Sunny, windy Sundays were meant for drives on the California coast. This weekend was my cute boyfriend's birthday weekend, so that means that he gets to pick the Sunday drive (well, I helped a little with that decision!) He chose to have a little lunch of fresh oysters on Tomales Bay at the Marshall General Store. We discovered this little jewel last summer - right on Highway 1, after Pt. Reyes Station, yet before Bodega Bay. Lovely rustic bar tables perched just on the side of the road, wonderful view of bobbing sailboats, soaring seabirds + the bonus of incredibly fresh seafood treats! This picture is from last summer - almost too windy to get pictures yesterday, we both had on 2 sweaters, coats and scarves. BRRRR...
Yesterday, we fought mightily with the wind, hanging tightly to our bottled beer, enjoying some grilled baby artichokes, (these were delish!) shrimp cocktail and of course, Tom's oysters. Kind of funny to watch the cormorants fight to fly in the wind, and finally give up and just go back to sitting on the pier!
Hopped back in the car to drive South on Hwy 1, thought about stopping at Hog Island Oysters, but opted to head to a new favorite stop of ours,
"Tomales Bay Oyster Company". What a fun place to buy oysters! You can buy 12 sweet oysters for 10.00 - (most of the time it's 13 oysters) fresh right out of Tomales Bay that day. Tom swears that the oysters from Tomales Bay are the best oysters he's ever had! Friendly people, you can tell that this is truly an old family traditional business - they even have crushed ice to pack your oysters home in. (We were prepared with your insulated cooler this time!)
Not only can you buy varying sizes of fresh oysters here, but they invite you to have a picnic on their beach. Lots of picnic tables, with bar-b-ques all ready to go, just bring your charcoal and your picnic basket. The parking lot is always packed, lots of loud party music and the sweet smell of charcoal grilling. Next time, we are just going to crash somebody else's family party...
One more quick stop before heading home -
Cowgirl Creamery in Pt. Reyes. Too many choices of gourmet organic cheese.. I could really go crazy in this shop! We bought the Mt. Tam and Sir Francis Drake varieties, after some careful consideration with one of the cheese mongers. Though, we couldn't possibly leave without a little chunk of smokey blue cheese to go on the birthday steaks tonight. (Can't wait!)
Tip: Our "cheese monger" suggested that we have the Sir Francis Drake cheese on crusty french bread with a drizzle of local honey. Can tell you that this is my new favorite appetizer -close rival to chocolate! Oh mi - am totally addicted to this cheese treat....
Here he is, in his Pike Place Fish apron, very happy to be back home opening his oysters for our little feast on the deck last night. A few glasses of Malbec, the cheese plate complete with honey for drizzling, sliced Fuji apples, apricots and we were in heaven.
P.S. Tom only cut his hand in one place while prying open the shells!
P.S. P.S. The French glass antique glass oyster plate was one of my most recent finds, in a little shop in Seabeack, Washington, but we did receive these oyster plates this week in the warehouse!
And these too - 3 sizes available!
See you at the beach!
