Nepenthe

Bruce and I joined a two other couples from a local car club for a drive down to Nepenthe in Big Sur today.  It is 26 miles from Carmel to Big Sur, some breathtaking views along the way.  The coast highway hugs the sides of mountains with steep drops down to the crashing waves below.

Some of these were taken from the car.  We drove down in Bruce's 1991 Nissan 300 ZX Turbo, a lovely car that likes to drive fast as much as Bruce does.  There is not much opportunity to drive fast along this road as there is usually at least one car in front, gawking at the scenery.  Tourists!

The colours in the water and lichens on the rocks were lovely.

We had lunch at Nepenthe.
Nepenthe (Ancient Greek: Νηπενθές), is a medicine for sorrow, literally, an anti-depressant – a "drug of forgetfulness" mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Greek mythology, depicted as originating in Egypt.

It is indeed a place to forget one's sorrows.  Opened in 1949 by Lolly and Bill Fassett (relatives of Kaffe Fassett the knitting/quilting/embroidery designer), Nepenthe's setting is gorgeous.  Most of the year patrons can sit outside on the  sunny sheltered deck area and share their lunch with the birds.

The Stellars Jays (not pictured here) are very partial to the Nepenthe french fries.  The fries come in a basket.  The jays will walk right up and take a fry from the basket and fly away with it.  They fly with fries...hmmm.