Tomales Bay: another road trip success!

The semester had started again and I was restless. It was hot. I needed to escape. Tomales Bay was the answer! Featuring warm, calm beaches, gorgeous weather, and the fabulous Tomales Bay Oyster Co, this was a most excellent day trip.

After picking people up in San Francisco and the usual kerfuffle getting going, we hit the 101N and then took Sir Frances Drake over to Point Reyes. Tomales Bay is at the northern tip of Pt. Reyes, and Tomales Bay State Park, where we hiked, was a bit difficult to find. We overshot by about 10 miles at one point. However, there is no bad here -- ocean and bay views are all stunning, Kylie was playing in the Focus's CD player, and we were none of us at work or studying. Does it get any better? We would soon find out.

We parked at Heart's Desire Beach parking lot (which was almost full -- we were among the last cars to be allowed to park. Be warned -- get there early!) and ate a pre-picnic snack at a table above the beach before hiking on Jepson and Johnstone trails to Pebble Beach and back around to Heart's Desire. We found this easy 3 mile hike here: http://www.bahiker.com/northbayhikes/tomales.html. Lovely -- much of it through forest and then emerging at the beaches towards the end. Lots of poison oak, though -- be warned!

After our stroll we felt somewhat justified in further libations and retreated to Tomales Bay Oyster Company, a fabulous spot right on the opposite shore of the bay. Whoever started this company had the genius, in our eyes, idea to provide bags of fresh (enormous!) oysters for sale, with grills and picnic tables gratis. The place was jumpin', but we were able to find a table, score a couple of bags of "medium" sized oysters, and figure out how to shuck and BBQ the beasts, thanks to friendly fellow barbecuers. The sun was shining, world music was playing, the bay was sparkling... life, in short, was bliss.

And the oysters -- did I mention the oysters? They were... well, first of all, they were ENORMOUS. So big one can only express this fact using all caps. And we only got the medium size. Even those of us who had previously eaten raw oysters were a bit freaked by the idea of ingesting these monsters uncooked, so we grilled them with garlic and lemon and lime slices -- and they were delicious, particularly when accompanied by Fat Tire beer. Yum.

Of course, many crude jokes were made that do not bear repeating here -- oysters having not so much an amorous as a lascivious effect, apparently, on our crowd. Blame it on the sunshine, or the enormous shellfish so suggestively shaped that even Georgia O'Keefe would have to put down her paintbrush and say "The vaginal imagery here is a little much."

Logistics: well, it really took about 2 hours to get there, factoring in getting lost and stopping for gas. The way back was straight to the east bay and therefore quicker -- an hour and a half. It's worth getting an early start, since the traffic from the city onto Sir Francis Drake can get a little backed up at points. But a better Bay Area day trip for September would be hard to imagine. Two oysters up!

Anthony Chabot Regional Park is a Rockin'

Have you got a dog? If you do, you could do worse than a walk round Lake Chabot, which is in Anthony Chabot Regional Park in Oakland and San Leandro. Dogsitting for the weekend, I thought to myself, self, it would be easy to just take said dog to one of many neighborhood parks. We could walk down the street for a latte. Perhaps there would be biscotti. BUT this is a chance to get out and see something new. And so! On to Chabot Park.

Getting there is a tad confusing. I would say: head for the Lake, not the Golf Course, which does not link to the lake and has lots of people wandering around in bad polo shirts, which are very distracting/blinding. Yes, it's best to just take the Grand Ave exit off 580 east and head straight for the Marina. From downtown Oakland, this should take 20-25 minutes.

We parked on the road (thus avoiding the $5 parking fee, though not the $2 "dog fee" -- which comes with a Milk Bone, bonus). It was warm, and many people with picnicking, some with what we decided was an excess of barbecuing acoutrement. Really, if you are going to haul some enormous full-sized gas grill all the way to a local park, you had better be hunting your lunch *at* said park and then camping there afterwards (they have campgrounds) to actually make it worth your while. Especially since Chabot Park nicely provides picnic tables and grills.

Anywho, on the walk! We only walked part of the lake, but it was gorgeous -- a lovely path, with bikers, walkers, and dogs and dog owners a plenty -- but not so many that it got crowded or irritating. The lake is beautiful -- enormous, shaped rather like a deformed bicep, and with surprisingly few boaters. Didn't see anybody swimming, but some kind of bird was diving for its lunch with great success, so the fish were a'jumpin, water was high, living was easy, etc etc. You get the idea. California at it's best... which is pretty damn good.

We were actually a tad overdressed for the heat, so we repaired to our nearest diner -- this one, Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe in Emeryville, is a truly fantastic place. I forgot to take pictures, but the milkshakes are un-friggin-beatable, especially the espresso shake and the Shakin Jesse, an espresso-Guiness-ice-cream combo. Yum. Rudy's has fantastically weird decor -- plastic dolls embedded in the tabletops, Barbies in Rudy's shirts on the walls -- and a great mix of hipsters, bikers, and every other kind of east bay resident. Two thumbs up! I imagine it would be a fantastic late-night oasis, should you be looking for one.

