This is a freshly edited "Throwback Tuesday" post from last March and a Happy Happy Birthday wish to my wonderful husband. Last year, we decided to celebrate my husband’s birthday by visiting one of our favorite places on the California coast. Maybe even the planet: Mendocino.
I know I’m lucky. We live in a beautiful city, within a beautiful state. We are a 45 minute drive along bucolic roads to some of the most photographed views of the ocean (and where Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" was filmed. So much better claim to fame than "Psycho" don't you think?)
I know I’m lucky. We live in a beautiful city, within a beautiful state. We are a 45 minute drive along bucolic roads to some of the most photographed views of the ocean (and where Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" was filmed. So much better claim to fame than "Psycho" don't you think?)
The school house in Bodega Bay is now a private residence. (That's me in the plaid jacket. Or at least a good representation of me if I was being chased by demonic child-eating birds.)
We can drive four hours east and find ourselves at the world-famous Sierra Mountains, home of a ski resort called Heavenly. (The past several years there hasn't been much snow, so the "ski" part of the resort's name is rather optimistic unless you're THIS guy.)
My husband regularly drives 35 miles south crossing the iconic Golden Gate Bridge as part of his commute. Just 10 minutes to downtown Petaluma and we're on the set of George Lucas' first successful movie "American Graffiti" starring Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, and Wolfman Jack.
Bottom line, set off in any direction from our house and you'll find yourself somewhere amazing. Lucky, blessed, spoiled. Whatever word you’d assign it, we’re definitely that.
Mendocino Village is about a three hour drive northwest. There are two incredibly scenic ways to get there from Petaluma. A favorite is to go straight out to the coast and soak in the rugged coastline with as many crashing waves, gorgeous rock formations, stunning seaside homes and beaches as we can fit into our cold little hearts. However, the “price” of this route includes a convergence of tourists in large RVs and convertibles, as well as impatient motorcycles all vying for the same narrow hairpin turns. (Literally, hundreds of miles of turns…and ocean views).
The other route is to jet up the freeway for about an hour before heading west through serene redwood forests, vineyards and farms and then up the coast where the Navarro River meets the Pacific. For most people, the word “freeway” would immediately sway the decision, but just like everything else in Northern California, even our freeways are special. Well, at least some of them. This stretch of Highway 101 happens to magically balance smog, restless drivers, and concrete with happy little nuggets of nirvana among rolling hills covered in vineyards and conversation-worthy, large-scale art sculptures..
This is an amazing shot from Richard Lawson | richardlawsonphotography.com
I may sound like I’m justifying driving up the freeway, and you’d be partially right as that is the route we opted to take for this particular trip. We brought along our youngest (11-year-old) and our goal was maximum view and ambiance, combined with minimum car sickness (aka ambiance).
If you haven’t been lucky enough to have spent time in Mendocino, let me acquaint you with this "Northeast whaling village" conveniently located in California. What we know as Mendocino today started as a logging community in the 1850’s. Many of the same buildings and wooden walkways are still standing. (They're also very uneven and will trip you up without a backwards glance. Don't ask me how I know.)
If you haven’t been lucky enough to have spent time in Mendocino, let me acquaint you with this "Northeast whaling village" conveniently located in California. What we know as Mendocino today started as a logging community in the 1850’s. Many of the same buildings and wooden walkways are still standing. (They're also very uneven and will trip you up without a backwards glance. Don't ask me how I know.)
Mendocino has been the backdrop of many movies and TV shows. If you've ever watched "Murder She Wrote" you've seen Mendocino. (I'm not really sure how a tiny village of 900 people could rack up weekly murders without attracting some national/FBI attention. But then again, I also never understood how all those women were falling in love with Captain Stubing on the Love Boat.) Today, it is a quiet tourist town that welcomes a music festival in the summer and the Whale Festival January through March, the window in which you’re most likely to see migrating whales. (We didn't).
Quinn holding up an anchor chain (or some other mariner/yachting term that I wouldn't know). We're about 30 feet above the water so those had to be some big boats sidling up here.
Even with it's very compact "downtown", there’s an abundance of small restaurants, café’s, coffee shops, bookstores, clothing stores, and wine tasting as well as specialty shops that feature handcrafted art, jewelry, chocolate, quilts and jams. There's even a doctor with a shingle advertising "420" assessments -- no appointment required.
I couldn't find who to attribute this photo to, but you can see just how small Mendocino village really is. Think blocks, not miles.
The historic shops and scrumptious restaurant offerings set the table for a wonderful experience, but the bluff overlooking the ocean is definitely the centerpiece of the village. In this case, I’ll let my pictures do the talking as I could never string together words that could capture what my camera did (and when I say “camera,” I mean my smudgy smartphone, so look at these and imagine something a bizmillion times better).
(If you want to see breathtaking photography of the Mendocino Coast, just google it. You'll be overwhelmed with the stunning beauty of the area and wonder why I even bothered trying to take pictures.)
We managed to eat (and eat and eat), do some wine tasting, shop, listen to some live music, read, and take several walks through the bluff trails and even trek down the challenging steps from the bluff to the beach. A perfect weekend if you ask me. (It’s really convenient that my husband loves one of my favorite places as much as I do).
A quick side note: If you only make it to Mendocino once in your life, please stay at The Mendocino Hotel. It’s historic, it’s old and creaky, it has ancient plumbing, it’s still decorated with vintage furniture, rugs, and portraits and it’s perfect. It’s the only hotel on Main Street that has unobstructed views of the ocean. And, if you’re a book lover like I am, you can spend most of a day curled up in their lobby near the crackling fire with views of the ocean in a wing-backed chair sipping on a glass of wine brought by a friendly server. Yeah, it’s as amazing as it sounds.
A quick side note: If you only make it to Mendocino once in your life, please stay at The Mendocino Hotel. It’s historic, it’s old and creaky, it has ancient plumbing, it’s still decorated with vintage furniture, rugs, and portraits and it’s perfect. It’s the only hotel on Main Street that has unobstructed views of the ocean. And, if you’re a book lover like I am, you can spend most of a day curled up in their lobby near the crackling fire with views of the ocean in a wing-backed chair sipping on a glass of wine brought by a friendly server. Yeah, it’s as amazing as it sounds.
Mendocino Hotel -- looks a bit "wild west".
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