A California Honeymoon: Mendocino (Days 2-4)
In addition to describing the Gold Rush that helped establish California, the nickname “The Golden State” could just as easily be describing the dried grass found everywhere during the summer months.
UPDATED: 1/22/2023
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By the time we arrived in Mendocino from San Francisco, it was getting late in the day. The drive along California’s Pacific Coast Highway (route 1) is a little under 5 hours in length. We checked in to an adorable B&B, Joshua Grindle Inn, where we stayed in “The Master” bedroom. The inn has since changed hands with new innkeepers, so we aren’t sure what the current experience is, but ours was phenomenal - a nice setting and delicious breakfast served on the front porch in the crisp California morning. While booking the room Dustin casually mentioned that we would be on our honeymoon. To help us celebrate the owners left us a sweet note of congratulations, some chocolates, and a small bottle of wine.
We had arrived in time for sunset and wandered the short distance to the Mendocino Headlands at the end of the town. We watched as the sun set, the mirroring and, finally, blending of colors along the horizon where the ocean and sky meet for the briefest of moments before the sun disappears and the ocean transforms into a nighttime attire of opaque black.
A very patriotic water tower photograph!
The following morning, we headed out for a hike at the nearby Van Damme State Park , a roughly 5-minute drive away. We hiked a portion of the 8.4 mile Fern Canyon Trail that runs alongside the Little River, before it runs out to the ocean. The trail’s name nicely describes the experience - a wooded path meandering among redwoods and ferns next to the river. While we did not make it to this part, off this path is also a rare pygmy redwood forest where the trees are old but tiny due to unique geological factors.
After the hike, we headed back to wander the adorable town of Mendocino and checked out art galleries and little shops. Unique to Mendocino are the water towers throughout town - some of which have been converted into enclosed buildings. We went into a gallery that is an enclosed former water tower, which was really cool. You can see some images and learn more about the history of these water towers here.
We talked to some interesting locals in the shops - several had shared that they were from cities around the country, had visited Mendocino, fell in love with it, and moved for a different pace of life. We also learned that Mendocino is usually quite foggy in the summer but that they were having a lot of sunny weather that year, so we definitely lucked out as there was not even a shred of cloud in the sky.
There are plenty of other hikes, drives to lighthouses, and other towns in the area that we didn’t have time to check out on this visit. I would say a long weekend is probably a good amount of time to spend in Mendocino, and I would love to go back to explore it more.
For dinner, we picked up supplies at a market and walked down to Big River Beach (where we made a new dog friend) and ate dinner on the sand as we watched the setting sun. One the way back to the inn we met a group of young adults that perfectly fit that overly stereotyped caricature of “California surfer dudes” you see in movies (yes, they really do exist). Not only did they all talk with that spacey, laid back tone and attitude but they apparently had just discovered Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, a cult classic from the late 80’s. In no time they had Dustin reminiscing about old movie quotes and mimicking the catch phrase, “Most excellent!”
This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase self reflection. Guess whose feet these are.
The following morning when checking our route options to Napa, we opted to take a slower route via Ukiah for better scenery. Comptche Ukiah Road only added about 30 minutes of driving time for a total of 3 1/2 hours and wound up, down, and around golden, grassy hills. While California is practically known for its ‘golden’ hills today, that was not its native state. A combination of animals and non-native grasses contributed to the decline of the native plants. For more on this topic, check out this short broadcast and transcript from a California NPR affiliate.
En route to Napa, we stopped at Montgomery Woods State National Reserve to stretch our legs and get some hiking in. There is a two-mile loop trail that we walked that provides a great walk-in-the-redwoods experience. I have hiked in redwood forests multiple times and what amazes me every time is how at first they seem enormous and then I adapt to the size. The size of the trees is not the only thing impressive about them, though; the other is their age. The average age of the California redwoods are about 500-700 years old with the trees capable of living to 2000 years. In spite of the old claims that the redwood forests were an inexhaustible resource that humans could never use up, due to extensive logging in the past, only about 4% are old-growth redwoods today.
Overlooking Mendocino Headlands with the ocean in the distance.
This might be our favorite road sign ever. In Mendocino, there were actually two of them to indicate a very sharp turn.
View from Big River Beach. Nice picnic setting, right?
After arriving and checking in at our hotel in Napa, we were excited to head out for dinner and to start exploring the area.
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All posts in this trip series and related posts:
Napa and Sonoma (Days 4-7)
Wineries, history, and hikes? Say no more, I’m there!
The eleven days of our trip were spent with a perfect variety of activities - hiking along the coast and picnicking on the beach at sunset, touring Napa and Sonoma valley wineries, exploring several Spanish Missions, visiting the Monterey Aquarium, and more. The best part was that feeling of familiarity that you only get in a place that reminds you of where you grew up - where the visage of the rocky coast and the smell and cushioned forest floor of pine needles on hikes just feel right.