Blog Post The Second -- Pescadero and Environs

Hello and welcome! Today we will be reviewing Bay Area Backroads Trip #41, "Pescadero: A Quiet Secret on the Central Coast." Pescadero is about a 75-90 minute drive from San Francisco.  

Main Claims Made Within Said Recommendation:

1. The town of Pescadero is "in a surprisingly undisturbed pocket of the Bay Area."

2. "The town's history and traditions are still alive."

3. "Bird watching at Pescadero Marsh is always good."

4. "Nearby Pigeon Point Light Station features the tallest operating lighthouse on the West Coast."

Overall Assessment of Accuracy: Very good.

Worthiness of day trip: Worthy, with additions as suggested below.

Now, I shall respond to the claims made by the deck of travel cards we know as Bay Area Backroads.

1. Undisturbed pocket claim: accurate. Pescadero is a one horse burgh, for sure, but unlike other 2 street towns (Stinson Beach, Bolinas, you know who you are) is not overrun with the likes of us. It  is cute, but not unduly so, and, though it is difficult to tell percentage of locals to out-of-towners, the ratio of useful stores to useless, and the general friendliness of everyone we encountered, suggested the meaningful presence of Pescaderans in daily Pescadero life. San Franciscans in their ironic sunglasses and skinny jeans have not yet tried to lay claim to Pescadero. In part, one suspects this is due to the fact that the town is slightly inland -- you cannot just roll out of bed in your Pescadero B&B and roll into the Pacific. A rather long walk or a short drive is necessary. However, in my estimation, it would be worth this to avoid the crowds at better-situated and overrun locations.

2. The "living history" claim. This statement is so vague as to be almost meaningless and I would disregard it, but Bay Area Backroads provides by way of evidence the continuing presence of Duarte's Restaurant (in same family since 1890s, pictured above) and the Pescadero Community Church. I completely forgot to look for the church, so I cannot verify its existence or charm; however, Duarte's (pron: duh-wahrt's)) is still there, and looks to be unchanged, if somewhat expensive. The thing to get at Duarte's, I am told, is a bowl of half-and-half soup -- half artichoke soup and half green chili (there's a big artichoke theme in Pescadero). My group decided Duarte's was too rich for our blood, and instead went with fresh-from-the-oven artichoke heart and garlic bread from Arcangeli's Bakery and Market (above), along with various yummy spreads. The spreads were a tad overpriced, but the bread was fantastic. We sat outside (the market has thoughtfully provided picnic tables round back -- photo above) and ate like queens. It was delicious. There was a band playing nearby, the sun was shining.... It was good.

3. The "good bird watching" claim. I do not like bird watching, and I'll be damned if I'll support your weird bird-watching habit either. Thus, we shall pass over the marsh -- by the way, really a swamp -- in dignified silence.

4. We did drive past Pigeon Point, and it is quite tall. I have not measured all California lighthouses, and I have no intention to do so, so for now we must believe Mr. Backroads when he tells us it is the tallest. It is quite pretty and looks to be a good place to hike, look at the ocean, and contemplate whatever one contemplates in these situations.

Summary and suggested additions to agenda:

This was a very good trip! The weather was lovely, the drive gorgeous, the company excellent, though that tip is no use to you, since you cannot have my friends, they are mine, hands off. However: Pescadero itself is not really enough to sustain a day trip. We made two additional stops, somewhat further south, that really made for a fantastic day: a short hike around Año Nuevo Reserve to see the enormous elephant seals (I had lost my camera at this point, so currently no photos of this), and a stop at Swanton Berry Farm's Farm Stand, where they sell olalliberry jam and fantastic mini-pies, which we quickly decimated. The farm stand, and the grotesque remains of the pie, are documented above. Yum.

(You might say, but Sarah, isn't watching elephant seals on the beach similar to bird watching? I don't have to answer you, it's my blog, but if I was going to answer you I would probably just say if you can't tell the difference between a 5000 pound animal that, should it develop opposable thumbs, would be fully capable of taking over California, and a hummingbird... I shake my head in disgust. Plus: swamp, or beach? Really? You have to think about that?)

Blog Post the First -- Why?

I have come to the realization that at least 18% of my Bay Area friends own the travel card deck Bay Area Backroads, myself included. I bought it at Walden Pond, the fabulous Oakland bookstore you should all visit after you have digested my pearls of wisdom, which sounds disgusting now that I write that out. Anywho, what better place to start with reviewing these so-called "must see" locations, than with a deck that proclaims to "showcase the wonders and hidden sights of Northern California's beautiful backroads"? 

I have set for myself the goal of doing all 50. Why? Because they are there, natch, and like Everest and Cinnabuns, exist to be conquered. I already have a bone to pick with the Deck's definition of "backroads", but we'll get to that later. On the whole, there are loads of places in here I have never heard of or thought of going. Huzzah!

Now, some of you may say, "if you haven't heard of it, why bother going? It's obviously not going to be Yosemite." Well, my friends, if that is your perspective, you might as well stop reading now. Pointless excursion should be my middle name, right next to Patricia. We here at Road Trips Reviewed for You! are unafraid of days and trips lacking in point. As we shall prove shortly.