Saturday, May 28, 2016

Fort Bragg and Mendocino

The drive from San Jose to Mendocino was tedious, with multiple accidents on US-101. We started our drive at 10:00 am but arrived at Little River Inn, near Mendocino, at 2:15 pm.



After checking in, we headed for Mendocino, hoping to find a restaurant open for lunch.


After looking at a few places downtown, we settled on Mendo Burgers - a small, family-style shack. Alex had a giant John Ford Ranch burger, while I ordered a Homemade Crab Cake bun with large fries (I initially wanted Fish & Chips, but they were out). The fries were very thick but tasty.

After lunch, we decided to meet our friends, who were eating lunch at Fort Bragg. They waited for us by the Cowlick's Ice Cream Shop on 250 N Main Street. Since our friends really liked it, Alex and I decided to get our own taste. I ordered one scoop of the Black Forest & one scoop of Pralines & Cream. Alex ordered the Mushroom and Vanilla. The Mushroom flavor was very weird tasting.

After our quick dessert, we headed for Fort Bragg's Glass Beach.


We did not see much glass in the sand (or missed the proper spot).





After some time there, we headed for another nearby state park - MacKerricher State Park. There, we explored the beach, looked for seals and birds, and let our friend's dog chase the incoming waves on the beach.




I filmed a short video clip of Maya charging around:



The waves crashed violently on the beach, and Maya never tired of chasing them around.


We did manage to spot a few seals playing in the surf, but we were far away.



We spent a few hours on the beach and stopped by for dinner at the nearby North Coast Brewing Company's Taproom restaurant. There was a 40-minute wait, but we waited patiently and sat down around 8:00pm.

Alex ordered a Margherita pizza that was way too large for him, and he ate only half of it.
I ordered the "Red Seal Ale" - an American Amber Ale with a nice thick foam (due to extra nitrogen pumped into it). It was a delicious, sweet beer. I decided to eat light and ordered a cup of Clam Chowder and a Walnut with Blue Cheese salad. We finished around 10:00pm and headed straight for our Little River Inn.


Sunday, May 29, 2016

After a delicious breakfast in our Little River Inn, we headed for the Catch a Canoe rental shop on Big River.



We had rented outrigger canoes (courtesy of Polynesia!) there and wanted to rent them again with our friends. Since this was Memorial Day weekend, the shop was bustling, but we secured two outrigger canoes at around 11:00am. We settled on a three-seater outrigger, while our friends (with their dog) decided on a shorter two-seater.


We had a fantastic time canoeing down the Big River with our friends.


We saw a few seals sunbathing on the shore.


I filmed a short video of our brief canoeing adventure:



After canoeing, we decided to head to Mendocino for lunch. We stopped by the Mendocino Cafe, where we sat outside, enjoying the beautiful day.


For dessert, we shared a delicious chocolate mousse.


After lunch, we explored downtown Mendocino and headed for Point Mendocino, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.


We hiked around Point Mendocino, exploring all the nooks and crannies and overlooking sinkholes and small beach inlets.




The rugged coastline is something to marvel at and explore.



We stayed on at Point Mendocino until the beautiful sunset.


The sunset was really magnificent.


After sunset, we stopped by for a light dinner at our Little River Inn.


We had a grand time in Mendocino and decided to visit the nearby Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve the next day.



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