Chase

One of the things I have found most surprising about working in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea is how much of a city atmosphere this 1-mile village exudes. My office is located on the corner of Mission and Ocean, upstairs, in the old dairy building. With the weather so warm lately, I’ve had my window open from the moment I arrive in the morning until I head out in the afternoon. I really get the triple sensory experience from my window: I can hear the city sounds, I can smell amazing aromas from the nearby restaurants (especially on the days they roast garlic!), and I have a panoramic view which includes Devendorf Park, the Ocean Avenue promenade, Tiffany’s and the plaza shops, and when I walk to the other windows I can see the shops on the south side of Ocean Ave.

Walking around I have come to appreciate that although small, this city basically offers what any other major city offers. On my walks (and from my window!) I see workers transporting paintings and works of art from one location to another, I see this cute Italian guy delivering fresh baked bread, I hear the bus sound system spewing the different stops it is going to make, I hear trucks shifting gears and idling in front of stores, I see housekeepers from the hotels changing shifts, I hear the tourists trying to decide where to go, I hear dogs barking and kids squealing, I see taxi’s picking up and dropping off people, I see people parking illegally and then I see the ‘meter maid’ writing tickets, I see people walking around with groceries and dry cleaning, I see people with boutique bags hanging from their arms and shoulders, I see people on bikes and babies in strollers, I see people dressed up, people wearing work out clothes, and people that are clearly heading to the beach, I see business owners sweeping the leaves in front of their stores, I see landscape workers trimming trees and watering plants, I see maintenance workers emptying trash cans, and I occasionally (but very very rarely) see a homeless person. 

Even though today’s visit doesn’t rank high on the interesting scale, it’s still part of the fabric of this city so I wanted to include it: Chase Bank. Chase Bank is located on San Carlos and 6^th Street. As one of the team members for Operation Padre (a fundraising effort for Carmel High School’s new multi-sport athletic complex) I deposit the donations in the athletic boosters account at the bank. The atmosphere inside the bank is quite nice, it’s a large open space with lots of windows, a couple of comfortable looking chairs in front of a fire that is always burning, cubical offices for interacting with customers, and pleasant tellers that keep mini dog biscuits at their stations for all people that bring their four-legged friends with them to the bank.

There are only a couple of banks in Carmel-by-the-Sea and I almost always see someone I know in Chase…hmm, actually now that I think about it, most of the people I see in the bank are people I have met on my walkabout! I’m not really sure what the rules are for taking pictures inside the bank so I just took a couple of shots from the outside.