not used to seeing flowers like this so late in the year. No wonder that area is so popular. I'm not even going to look at house prices in Carmel lol