For the Memorial Day weekend, Inna made reservations at the Little River Inn in Mendocino (about 200 miles north of San Jose), a 5-hour drive away. We wanted to escape the city's hustle and bustle and enjoy nature's peaceful serenity. It's been many years since we last visited Mendocino, and we were eager to get back.
Friday, May 23, 2025
We started our drive on Friday, May 23, in the evening and arrived in Mendocino at 20:15. There was heavy traffic along the way, especially in San Francisco and Novato. We stopped at Starbucks two times, for coffee and restrooms. Inna got a slight headache from her latte and was a bit queasy on the windy road to Mendocino (US-128).
Inna had already made dinner reservations at the Little River Inn for 20:15. We barely arrived on time and checked in immediately in room #115. There were two Tesla Level 2 chargers nearby, and I reparked my Tesla (its battery was down from 94% to 17%) to recharge it.
We sat down for dinner and ordered the following items:
- Drinks: Gowans 1876 Apple Cider, Hot Tea
- Inna: Clam Chowder, Fish & Chips
- Boris: Monterey Bay Calamari, Papardelle Bolognese
- Dessert: Mixed Berry Cobbler
I was surprised to see actual shells in the Clam Chowder (which was delicious). The Calamari was excellent, and the Fish & Chips were outstanding. I liked my Papardelle Bolognese (but not as much as Fish & Chips). The Mixed Berry Cobbler was delicious.
We returned to our room and unloaded all of our suitcases. I started a fire in the fireplace, and we rested for a time before going to bed. I was extremely tired from the long drive.
Saturday, May 24, 2025
I woke at 07:30 (to my iPhone alarm), showered, shaved, and dressed. After Inna showered, we walked to the Little River Inn restaurant for breakfast.
We sat down, looked at the menu, and ordered the following items:
- Drinks: Coffee, Water
- Boris: Ole's Favorite Breakfast (3 Swedish hotcakes, 2 poached eggs, chicken sausage)
- Inna: Eggs Benedict (2 eggs with potato latkes)
Ole's Breakfast was excellent, and I enjoyed the thin Swedish hotcakes. They were closer in consistency to Swedish crepes than to American pancakes.
After breakfast, we drove 15 minutes to Fort Bragg's Skunk Train for the 10:00 railbike tour. Inna decided to try out this interesting method of transportation, where 4-wheeled carts on train wheels are powered by bicycle pedals with electric motor assist.
After we picked up our tickets, we waited for all of the group members to arrive and watched a brief safety video. The controls were quite simple, with a parking brake, throttle (to get moving), and multiple speed electric assist controlled by +/- buttons. We started pedaling, keeping a 5-car length distance between our car and the car ahead of us.
Here is a short video of the ride (taken by my iPhone):
We pedalled for about 30 minutes, reaching our final destination, deep inside the forest with lots of Redwoods all around. While there, we hiked for another 30 minutes with our guide, who identified the various plants and trees that grow there.
The Skunk Train had arrived at our destination, and we had to wait for it to depart before we could resume our bike back. We waited until 12:15, and then biked back for another 30 minutes. On the way back, my chain fell off and I had to wait for a quick repair. We continued until reaching the end of the ride and dropped off all the gear (helmets).
We decided to try eating lunch at the Princess Seafood Restaurant. It was highly rated and close by. We drove over and found parking nearby. It was a casual restaurant where one orders and pays before sitting down at a table. Being a bit cold, we ordered hot drinks and soups to warm up:
- Drinks: Hot Apple Cider
- Inna: Lobster Bisque (cup), Crab Roll Sandwich
- Boris: Clam Chowder (cup), Ahi Poke Bowl
Both of the soups, the
Clam Chowder and
Lobster Bisque, were excellent. I liked my
Ahi Poke Bowl and shared it with Inna. The
Crab Roll Sandwich was also delicious (and Inna shared it with me).
After lunch, we decided to stop for some hot coffee at Fort Bragg's Mendocino Cookie Company. We ordered the following:
- Cookies: Double Fudge
- Boris: Mocha (12 oz)
- Inna: Latte with extra foam (12 oz)
The drinks and cookies were excellent and helped to warm us up on this cold day. We decided to drive over to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens to revisit all the spring blooms.
The Botanical Gardens were wonderful with blooming Rhododendrons. We decided to walk to the coast and followed the North Trail, followed by the South Trail, stopping along the way to photograph and smell the flowers. We spent a few hours exploring the various gardens, including the Vegetable Garden and, Dahlia Garden.
For dinner, Inna made 19:15 reservations at Trillium Cafe in Mendocino. After a short drive from the Little River Inn, we parked nearby and walked to the cafe.
After being seated outdoors (with a working heater), we looked at the dinner menu and ordered the following:
- Drinks: Humboldt Cherry Cider
- Appetizer: Blue Cheese Salad, Fresh Focaccia Bread
- Boris: Vegetable Gnocchi
- Inna: Lamb Chops, Mushroom Soup
- Dessert: Dubai Bar
We liked the Humboldt Cherry Cider. I had never tasted cherry cider before, and liked it. The Blue Cheese Salad was excellent.
I was indifferent to the Vegetable Gnocchi; they were not bad, but not at the level found in Italy (Siena). The Lamb Chops were outstanding and the best entree on the menu. For dessert, we liked the Dubai Bar.
