You're initially welcomed by a brightly lit sign as you turn down Candy Cane Lane and then your…read moreeyes begin to feast. I recommend you park and walk so you can truly be dazzled by the holiday magic. You get to celebrate the season with all your Christmas favorites like Rudolph and Frosty, Snoopy and the Peanuts gang, and the Koolaid Man. Ohhh yeahhh! Then tune in to 106.5 and get ready to dance off with the holiday lights to some Christmas classics. Finally, enjoy holiday promenade and get ready to feed your social media by sticking your head in some cardboard photo stand-ins and sitting in Santa's sled. Make sure you have Mariah Carey queued up for the dancing tunnel. If you're ready to get your holiday into overdrive, make your visit now!!!

A cute experience to walk through! Lots of fun lights and displays. The community does a great job…read moreof lights and displays

Very small, quaint area, pretty and picturesque. If you visit Caramel, the village is a short drive…read moreaway, so check it out if have the time! Wear layers, I always get cold when I visit this area, but it's tranquil, peaceful and has wonderful vista-s. Visit the local shops if you have time and do some wine tasting at a local winery. The pace is slower here!

Cute little area. Lots of food choices. Shopping. Little wineries. Places to spend the night. Even…read morea couple gas stations. I was surprised to see they even have a library! If you've never driven on Carmel Valley Rd to the village, you should definitely take the time to check out this quaint little place. It was so quiet during the night! Heavenly!

Fun place. Our kiddo had fun. Good price. Street parking. They have a shop in the front and…read morerestrooms in the back. Something for every kid.

It's limited. It's rather small. The areas of play are also limited. While there are many options…read moreto do things, the compact size doesn't make it very appealing for toddlers with more curiosity and growing imaginations. I feel like many may just lose interest and run off to other things too quickly, so don't expect to spend more than an hour or an hour and a half. Limited street parking also makes it difficult as a destination and more like a local spot for little ones to play for a couple of hours with friends.

What a fun event this was. So much fabulous Italian food. Lots of fun booths. Lots of friendly…read morepeople. Great music..just one great event.

Pluses and minuses: Great entertainment. Pasquale Esposito was terrific. Sound system was a little…read morebit muddy, and some technical glitches, but, that happens with any live event. Food: Central Coast Pizza -yummy, yummy, yummy. Cannollis- I don't have the name of the vendor, but it was really good. Here's why I knocked off a star and another- We ordered VIP seating. The promises on the website included table order service for drinks and food. Nope. You might as well wait for Santa to deliver them. Yes, I was that dumb schmuck that paid $93.60 (including the service fee) for two tickets and for the most part, got a table to park our butts. They did give us Festa Italia T-shirts without a size selection. Unfortunately, the shirts aren't a size that either of us can wear. I did stop by later and ask at the registration booth why there was no table service. For that exchange, I received two conflicting, muddled answers from the same person. First, it was that they did not have enough resources to have table staffing (although it was advertised on the web site) and the staffing for security instead. Answer #2: The guy caught himself afterward and said it didn't exist and that was not part of the ticket promotion. Well, it was on your site last night. My husband and I both saw the perk listed for the tickets. That's why we bought them. Advice: Go to the show next time and skip the VIP tickets. If you still want the VIP tickets, go ahead. IF someone wants to sit at your table that didn't buy the tickets, let them do it. It has the same meaning as buying the tickets. Other room for improvement. IF you are hosting an Italian festival, would it not be useful to have Italian Wines and beer? A cold Corona is great, but, a cold Peroni or similar Italian type would be a nice touch, too. Likewise on wine: Have an Italian wine. I am aware that there's a better profit with a full bar offering mixed drinks. I also anticipated this would be more of a wine tasting type of festival, but that was not the case.

Thank you for your kindness. I so appreciate the positive, supportive and friendly attitude of the…read morestaff. Wonderful operation that helps the people of our community, so much. Kudos to you!

This market is growing on me. Not the biggest or most diverse in the area, by any means, but a nice…read moreselection of produce, prepared foods, etc. I like the small size & intimacy, the community feel. Yesterday I enjoyed possibly the best fish taco I've ever had, at Dave's Oyster Shak & Grill. I ordered the pan seared tilapia taco; $2.75, and it was loaded with moist fish tasting somewhat Cajun. A few veggies & some sauce and I was back from the shopping-in-Sand City-but-didn't-find-a-damn-thing-I was-looking-for blues. The large, juicy, delicious, free strawberry I sampled was the icing on the cake. And BTW--the Tricycle pizza is excellent. Note: I also buy my eggs at this market--from Bigham's free range, from Prunedale--and the organic produce is nice to have access to (yesterday I found a nice, big cauliflower & some small potatoes to my liking). Postscript: Sadly, Dave's Oyster Shak (yes--that's how it was spelled) no longer has a booth here.

Thursdays from 10am - 2pm! This is such a great farmers…read moremarket. Beautiful fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, honey, and, flowers from local farms. Local artists artwork, especially ceramics, highlighted. And, local delicacies from independent bakeries and eateries represented, including breads from Ad Astra and empanadas from Cafe Guarani. There's also live entertainment to be enjoyed. Friendly service from each stall visited. A fun time every time! CHEERS!

