Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach, CA

Spanish Bay is the resort end of Pebble Beach, where the inn and the Links course sit in the dunes at the north end of 17-Mile Drive. Only a small number of homes stand beside the resort, so most of what you find here is lodging, golf and shoreline. The coast is the draw. A short boardwalk of about a third of a mile leads over the dunes to Moss Beach, and a longer shoreline route follows the coast from Asilomar State Beach south to Seal Rock, about three and a half miles in all. Asilomar State Beach sits right across the line in Pacific Grove. Evenings at the Inn at Spanish Bay revolve around the Lobby Lounge and its fire pits. Every evening a bagpiper takes to the Links and plays for guests gathered on the patio, whatever the weather. Traps, the hotel bar, serves hearty appetizers through the late evening, and Stave Wine Cellar pours tastings with small bites from midafternoon. Roy's does Hawaiian-fusion plates and opens early for breakfast. Next door in Pacific Grove, Phoebe's Cafe at the Asilomar Conference Grounds is the coffee and sandwich stop. There is no market inside the boundary. Groceries come from Pacific Grove, just beyond the Pacific Grove Gate, and Highway 68 leads on toward Monterey. With the resort as the main event, the stretch is busy with visitors and golfers, and it hardly feels like a residential street. After the last tee time, the dunes and the fire pits are what is left, and the surf carries across the sand.