Sunday, May 26, 2025
In the morning, I woke at 07:30 and showered. We decided to try eating breakfast in downtown Mendocino and settled on GoodLife Cafe & Bakery.
We drove about 5 minutes to Mendocino and parked nearby. There was a long line outside the cafe and we queued up. Inna added us to the waiting list for sitting inside (there was a 10-minute wait to be seated). We were eventually seated and ordered the following items:
- Boris: Hot Apple Cider, Classic Breakfast (two scrambled eggs, sautéed vegetables, sourdough bread, jam, chicken apple sausage)
- Inna: Foamy Latte, Shrimp Polenta Benedict, Green Salad
- Dessert: Raspberry Danish
My Classic Breakfast was excellent with a generous portion of scrambled eggs, delicious sautéed vegetables, and chicken apple sausage.
The strawberry jam was thin but tasted homemade. Inna loved her Shrimp Polenta. The raspberry danish was generously sized and delicious, too!
After breakfast, we drove quickly to Kayak Noyo, where I had made kayak reservations for 10:00. We arrived at 09:50 (with time to spare) and selected a double kayak. We signed the waiver forms and quickly launched on the Noyo River, heading upriver, in the hope of seeing wildlife.
Initially, we mostly encountered birds and were the only kayakers on the water. Other than ducks, we did not see anything unusual until we turned around. On the way back, we encountered a few kayakers and 5 seals. Two of the seals were close by. We are not sure whether these were the harbor seals.
We kayaked back to Kayak Noyo at 11:50 (right on time), and started our drive to Cafe Beaujolais, where Inna had previously made lunch reservations for 12:15. We arrived with a few minutes of time to spare and parked nearby.
After checking in, we were taken to the Atrium (a separate building), to the second floor, where we had a nice view outside. After talking to the waiters and looking at the menu, we ordered the following:
- Boris: Chicken & Waffles, Coffee
- Inna: Mushroom Omelet, Americano
My Chicken & Waffles were excellent (even better than my favorite Cracked & Battered in San Francisco). Inna also raved about her Mushroom Omelet. Cafe Beaujolais is now our favorite restaurant in Mendocino.
After lunch, Inna decided to explore the various local Mendocino boutiques, while I spent some time in the local Gallery Bookshop.
Inna stopped by after shopping, and we decided to hike around Mendocino Highlands. It was a nice, easy hike with a gorgeous overlook of surrounding cliffs, natural bridges, and the rocky coastline.
We returned to our car, briefly stopping at The Waiting Room cafe. However, the line was so long (and only one person was working), so we decided to return to Little River Inn. We rested for a bit before dinner.
We were hoping that Little River Inn would have cleaned our room (we requested it), but they did not do anything (a bit disappointing).
For dinner, Inna made 19:00 reservations at Terra Mar Kitchen in Albion (south of Mendocino). It was only a short drive there with plenty of parking.
After checking in, we explored the property outside, as our table was not ready. After sitting down, we ordered the following items:
- Drinks: Sparkling Water, Humboldt Dry Apple Cider
- Appetizer: Spring Onion Toast
- Boris: Stemple Creek Ribeye
- Inna: Pacific Catch Halibut
- Dessert: Strawberry Lemon Bar
The Spring Onion Toast was not as desirable as we had expected. It was not our favorite. However, the Ribeye and the Halibut were excellent (as were the perfectly prepared asparagus). The Strawberry Lemon Bar was too small (and too sweet). Overall, Terra Mar Kitchen is a decent restaurant, but some dishes need to be avoided.
When we returned home, we rested and read our Kindles and iPads.
Monday, May 27, 2025
Happy Memorial Day!
I woke at 07:30, showered, shaved, and dressed. Inna didn't sleep well and rested a bit more. There was a two-masted brig in the harbor motoring around the Van Damme State Conservation area. After Inna showered, we walked to the Little River Inn restaurant for
breakfast.
We sat down, looked at the menu, and ordered the following items:
- Drinks: Coffee, Water
- Boris: Ole's Favorite Breakfast (3 Swedish hotcakes, 2 poached eggs, chicken sausage)
- Inna: Eggs Benedict (2 eggs with potato latkes)
After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and decided to hike at the nearby Van Damme State Park. We followed the popular Fern Canyon Trail (to Pygmy Forest) for 6.36 miles round-trip in 140 minutes. We never reached the Pygmy Forest (as we were running low on time; we wanted to be back in Mendocino for lunch at 13:00).
It was a beautiful day for a hike, with hardly anyone else on the luscious green trail. We saw and heard a few birds, but the sheet silence of the forest was deafening. Next time, we need to allow for more time to do the full trail (and park a bit closer to the trail).
For lunch, we stopped by Mendocino Cafe (as the line at Goodlife Cafe & Bakery was too long, with over a 20-minute wait). We were quickly seated and ordered the following from the menu:
- Boris: Blackened Rockfish Sandwich with salad, Coffee
- Inna: Blackened Rockfish Sandwich with potato salad, Latte
The Blackened Rockfish Sandwiches were not bad, but nothing to write home about.
After lunch, we started our long drive home to San Jose. It was a lot shorter (traffic was much lighter). We did manage to stop for coffee at Dr. Insomniac's Fine Coffee in Novato.
Links
- Mendocino
- Fort Bragg
- Albion
- Novato
