Carmel California - Explore Monterey County California

Carmel draws visitors from all over the world and is struggling to maintain its small town appearance. Carmel in Hebrew translates to "garden" or garden land". Carmel was named by the Vizcaino (a Spainsh expedition of 1602) in honor of the fiars who discovered it, the order of "El Rio de Carmelo". Carmel became a town when the Mission San Carlos Borromeno also known as the Carmel Mission was moved from Monterey to the mouth of the Carmel Valley. A very small community grew up around the mission. Carmel's reputation as an "artistic" village began in 1903 when Devendorf Powers a real-estate developer offered to sell and lease land inexpensively to artists and writers. Numerous shops, fine restaurants and art galleries line Ocean street and all the side streets in Carmel-By-The-Sea. The fine white sands of Carmel beach is a pleasure to stroll along in the mornings.