Carmel-by-the-Sea, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA

Carmel-by-the-Sea has long gone without street numbers, traffic lights and parking meters, and that sets the tone for a village of about one square mile on the Monterey Peninsula. People find their way by cross streets and landmarks, and getting around is mostly on foot. The homes are storybook cottages, many in the style builder Hugh Comstock made the town's signature in the 1920s, set beneath Monterey pines and oaks with small gardens out front. Carmel-by-the-Sea started as an art colony in the early 1900s, and the design rules for new building keep the look of the old lanes intact, so a house from last year and one from a century ago tend to sit comfortably side by side. The beach is the outdoor anchor. Carmel Beach sits at the foot of Ocean Avenue as a wide curve of white sand, and Carmel is a very dog-friendly town. For woods instead of water, Mission Trail Nature Preserve is open from dawn to dusk, with redwoods and about three miles of trails across thirty-odd acres. Breakfast is a Dolores Street ritual at the Tuck Box, at 7 Dolores Street, a cottage dining room open from 7:30 until mid afternoon and known for its scones and jam. Coffee on the go comes from Carmel Valley Coffee Roasting Co. At 316 Ocean Avenue, which sits between Lincoln and Monte Verde and roasts an organic house blend. Nielsen Brothers Market & Deli, at San Carlos Street and Seventh Avenue, is the in-town grocery and one of the oldest in the country. Most days run on foot. No highway runs through the village, and Monterey-Salinas Transit Route 5 is the bus link out. Bigger errands mean leaving the village, since the blocks are given over to galleries, tasting rooms and restaurants. With no streetlights, the walk home after dinner runs on porch lights and the moon.