Sunday, August 29, 2004
I'm tired, this weekend wore me out but it's a good tired. Saturday started early, I met a group I'm thinking about volunteering with. Afterward, I hooked up with some friends in Berkeley and we headed over the Richmond San Rafael Bridge for our North Bay mini-vacation. Our first stop was Muir Woods National Monument The woods gives you a glimpse of the ancient redwood forest of old on the Northern Coast. Muir Woods has redwood trees 100's of years old, I'm always amazed by their majestic beauty. I've always loved the outdoors and even though Muir Woods was full of tourist I can create a quiet space so I can commune with nature. Unfortunately, my buddies were driving me bonkers we went for a short hike and they were loud. Their behavior reminded me of junior high school kids, I had to separate myself from them and remind them that children were present and they needed to watch their language.
After the Muir Woods we headed to Stinston Beach, it was packed, the lot at the Beach was full and it's a big parking lot. We didn't want to park far because we had an ice chest, so we decided to try another location the Village of Bolinas. In Northern California Bolinas is known as the town that doesn't want to be found. When you drive on Hwy 1 there are no signs to Bolinas so you need to have directions or you'll never get there. It was my first visit to Bolinas it's very cute and when you drive through town you run into the beach. It was a great choice, we found parking quickly the beach was crowded but we easily found a spot. We sunbathed, listened to music, read and played in the water. It was not icy cold, I believe that was the first time I've been in ocean neck deep since I've moved to the bay area. I have to admit that If I didn't have a perm in my hair I would have body surfed. I need my braids back!!! Everything was going great but then everyone noticed that the fog was starting roll in and the beach party was over for now. My swim suit was still a little wet and I couldn't change my cloths but no problem just wrapped myself in the beach towel and we were off searching for the sun. It wasn't hard to find we just needed to continue driving north up the coast.
We had planned to checkout one of the Oyster Companies and Tomalas Bay Oysters was a few miles away North of Bolinas and Point Reyes National Monument.
Tomalas Bay Oysters Company sales oysters to the public and restaurants. It's not a restaurant but you can buy fresh oyster by the dozens at the variety of sizes and they provide grills and picnic tables for those who want to cook on their site. You can also buy coal, oyster crackering tool, hot sauce and lime. We made it there just before they closed we bought a few dozen oysters and hot sauce & ate them in the nude, not us the oysters. Our biggest challenge was opening the shells, the guys working gave us instructions and lent us their tool and we went for it. It was fun, the spot was funky the oysters were good and the fog stayed in check.
Tomalas Bay Oysters Company
While we pigged out on oysters, our travel partner who had been driving all day couldn't eat the oysters because of her diet. We wanted to take her out for a nice meal. We drove to Point Reyes Station to the Station House Cafe, we grabbed a seat in the bar to circumvent the 45 minutes wait and had dinner. It was a stylist but casual restaurant; the bar had a guitarist who was very good. The flair was a little California cuisine-ish portions were small but the food was tasty and the price was not outrageous. We shared Steak and Halibut the sides and salad were good. The service was professional and friendly, I'm sure that was my first of many trips to Station House Cafe.
After dinner we started back home, unfortunately we forgot about the fog and went right back into it which wasn't necessary. It was dark, foggy and hardly anyone else was traversing the curvy roads. We saw some beautiful images that night, the moon looking radiant in a mist and fog halo. The ocean and San Francisco being totally engulfed in the blanket of fog with the moon lighting the natural spectacle.
But I was gripping the car door peering out the window making sure we could see the double yellow line of the road. We lost it a few times, nothing serious but it was scary. But we survived and made it to the freeway.
It was a nice weekend get-a-away, hey don't let me be one of few enjoying these places. Soul folks come out and explore these wonderful places. Don't forget it's your tax dollars also being spent.
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After the Muir Woods we headed to Stinston Beach, it was packed, the lot at the Beach was full and it's a big parking lot. We didn't want to park far because we had an ice chest, so we decided to try another location the Village of Bolinas. In Northern California Bolinas is known as the town that doesn't want to be found. When you drive on Hwy 1 there are no signs to Bolinas so you need to have directions or you'll never get there. It was my first visit to Bolinas it's very cute and when you drive through town you run into the beach. It was a great choice, we found parking quickly the beach was crowded but we easily found a spot. We sunbathed, listened to music, read and played in the water. It was not icy cold, I believe that was the first time I've been in ocean neck deep since I've moved to the bay area. I have to admit that If I didn't have a perm in my hair I would have body surfed. I need my braids back!!! Everything was going great but then everyone noticed that the fog was starting roll in and the beach party was over for now. My swim suit was still a little wet and I couldn't change my cloths but no problem just wrapped myself in the beach towel and we were off searching for the sun. It wasn't hard to find we just needed to continue driving north up the coast.
We had planned to checkout one of the Oyster Companies and Tomalas Bay Oysters was a few miles away North of Bolinas and Point Reyes National Monument.
Tomalas Bay Oysters Company sales oysters to the public and restaurants. It's not a restaurant but you can buy fresh oyster by the dozens at the variety of sizes and they provide grills and picnic tables for those who want to cook on their site. You can also buy coal, oyster crackering tool, hot sauce and lime. We made it there just before they closed we bought a few dozen oysters and hot sauce & ate them in the nude, not us the oysters. Our biggest challenge was opening the shells, the guys working gave us instructions and lent us their tool and we went for it. It was fun, the spot was funky the oysters were good and the fog stayed in check.
Tomalas Bay Oysters Company
While we pigged out on oysters, our travel partner who had been driving all day couldn't eat the oysters because of her diet. We wanted to take her out for a nice meal. We drove to Point Reyes Station to the Station House Cafe, we grabbed a seat in the bar to circumvent the 45 minutes wait and had dinner. It was a stylist but casual restaurant; the bar had a guitarist who was very good. The flair was a little California cuisine-ish portions were small but the food was tasty and the price was not outrageous. We shared Steak and Halibut the sides and salad were good. The service was professional and friendly, I'm sure that was my first of many trips to Station House Cafe.
After dinner we started back home, unfortunately we forgot about the fog and went right back into it which wasn't necessary. It was dark, foggy and hardly anyone else was traversing the curvy roads. We saw some beautiful images that night, the moon looking radiant in a mist and fog halo. The ocean and San Francisco being totally engulfed in the blanket of fog with the moon lighting the natural spectacle.
But I was gripping the car door peering out the window making sure we could see the double yellow line of the road. We lost it a few times, nothing serious but it was scary. But we survived and made it to the freeway.
It was a nice weekend get-a-away, hey don't let me be one of few enjoying these places. Soul folks come out and explore these wonderful places. Don't forget it's your tax dollars also being spent.
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