Mendocino Coast

At the start of 2021, the Coronavirus continued to spread tragedy around the globe and kept many of us at home due to shelter-in-place orders. As the March rolled around, things started looking a bit better in the United States and people slowly began to travel again a bit. Eager to take a little trip, three of my closest friends from Exeter and I planned a roadtrip along the Northern California coast.

We left San Francisco on Thursday, March 11th and drove north over the Golden Gate Bridge towards the Mendocino Coast. We made pitstops at the Marin Headlands, Mt. Tam, and Stinson Beach as we made our way to Highway 1, the Northern PCH. We enjoyed a late lunch at Tony's Seafood, an affiliate restaurant of Hog Island Oyster Co., on the coast in Marshall, California.

Our destination was a 36 acre farm on a coastal cliff in Elk, California. We spent the long weekend living in a postcard - our AirBnB was situated between a peaceful farm along Highway 1 and a sea-cliff overlooking a private beach on the California coast. It was a perfect place to relax, catch-up, and escape the craziness of day-to-day life during the pandemic. The farm had friendly llamas that roamed the land and there was a private pathway down to a private beach. We spent our time cooking, reading, relaxing, and exploring the coast.

We took a day trip to the cute town of Mendocino for lunch and made a quick stop at the Harbor House Inn in Elk along the way. On our way back to the Bay, we drove inland and enjoyed a quick wine tasting at Hamel Family Wines in Sonoma. I will definitely be back on the Northern Coast of California again soon, such a relaxing place characterized by its gloomy but peaceful weather.