After four wine filled days in Napa Valley, we headed towards Bodega Bay. Siri, the GPS, recommended the scenic route through Sonoma Valley. The landscape changed to curving roads through the mountains. We made a quick stop at one of the Russian River wineries that our local wine appraiser suggested.
Friends of ours used Occidental as home base during their tour so we decided to check it out. Occidental is very small old-fashioned town. Our friends stayed at the Inn at Occidental which they really liked and recommended the local breakfast haunt, the Howards Station Cafe where we sampled mid-morning pastries and a chocolate milkshake.
As we meandered towards Bodega Bay we stopped past the town of Jenner where the Russian River empties out through Goat Rock beach to the Pacific Ocean. In heavy fog we carefully pulled off the road to take in the view.
As we neared Bodega Bay, best known for the Hitchcock film The Birds, we turned into one of the many lookout areas and while hanging vicariously over the cliff, took several photos of seals resting on the rock formations.
Half an hour later we were comfortably settled in a lovely room at the Bodega Bay Lodge. Our room was huge with a seating area and a comfortable bed with plenty of pillows. I couldn’t decide which perk I enjoyed more, the personal Keurig coffee maker or the spacious tiled shower. We had a second floor room and could easily view the Bay and the beautifully landscaped grounds.
That evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner in the Duck Club Restaurant. Polly and I had the chicken dish, Peter had duck and Don the Salmon. The mushroom bisque was excellent, as was the beet salad.
The rooms do not offer air conditioning and I didn’t want to sleep with the doors open, as the fog horn literally went off every ten seconds. The hotel provided a noise control machine which allowed me to get a good night’s rest.
Up early the next morning, Don had his Eggs Benedict in the Duck Club. We caught up with Polly and Peter who had spent the morning exploring the Refuge area near the lodge. Polly wanted to find an area on the beach which wasn't covered in fog.
We found the downtown area near the Diocese of Santa Rosa Catholic Church and house where The Birds was filmed and checked out the small downtown area. While perusing the local surf shop, we were informed that fog is a regular occurrence this time of year. October to January is their prime surfing period.
We then headed to the other end of town to lunch at the Sandpiper Restaurant, explored the wine section in the local grocery and found an area where we could test the temperature of the Pacific Ocean. We could barely see the handful of surfers waiting to ride waves due to the heavy fog. The beach was covered in large pieces of seaweed, hundreds of seagulls and the water was very cold to Florida standards!
When we returned to the lodge, Polly and I set out to stroll the local beach, as the sun had finally burned off the fog in the mid-afternoon. For about an hour we walked down the beach enjoying the quite surf and a variety of sea birds. I found a whole sand dollar, a first for me and Polly photographed the skeleton of a seal. We had to turn around when we reached a large outcrop of rocks. Within 15 minutes the fog had gathered around us and we had difficulty finding the area where we entered the beach from the dunes.
Tired of eating, we had a cocktail and headed to bed, as we needed to leave early the next morning for our drive to San Francisco. Due to the holiday weekend and the closing of the Bay Bridge and the new bridge not opening until Tuesday, we were warned that traffic could be a problem.
Up early, we had to decide to visit the Point Reyes National Seashore or Sausalito. I was quickly overruled regarding Point Reyes, as the others were concerned that we’d drive an hour out of our way only to meet fog. We arrived in Sausalito in less than an hour because traffic was a breeze.
We found a nice coffee shop, roamed the waterfront area and window shopped, as nothing opens before 10 or 11 in Sausalito.
We were all excited about driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, which Don executed without incident. We detoured through the Presidio area and were able to get good shots of the Golden Gate.
In less than an hour of maneuvering through the streets of San Francisco we found our hotel located near Union Square. Polly’s brother who visits the area often recommended the SERRANO San Francisco, a Kimpton Hotel. This hotel is only about three blocks from Union Square and six blocks from China Town. It was less than a block from the rental car drop-off, which was very convenient. Best of all it is pet friendly. There were as many dogs in residence as humans.
We had a corner room which was small but comfortable. After taking the Kimpton Hotel online survey and joining their benefit program, we received free internet service and discounts on future stays. This will come in handy, as I’d definitely stay in a Kimpton Hotel again. They also offered complimentary coffee each morning and nightly wine tastings.
After returning the rental car we had to have lunch at Johnny Foley’s Pub were we enjoyed bacon wrapped shrimp and the boys had the standard Guinness and a shot of Jameson.
With map in hand instead of Siri, we wondered the streets in search of the entrance to China Town. After what seemed like hours of walking, we finally stumbled to the entrance and I voted for refreshments at the Grand Café which was across the street. Being a French establishment, Polly opted for a Pernod, a drink with licorice flavor that clouds up with the addition of water.
We were soon in search of the Wok Shop were we had a delightful conversation with the owner and purchased some handy kitchen supplies.
A Thai dinner followed by early bed was the evening's agenda.
The next day we toured the city on a DeluxeTours double-decker bus. I can’t say this was my best bus experience, as they seemed to have a limited number of buses compared to the Big Bus outfit. We have always found the buses are an easy way to see the city with the ability to jump on/off for a one time daily fee.
On the top of the open air bus, we ventured back over a chilly Golden Gate Bridge, which was covered in fog, then headed down to the Wharf area. We enjoyed a nice lunch at Cioppino’s where I had clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl and Polly had cioppino, a fish stew dish originally created in San Francisco.
We spent the afternoon surveying the waterfront, waiting on a bus, followed by our final dinner back at the Grand Café.
The next day we flew home on a direct JetBlue flight, which we remembered to bring snacks and were lucky enough to have plenty of room due to a partially filled plane.
This concludes another fabulous vacation with fabulous friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment