Some other bits of California
Carmel beach Coastal California has been fairly well mythologised over the years - the mere mention of Big Sur, Monterey or Santa Cruz evokes hazy visions of sun-dappled semi-paradises where the surf is high and so are most of the people. If I wasn't as excited about this part of our trip as I was about San Francisco or Las Vegas, not forgetting the Grand Canyon (status pending), it was almost solely down to The Thrills, whose jangle-pop dirges "inspired" by the area sapped the life out of my ears a decade or so ago. It's hard to credit how such a stunning environment could possibly inspire such tepid music, but basically Brian Wilson - often imitated, never remotely bettered - has a lot to answer for. Another unfeasibly bourgeois Carmel shopping arcade Thanks to Yosemite being closed, we were able to see a lot more of this region than originally planned. First stop was Carmel, whose official name of Carmel-by-the-Sea better reflects its picture-book natur...