HOW AMAZING... is Carmel-by-the-Sea? Those who love the jewel box of a Pacific-snug burg can't find enough superlative words to lavish upon the place, and all of the odes created around charming sights and scenes couldn't adequately address its quaint traits. Swoon over it we shall, and love upon it we will, and dream of the day we'll be back to saunter by its cottage-y houses and Spanish-regal buildings and soft-of-sand beaches and famous cypress trees. There is one particularly quirky, oh-so-Carmel-y thing on the horizon, though, that signals just how special the place is, and whimsical, and ode-worthy: The small town is getting not one but two parades on a single day. Really, not even big cities are typically treated to the double-parade day, but Carmel-by-the-Sea? Clearly we're in some sort of magical place, if two parades are on a single day's schedule. That single day is...
SATURDAY, OCT. 29, and, yes, Parade #1 is the Centennial Parade, complete with Clint Eastwood as the Grand Marshal. (Carmel's official birthday is Oct. 31, which, again, is incredibly Carmel-esque.) After feeling the civic pride, and waving at the U.S. Navy Band from San Diego and a host of dignitaries, the Halloween Parade shall commence (that's Parade #2). The costume-up happening is a must-do tradition in town, and not even the centennial-themed celebration would move it off the calendar. So, yes, Carmel-by-the-Sea is getting two, that's right, two parades in a day, which it so deserves, because it is a town from another time, a storybook, perhaps, and a place that has a way of delighting visitors, through and through. If that's hyperbole, and over the top, well, no apologies: Carmel-by-the-Sea has earned its fawned-over accolades during its first century. Say happy 100 to a special place, and enjoy some Halloween spectacle, on the last Saturday of October.
