My DaDa and Me

  

  DaDa's Column 

Fun and Interesting Facts About Carmel-by-the-Sea

 

How do I find_______??  This is a very common question here in Carmel-by-the-Sea because we have no addresses.  Our businesses have no addresses, our houses have no addresses.  We also have no mail delivery and there are no corner mail boxes in which to drop a post card, except, of course, at our Post Office. 

Every business and resident has a P. O. Box and everyone takes their outgoing mail to the post office and picks up their incoming mail from their P. O. Box.  Our founding fathers intended for the Post Office to be a social gathering place where people might socialize and keep abreast of current events while dropping off and picking up their mail, and it still works that way today...it's fun!

So the question, "How do I find_______???" is very common.  We do have "locators."  Our gallery locator is Ocean Avenue 3 SE of San Carlos which means we are the third business on Ocean Avenues southeast of the nearest cross street San Carlos.  Some businesses will list their locator as "Ocean and San Carlos" but since nearly 50 businesses can claim that location it can be a challenge to find a place.

We like it this way...it adds to the ambiance and charm of our city.  I will say that when we first moved here the hardest thing to do was order a pizza from Domino's.  Domino's relies on GPS for their delivery drivers but with no addresses GPS is useless.  So there were a few nights standing in front of the house on the phone with a flashlight waiting for a pizza.