In January, Ernie and I had spent our first weekend in Carmel-by-the-Sea at the Hofsas House hotel. We had such a fabulous time, I wanted to surprise Ernie with another weekend in Carmel for his birthday.

Hofsas House is becoming our home away from home when we visit Carmel. I love that the hotel room is always so inviting when we arrive. Our room had a real working fireplace, but it didn’t get cold enough to use it. We loved using the fireplace during our stay in January, but I guess that means summer is around the corner now!

Our weekend began with breakfast at Carmel Belle. Even though it was just a short walk from Hofsas House, we took the car because we wanted to visit Point Lobos after food. After reading their Yelp reviews, I knew that we were in for a treat.

“Carmel Belle proudly sources its ingredients from farmers and purveyors that practice sustainability, and provide honest, high-quality products that taste really good.”

Ernie had the Best BLT and I had the snack board with blue cheese, brie, and prosciutto. For me, I am not a fan of eating a large breakfast, so I really liked that they had a whole menu of snacks to choose from. Plus, all I really need in the morning is coffee. And their coffee was SO GOOD. Even on it’s own (no cream or sugar) the coffee was incredible.

After breakfast, we headed off to Point Lobos.

After visiting Point Lobos, Ernie and I hurried back to the hotel to drop off the car before wine tasting.

We had Carmel Wine Walk tickets and were in search of a new wine club to join. After visiting a few tasting rooms, we finally popped into Figge Cellars. We loved that they had a variety of white and red wine. I am a fan of white wine, especially in the summer, so I was pretty pumped to try their chardonnay. It was DELICIOUS! Ernie and I both loved their red wine selections and decided to join their club.

Since we had about a hour to kill before dinner, we headed back to the hotel to relax on the patio. We had wine and cheese in our room (courtesy of Hofsas House), so we took the snacks out to the patio to relax in the sun. I couldn’t believe it was warm enough to sit outside! We were so lucky for great weather during our weekend.

After our snack time, Ernie and I headed over to Monterey for dinner at The Whaling Station Steakhouse. I totally thought that Monterey was much further than Carmel, but it was only a 10 minute drive! We figured we could save a few bucks on wine, so we brought a bottle of the Figge pinot noir.

Ernie loves a steak dinner on his birthday, and the Whaling Station came highly recommended by Hofsas House. Plus our server at Figge Cellars had great things to say about the restaurant.

Our meal began with Caesar salad made at our table.

I love Caesar salad and this one was really fresh. I could taste the lemon and anchovies. It was great!

Ernie ordered a Rib Eye and I had the Australian Lobster Tail. Both meals came with garlic mashed potatoes with friend onion strings, and bacon infused creamed spinach.

I am not kidding when I say that I have NEVER been full off of lobster. This was a half pound tail and it was delicious. LOL, I should have probably slowed down and not stuff myself, but it was so good.

I am not a big meat eater, but Ernie said that his Rib Eye was one of the best steaks he has had. Definitely on his top 3 Rib Eyes. I had a piece of his steak, and I can confirm that it was pretty tasty.

As if we didn’t get enough to eat, Ernie ordered the Key Lime Pie.

It’s true what they say about second stomachs. I definitely made room for dessert!

John, our waiter, took really good care of us during dinner. Even giving us a great recommendation to check out Deetjen’s Restaurant in Big Sur. Ernie and I didn’t make it down to Big Sur, but we put it on the list to check out next time!

After a long day of wine tasting, eating delicious food, and walking around the coast, Ernie and I were beat. I went to wash up in the bathroom after getting back to Hofsas House, and Ernie passed out. The birthday boy had a big weekend!

Once again, we had a fabulous stay in Carmel. We cannot wait to go back again this summer!

Our stay was hosted by Hofsas House, Carmel Belle, and The Whaling Station Steakhouse, but as always all opinions are my own.