Winter Break

On winter break, my family and I visited many interesting places, including Carmel, the Winchester Mystery House, and Alpine Meadows/ Squaw Valley.

Carmel:
In Carmel, my family and I visited an art gallery, Casanova, and the beach.

The Art of Dr. Seuss
http://www.drseussart.com/
Walking to Casanova, we encountered an amazing art gallery, The Art of Dr. Seuss. This art gallery features many pieces of artwork by Ted Geisel(aka Dr. Seuss). Some of my favorite pieces were The Cat That Changed the World, Sam-I-am, and Freebird.

Casanova
 http://www.casanovarestaurant.com/
Casanova is a cozy restaurant, supposedly "Carmel's most romantic restaurant". It is a delightful little place, with a tree growing out of the roof, the kid's menu glued to the back of a picture book, and amazing food.

Beach
My siblings and I had a marvelous time at the beach, located a walking distance from Casanova. We splashed in the water, which was numbingly cold but still fun, attempted cartwheels, built sandcastles, and dug holes.

Winchester Mystery House:
http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/

My family and I absolutely loved the Winchester Mystery House, with its dead end stairs, doors to nowhere, and fake cabinets. We took the 75 minute mansion tour, and enjoyed every second of it. Our tour guide showed us rooms damaged by the earthquake, the seance room where Sarah Winchester would talk to spirits, and many other fascinating places.
Sarah Winchester was a very wealthy widow, following the death of her husband, William Winchester in 1881. Her daughter Annie had already died in 1866. Sarah was convinced that both of them were killed by the spirits of all the people who were killed by the famous Winchester rifle. To appease the spirits, Sarah began a huge construction project, determined to build a great house for them. This construction project never ceased until Sarah's death in 1922.

Alpine Meadows/ Squaw Valley:
http://www.skialpine.com/
http://www.squaw.com/

I loved skiing at Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley. We rented a cabin and stayed there for four days. While skiing, I noticed that a lot of the lifts had Alpine Meadows/ Squaw Valley stickers stuck to them. I inquired about the stickers at Guest Services, and received some stickers of my own.

* Sorry for the lack of new recipes or arts and crafts projects. I promise I will post one soon. If you have any requests for tutorials, please comment.