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102
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spr ing
request) by Stonepine’s official limousine – a vintage Rolls
Royce. If they are staying in the Chateau, they’ll be greeted at
the door by a small staff and escorted to their suite, or taken to
their chosen accommodation in another part of the property.
There are a couple of things one should know, however,
if one arrives by car (it’s a 4 ½-hour trip from Montecito). For
example, West Carmel Valley Road is the main thoroughfare
through Carmel Valley, a sleepy adjunct to the more active
Carmel nearby and the resorts immediately adjacent to
Highway 101.
If driving, when you spot a sign that reads “Speed Limit
35mph,” you are strongly advised to go no faster than 35 miles
per hour. In the town proper, speed limit slows to 25 mph
and law-enforcement officials are quite serious about those
posted speed limits. In just a short time of observation we
watched a middle-aged woman with an agitated dog in the
front seat being given a speeding ticket. We also spied two CHP
motorcycle patrolmen, and a CHP vehicle observing traffic. So,
pay attention to the speed limit signs!
On the way to Stonepine Estate, coming from the west,
you’ll pass a number of well-tended and well known vineyards
– Carmelo, Bernardus, the Parsonage, etc. – along with a
smattering of shops such as Rosie’s Country Store, Running Iron
Restaurant and Saloon, Acacia Lodge, Trattoria del Valle, Maya
Textile Art, Gallery O, Stirrup Cup Pizza, M42 Studio Gallery
and many others that imply Carmel Valley is a different kind of
“resort” town with different kinds of businesses.
In the middle of town, at the Village Shopping Center,
our favorite business is the Wild Goose Cafe Bakery & Coffee
House. It’s slightly funky in a Big Sur kind of way, and it
isn’t very roomy, but baristas here make an
excellent
and
generous double espresso. Along with that excellent coffee
are sandwiches made to order, including popular and tasty
“mini-baguettes” stuffed with Prosciutto, tomatoes, cheese
and peppers, for $3.50. Wild Goose also makes its own breads,
croissants, and muffins..
Stonepine Estate Resort, designated as one of the 200
Historic Hotels of America, was built in 1929 by Henry Potter
Russell and Helen Crocker-Russell, of the San Francisco banking
family, and purchased by travel industry entrepreneurs Gordon
and Noel Hentschel in 1983. The couple raised seven children
W eekend
G etaway