Despite staying out much past my normal bedtime, I arose around 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning, day of the wedding. With a couple of hours to burn in Carmel, a must-see was Pebble Beach, which is only about 5 minutes from where I was staying.
It costs $9.50 to drive into the gated 17-mile drive, which is needed to access the golf course. There are many golf courses along the 17-mile drive. Before going straight into the Pebble Beach entrance, I decided to take a cruise on the scenic road. There are many lookout points, with tourists taking pictures and checking out the sights.
My first stop was at Huckleberry Hill. As I got out, another vehicle had pulled up next to me, and heard someone say, "I've heard of Huckleberry Finn, but not the hill." I took a stroll down the pathway of the hill, but became less scenic the further I walked down. It was tough terrain, and was a little difficult to walk down.
Driving around the 17-mile drive I layed eyes on some amazing homes. Doing a little research, I checked out Pebble Beach real estate online, and the prices for single-family homes are in the $2 to $3 million range. Of course, I am sure there are much higher priced properties.
The first golf course I checked out was Spyglass Hill. For some reason, many of the area golf courses sounded familiar (I don't watch golf), but the names stuck out in my mind. To play Spyglass, it's $350.
Back up to Pebble Beach, I found the entrance, and parked quite a ways away, so I could check out a majority of the layout on foot. Many people don't realize that Pebble Beach is open to the public, but they don't make that known to keep the tourists (like me!) away. On a Saturday morning, there was just a couple of people wandering around snapping pictures.
The U.S. Open is being held at Pebble Beach later this month, and already preparations were in full force. There was signage everywhere, and a few hundred workers at various points throughout the course, working on grandstands, the big tents, among other things.
I walked by the Lodge, and saw signs directing you to the 18th hole. This was something that I really wanted to check out. Walking out the back steps to the grassy area that seperates the pro shop and lodge, I gazed over the scenery, as the 18th hole overlooks the Pacific Ocean.
The U.S. Open grandstand was being set up on the 18th, and the leaderboard was already placed at the hole. I was going to bring my video camera, but had left it back at the hotel. All I had with me was my cell phone camera. I thought that I had brought my actual camera, but a search showed I must have left it at home. Alas, the night I returned to Illinois, it was in my laptop bag, right where I had, unsucessfully, checked for it earlier.
With a couple hours to go, I took a hike down the sidewalk and watched as various U.S. Open tents were being set up all throughout the course. Instead of turning around and going back the way I came, I figured if I kept walking to the east and north, I would eventually find the parking lot I had parked in. If it only were that easy.
I walked, walked, and then walked some more. Then, with about an hour and 15 minutes before the wedding, I began to jog....and sweat. You see, the wedding was another 5-10 minutes from the hotel, and I still had to change into the wedding clothes, not to mention I had to find a store in downtown Carmel to pick up a wedding card.
This was starting to become funny and nerve wracking at the same time. Had I brought a date to this wild wedding weekend, I would be returning home single. That was probably the funnest part of the trip, doing things at the spur of the moment with no care in the world. As the minutes kept ticking by, it became less and less funny, and finally with just over an hour before wedding time, I approached my car. Phew!
By the time I got back to the hotel, there was about an hour left before the wedding. Plenty of time! I parked my car, and walked the four or five blocks down to Ocean Avenue and found Laub's Country Store. I walked in and asked the young girl at the counter if they sold wedding cards. She looked at me with a puzzled look. I had to explain to her, a card for a wedding that says "Congratulations", or something like that. She understood with the explanation.
There were slim pickins' for wedding cards and I picked one out. I headed back to the hotel to change, and wrote a note to Quincy and Mallory in the card. I admitted that I had just picked this card up an hour before the wedding, so I apologized about the content of the card. I am a terrible card giver. Usually, I pick up one or two cards, and select the least mooshy of the two and go with it.
Next: Going to the Beach and They're Gonna Get Married
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