In the Carmel Plaza shopping center, you’ll find a well-stocked cheese shop. When you enter, find one of their cheese mongers who will guide you through a free tasting of their cheeses. They offer a wide range of California and European cheeses. My wife and I tasted a flight of French and Swiss hard and soft cheeses and she walked out with a delicious, stinky bag of them.
Category Archives: Travel
Carmel Music Box Store
Among the art galleries, cafés, and boutiques in Carmel is a vintage clock and music box store. Inside, we found antique gramophones and music boxes.
Xocolatl chocolate shop Carmel, California
In a hidden inner courtyard, off of Carmel’s main street, you’ll find a small art gallery and artisan chocolate shop, Xocolatl.
Carmel Bakery
My family enjoys fresh baked bread and pastries along main street, while visiting Camel-by-the Sea, California.
Carmel by the Sea Walking Tour
I take you on a walking tour of Ocean Avenue. The main street of Carmel by the Sea, the famous California town known simply as “Carmel.”
Founded by Spanish missionaries in 1771, this seaside town, south of Monterey Bay, was the headquarters of the Spanish Mission system and the Carmelite Order in the New World. St. Fr. Juanipero Serra is buried at the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo.
Carmel became a trendy artist colony south of San Francisco in the early 1910’s. Notable residents include Ansel Adams, Betty White, Clint Eastwood, and Brad Pitt. Actor Clint Eastwood was the mayor of Carmel in the 1980’s. It is one of the most affluent and exclusive communities in California.
Art galleries, boutiques specializing in vacation-casual fashion, and cafés line the streets along Ocean Avenue. Off the main street are bistro’s and boujie restaurants. Carmel is a very walkable town for tourists.
SF Ocean Beach Gulls
A moment of zen along Ocean Beach, in San Francisco, CA. Seagulls rest along the sea wall overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
SHOT Meet at Vector Optics
I’ve been invited to be a Booth Influencer by Vector Optics at SHOT Show 2026. I’ll be filming Shorts of Vector’s scopes, making announcements, giving out swag and an optic or two. If you are attending SHOT, come to the Vector Optics booth and say, hi.
LOCATION
Venetian Expo Floor 1
Booth #41560
SCHEDULE
Tuesday, August 20
10:00am-12:00pm
Friday, August 23
8:00am-12:00pm
SF Ocean Beach
On an ideal day along Ocean Beach in San Francisco, CA. In the distance, on the right of the screen, is the famous Cliff House restaurant.
Pocket’s Costco San Jose
Pocket’s Chocolates makes oat-milk chocolate-coated almonds that I first discovered at my local COSTCO. Their matcha-flavored almonds had me hooked after my first handful. These mildly sweet snacks are remarkably healthy with less than 10g of sugar per 14-almond serving. Perfect for my Keto diet.
When I heard that Pockets was running pop-up stores in Costco stores and their next location would be an hour south of me in San Jose, I just had to go. They would be offering tastings of all of their flavors. And I would get a chance to try their new Dubai chocolate flavored pastachios.
I drove down to San Jose in the middle of the Christmas rush. I introduced myself to their staff and discovered that 2 of their 3 co-owners were there. I met Lynn and Chris who were super friendly and as sweet as their product. They gave me a gift bag as a gift, and I bought a case of their chocolates because I’m addicted to their matcha and ube almonds.
SHOP
NYC Before Yesterday We Could Fly
Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room is a multi-artist exhibition whose narrative is generated by the real, lived history of Seneca Village, a vibrant community founded predominantly by free Black tenants and landowners that flourished from the 1820s to the 1850s near The Met’s current site.