First time here. Such a beautiful scenic town with so much character! I would highly recommend this…read morefor a getaway with a special someone since it's more catered to that. Beautiful clean beaches and upscale shopping areas with cottage designed shops and secret pathways. They have upscale bakeries as well as fine dining options. I also went to the Mission but it was unfortunately closed. The vibe of this small town is very nice and positive. Must recommend!

Review for Independent Marketplace - Take Two - May 3, 2012…read more (first Thursday every month) Cinco de Mayo theme... I only have less than an hour here and didn't buy any veggies besides a bunch if organic baby carrots so I didn't get a chance to leave them at the "veggie valet"... I kid you not. How sic! Tequila sampling by Surf & Sand from the lovely family that owns Bruno's Market in Carmel by the Sea... I got a good deal on a bottle of Jimador - Reposado that came in a gift box with a free keepsake glass (I've bough this same set before at Terrace Liquors on Seaside) just to get a free Jimador hat... I'm a sucker like that. Fun craft soda booth, Mundaka was there in full effect representing the 5th with churros served with a side of warm Mexican chocolate and some thin tortas using their popular acorn fed Jamon Iberico.. sold out within an hour. I had my old friend Dr. NiNi and her Mom meet me there since they were visiting from out of town, Oakland and Los Gatos respectively. Nicole and I attended York together over a decade ago so they are very familiar with 831 culture and they warmly surprised and happy to feel the buzz and the foodie forward revolution going down in Sand City. Oh the Vallarta Splash cocktails didn't hurt either!

Now that they're charging a $5 cover, I expect a bit more…read more The good: the hot food served outside (you can get this without paying a cover). Vendors vary from month to month, but on this visit my buddies had pork shoulder tacos ($4 each or $10 for three, I think) from Carmel Valley Ranch, which they said were incredible. My vegetarian tacos (2 for $4) made with Sweet Earth Natural Foods seitan were also very good, though they were rather messy, and the vendor had no forks. I also heard from friends that the Happy Girl Kitchen Thai food was good. The Penny Ice Creamery ice cream inside was also excellent (I had a variation on rocky road, and my friend had butterscotch.) Also, the proximity to the Post No Bills beer venue is nice. Crowds at the Marketplace seem to be less dense now that they charge to get in, which is a positive, IMHO. The not-so-good: the DJ inside, playing hip hop & dance music at a rather high volume. A few people were dancing, but I think most of us were barely tolerating it. I hope that live music returns to the Marketplace. Also, the funky penny they give you when you pay your cover charge is supposed to be good at vendor booths, but it's of very limited value. For example, you can buy two ice creams and get one free, or get $1 off some excellent but rather pricey artisanal cheese. Much of the space is devoted to kids/kids' activities, but it didn't seem to be getting used much by the time we got there (shortly after 6:00). Some additional seating space would be nice, too.

We stopped by the Carmel Valley Farmer's Market and were excited to see the produce stands. I…read morestumbled upon the Cheese Wiz and of course had to try the specialty imported cheese. The vendor was so kind in giving us a variety of cheeses to try and we were too tempted not to get anything. We picked up 1/2 lb each of the raclette and truffle gouda. The cheese is on the pricier side but loved the flavors and the truffle gouda is one of the best truffle cheese I've had! So excited to eat the raclette on a baguette and make some fancy mac & cheese with the truffle gouda. The food trucks are great as well (definitely get Big Sur Taco) and overall just such a nice stop if you're in the area on a Sunday!

This farmers market is held every Sunday from 10 to 2 in the Carmel Valley Ca mid Valley, Safeway…read moreparking lot. It's very busy, but there's lots of parking the Safeway center has several other restaurants there that are very busy on Sunday mornings too. We went on the day after the Fourth of July and unfortunately, most of the food trucks were not there. There was about five rows of stands a mixture of local homemade arts and crafts and jewelry, lots of beautiful produce, and lots of different snack foods. There is an amazing array of cinnamon rolls with different toppings. Bagels, cookies, coffee and there was one food truck that sold empanadas, etc. They looked really good and had a large variety. The highlight for me was the cheese whiz lady. She had about 15 different cheeses and she's very generous with allowing you to sample before you buy. It is a little pricey about $15 a quarter pound but the cheeses were so unique and unusual and tasted so good. I didn't mind spending the $45 for three different pieces. I got the three-year aged Gouda, which has a very flavorful caramel burst on the tongue and a delicious nutty aftertaste. I also got the blue cheese from New Zealand and Tanzania and had a very unique sharp, but smooth flavor and was a great addition to any food that I put it on. It crumbled easily and added a musky power burst to every bite. I also got an unusual Swiss cheese called Chällerhocker which has a pale, ivory interior with small holes and a thin, brine-washed rind. Its flavor profile is nutty, sweet, and slightly tangy, with hints of brown butter and caramel. It goes from Sweet to musky and then has a delicious aftertaste.