Follow-up from the advice we received. We ended up only following one of the recommendations - - Nepenthe - - and we think it is VERY much a worthwhile stop. Not only wonderful setting and decent food - - but we got a tip to go to Pfeifer state Beach from the waiter there. Very cool and unusual; rock formations, awesome wind and purple sand on the beach.

In Carmel, I let the kids choose the first night and they selected Merlot which was certainly solid above-average, white tablecloth kind of place, with some eclectic choices. I had the rabbit. They were influenced a little bit by a 15% off coupon offered by our hotel, Svendgaard's Inn (see separate posting on how well they treated us there!) 15% off on a tab of $150 is not chump change - - so we decided that the view was not important for our dining. Anyhow, we had already driven the complete length of Big Sur, and had the very pleasant lunch at Nepenthe.

And Merlot offered us a second coupon (also 15% off) for five other resturants (we didn't realize until later that they own them all) - - as it turned out, one was a place that was on my list anyway - - Anton et Michel, partly because they had both foie gras and abalone on the menu. So we went there next day to have lunch as our splurge meal of the day. Foie gras is no longer available in any California restaurants, thanks to PETA activists - - and the abalone did not seem worth its "market price" of $29 for the appetizer; $58 for the lunch plate. But the place was very stylish, and the food was good all the same.

In a separate report, I'll detail some highlights of our San Francisco stay - - a visit to Alcatraz, Petri's gallery in Sausalito, LuLu's, SFMOMA and McCormick and Kuleto's at Ghirardelli Square. Not necessarily new or innovative observations but at least current info.

Thanks again to all who answered before.

You're welcome for the Nepenthe recommendation, Rex! It is spectacular, isn't it?