Down the CA 1

As much as we would have loved to continue exploring forever-- we definitely had enough supplies to keep going for another month at least—it was time to turn around and start heading south again. The rest of Northern Cali and the Pacific Northwest were going to have to wait for another trip. The northern end of the CA 1 starts just a little south of the Avenue of the Giants, so we picked it up there and for the next two days we drove down the winding, craggy roads of Cali’s foggy northern coasts.

This is an interesting section of country. There are all of these little coastal towns separated by large sections of coast. There is definitely something California about them all, and yet they vary in flavor. Some look like time is passing them by, others are deliberately quaint, and in many areas you can feel that there’s quite a bit of money floating around. At one point, the money quite literally passed us by when a pack of wild Lamborghinis wooshed by us, one right after the next. Clearly these long, curving stretches of road are the best place to really drive your luxury sports car. I will have to make a mental note of this for my future sports car driving days.

Mendocino is kind of a perfect example of this north coast flavor. It’s basically California’s answer to Cape Cod. It feels very similar in that it seems like the type of place that retirees with a lot of money go to spend their golden years and where couples go to spend a romantic weekend at a B&B. The difference is that in addition to all the antique shops and gourmet food stores, there are also a bunch of new age stores and quite a few of the homes showcase the residents’ eccentric spirits.

Even the more industrial Fort Bragg a little further up the road demonstrates that independent California-ness. We were looking for a place to get lunch and Yelp lead us to a little place called Cafe One. It was in every way a roadside diner, but a little quirkier and all the old-school greasy spoon comfort food was organic and relatively healthy.

Ok, Maybe Greg's Hawaiian waffle doesn't exactly qualify as health food.

Family friends also told us that there are some beautiful kayaking spots in Fort Bragg, but the weather kept us from the water – which turned out to be a theme for the entire trip. I really wanted to kayak, but it always seemed too cloudy to give up the time and the money. Instead, we focused our energies on chasing tasty treats along the coast.

Max and Nicole told us about an amazing spot for oysters called Hog Island Oyster Co. Basically, it’s a little shack on a cove with picnic tables. You bring your wine –although they do also have a little bar – and whatever other food you might want to eat. They have and a very basic oyster bar and they’ll tell you all about every kind on offer that day.

Once you make your selection, they hand you a lunch tray with a big pile of ice, your oysters, a shucking tool and a glove, and some lemon and hot sauce. You take your tray over to a picnic table and enjoy your oysters in this rustic setting, while the oyster fishermen are hauling in the oyster beds just a few feet away. The oysters couldn’t be fresher and the area is so beautiful – and it got even more beautiful as the fog lifted around us.

It was such a fun and different culinary experience. One note, however, for the benefit of future foodie travelers – the tiny kumamoto oysters are the most delicious, but the little suckers are also the most difficult to open. Greg learned this lesson the hard way and cut his hand while valiantly shucking one for me. In the future, we will leave the shucking of this particular variety to the professionals.

After our little oyster brunch, we jutted inland to continue the foodie scavenger hunt in Point Reyes Station, home of Cowgirl Creamery. We did a little cheese tasting and settled on their delicious Red Hawk washed-rind triple cream and some artisanal soppresatta.

We picked up bread at the Bovine Bakery around the corner and packed up our goodies to go. Later that evening, we opened a bottle of wine and spread out our treats on a picnic table in Half Moon Bay and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

Here is Greg's slideshow from this section of the trip:

And if you still want more, here a link to the rest of my flickr album.

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