Cobalt Blue Breakers

I haven’t been there for a long time; maybe eight years.  But there is a really nice hotel in Carmel called the “Highlands Inn.”

I passed it maybe two years before I stayed there as I was driving through Carmel up to Monterey.  It’s light peach colored and sits on the East side of Highway 1.  I thought to myself, “That would be a nice place to stay.”  Well, apparently so do a lot of people.

 When I made reservations two years later, it was not inexpensive to say the least.  I went there in a cold, wet month like February and discovered that they were booked solid.  There was a well know Disney artist and his wife who were checking out as I was arriving which I thought ironic that far away from Burbank, where we both worked.

The grounds were wet from the light rain that had permeated the day before I got there.  I was escorted to my room, which had a full ocean view.  It was cozy; not big and not too tight.  There was a warm crackling fire lit for me with all of the wood I might be able to feed it made available to me.

Next to the bed was a CD player with a small library of new-age music.  I don’t normally play a lot of this genre, but it was perfect for my stay there.

That night, I went into the hot tub just outside my room, of which I was the sole occupant, and sat in it as a very heavy mist floated down on me.  The tub was perched in such a way that I could look over it’s side, down and across Highway 1 to the water crashing on the rocks below.

Visible in the full moonlight, I could see the cobalt blue breakers hitting the rocks illuminating a rhythmic snowy whitewash spraying up into the night.  I thought to myself, “That is really blue water.”  It was a wonderful moment of serenity.

Highlands Inn