Mendocino, Here We Come

Last Friday, a.k.a. Earth Day, M and I took a trip to Mendocino. I had no idea that Silvia would also be spending a weekend in the area, but it's a cool coincidence. Anyway, we made our way across the Golden Gate Bridge and up 101 past Sausalito, San Rafael and Petaluma, until we reached Highway 116. We cut over this two-lane road through Sebastopol, Guerneville and across the Russian River before reaching Jenner and Highway 1.

The Shoreline Highway winds and weaves its way up the coast. If you choose this scenic route, expect the trip to take an extra hour or two. If you're prone to motion sickness, I'd recommend taking Highway 128 instead. Otherwise, the beautiful ocean views are worth the extra time and curves.

Our coastal journey continued northward through Gualala and too many little towns to list, but we eventually pulled off to visit the Point Arena Lighthouse at the end of the road. The fog had beaten us there by about an hour, so visibility was horrendous, but that didn't stop us from climbing the spiral staircase of the 115-foot structure. This incarnation of the lighthouse is nearly a hundred years old. An earthquake in 1906 destroyed the original lighthouse built in 1870.

We ventured further north and stopped at Queenie's Roadhouse Cafe in Elk for some coffee. Before leaving, we discovered a trail that led down to Greenwood State Beach, a quiet cove with grayish black sand. It was wondrous there and a place deserving more of our time, but we had to be moving along.

We continued up Highway 1 through Whitesboro, Albion and Little River. Before long, we made a sharp left turn off the freeway and into Mendocino, a coastal village with approximately 1,000 inhabitants.

We stayed at the Mendocino Hotel and Garden Suites located across from the Mendocino Headlands State Park. The historic Victorian hotel has a combination of suites, standard hotel rooms and European-style rooms. We went European, which meant we had to share bathrooms with other guests. The room was small, but cozy, and contained a bed, chair, sink and closet.

My favorite part of the hotel was the lobby. It had dark wood furniture, burgundy wallpaper, old photographs, antiques and a large fireplace. It was like traveling back in time. In the morning, there was complimentary coffee and tea in the lobby and newspapers at the front desk.

The major downside of our accommodations was the noise. A tarp over the adjoining restaurant roof amplified the rain that came Friday night. Constructed in 1878, the building is old and its walls don't block out the sound. One can hear everything people say or do in neighboring rooms. When I say everything, I mean everything.

After perusing the local shops and restaurant menus, we decided to dine at Mendocino Cafe. It had a selection of seafood, steak and Thai dishes. If you're on a budget, a number of pubs offer cheaper entrees like burgers, fish and chips and, oddly enough, more Thai dishes.

On the outside, Mendocino isn't a refined or sanitized tourist trap like Carmel or Monterey. It's a tourist trap trying to keep it real. The town is worn and dilapidated, but instead of tearing down abandoned churches or water towers, folks have creatively reused the buildings as stores or homes. Like Fort Bragg to the north, Mendocino was once a lumber town. Today, it's a community without an economic engine. What keeps it alive are its art galleries, jewelers and restaurants.

To me, the main appeal of the town isn't so much the town itself, but the town's surroundings, which we found to be breathtaking. On Saturday, we would explore it more.