| For Valentine's Day, 2007, we decided to spend three days along the northern coast. Most people might choose to go to Fort Brag or Mendocino. Indeed these are very nice towns and have much to offer in scenery and great accommodations. However, this time our destination was Gualala and the Whale Watch Inn, a romantic B&B highly recommended by our friends. The shortest route there is to go up Highway 1 along the coast, but we were in no hurry and decided to take the inland route and head up to Boonville. |
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| This is a "one-horse-town" with several homes, a market and a couple motels. It is also a bit "hippy" and famous for its own "language". Click here for more information. The area is remote, but really nice with rolling hills covered with oak and pine stretching from the ocean to the inland valleys. Anderson Valley, a bit further north, has several wineries including Navarro with its great Gewürztraminer. However, our route was due west from Boonville along Mountain View Road, a winding, twisting path ideal for our 300ZX. |
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| After
crossing the Andreas earthquake fault, we intersected with Highway 1
along the coast. A
few miles further south is the town of Point Arenas and its well known
lighthouse. The weather was overcast and dreary as we stopped to visit
this historic landmark. The coast here makes a turn north and the rocky
point has been the site of several ship wrecks.
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| It felt good to stretch our legs a bit and climb to the top to see the large Fresnel lenses. There are three identical sets of these glass structures, each with two of those "bulls eye" sections that would concentrate the light into one strong beam. A volunteer explained how this whole structure would rotate around the kerosene light every eighteen seconds. Thus, out at sea, the beam could be seen blinking twice (two bulls eyes) every six seconds. That was the identity for this particular light house and it was marked on the navigation charts. The light house is no longer in service, since ships now rely on GPS to identify their location. |
There is also a small museum with old fog horns, air compressors that operated them and other relics. The photographs of the olden days and the history of this area are well displayed and interesting to read. |
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| We continued south on Highway 1 until we arrived at the Whale Watch Inn, our lodging for two nights. Because it is such a unique place, I have used a separate page to give you some idea what this B&B is like. (Click here to see) |
| There is a stairway from the inn down to the beach. It is claimed to be "private", but I think it is one of the "public access" ways and with a small path to the main road. Yet, when we went down, we saw to our surprise a waterfall to our left. It came from a small creek next to the inn and dropped right onto boulders lying on the beach. |
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| It was not a mere trickle. Yes, this was after we had some good rainfall for a few days and the waterfall may not be there all year around, but it was nice to find such an unusual sight. |
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| Our Valentine's dinner was at St. Orres, a local restaurant with a very unusual setting that specializes in very unusual dishes. As a main course I had baked rabid stuffed with spinach and mushrooms while Sharon had grilled quail that included two sunny-side-up fried quail eggs. Afterwards we thought it might not be a bad idea to be vegetarians. However, we did visit the restaurant the following morning to have another look at the unusual architecture. |
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| Then we continued south to Gualala Beach Park where we parked our car and started a long hike along the shore. The trail starts in the park but then continues for eight miles along the Sea Range development where custom built homes border the shore cliffs. |
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| Besides the crashing waves and rugged coastal bluffs, there are other things to see. We spotted several deer and Sharon found these bright orange mushrooms growing underneath the cypress trees. |
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| All along this trail you are within jumping distance of the cliffs and cannot help to watch the surf crash on the rocks and tiny islands they have created. |
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| We drove up north again and had lunch at the pier of Point Arena. Then we returned to the Whale Watch Inn and spent some time beach combing during low tide. |
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| The following morning we packed the car for the long drive home. This time we took Highway 1 to the Russian River, picked up some of our favorite wine and took a nap when we arrived at our house. It had been an interesting Valentine's trip for both of us. |
