Adventures on Hwy 1 - Part 2 Stinson Beach

I am blaming it on the GPS in Tom's car. So funny, we plugged in "Stinson Beach", in Mill Valley,and then proceeded to drive, and drive, through eucalyptus forests, bright green ferns, babbling brooks, redwood groves, old oak groves and spring blooming wildflowers, up skinny roads on Mount Tam.  Fantastic views above Stinson Beach of shades of turquoise in the Pacific Ocean, and every variance of the color green over the rolling coastal hills in Central California.  It was so crystal clear that we could even see the Farallone Islands  off in the near distance.   Tom was freaking me out a little by looking at the view, and not the road!

We finally made our way down to the ocean via the Fairfax-Bolinas Road.  Tom officially declared this beaut of a highway the most twisty road he's ever driven! (me too)  Always love an adventure - and then we were rewarded with dropping down onto Hwy 1, right at the Bolinas Lagoon.  Gorgeous! Full of egrets, grey herons, and elusive sand pipers. So shallow, that seals were sunning themselves on the sand bars.  (too far away - wrong camera)







Stinson Beach, according to the road sign, has just over 450 people living there.  I suspect a lot of 2nd home owners too.  Cute cute cute beach town! A bookstore, a few restaurants, surf shops, art galleries.. We had a wine and appetizer break at the "Sand Dollar" - fun, busy restaurant decorated like the inside of a steamer ship.  Yum! Fab Zin from the Dry Creek area, the most tender calamari that I have ever eaten and look at this ahi creation!  We will definitely go back here. Maybe you can come with us?


 Take a look at some of the beach houses that I captured on our beach walk! No rhyme or reason - all different, all different colors.

Very nice state park at Stinson Beach with lots of room for picnickers and tons of sandy beach stretching out for kids to create sand castles, sand angels - or simply jump in the waves.  Isn't it funny how kids never get cold?  The sea, sometimes can be a universal language...

I have found sea glass here, but only a few pieces, more often I find pieces of shells rolling in the surf.  Mostly we just walk,  and enjoy the crashing waves and sea birds skittering in the foamy tide.

If you would like to go - here's some handy links!

http://www.stinsonbeachonline.com/
http://www.stinsonbeachrestaurant.com/
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=471
http://www.bolinaslagoon.org/

Introducing Guest Blogger Jody of ShabbyNChic on Etsy! Spring Break on the Oregon Coast

Jody was kind enough to let me share her blog post about Spring Break on the Oregon Coast! Enjoy the photos and the journey,  and make sure to visit her Etsy shop for great ShabbyNChic beach cottage ideas..
Jody's Etsy shop: http://www.shabbynchic.etsy.com

Spring Break at the Oregon Coast

If you follow me on Twitter, then you may have seen some of the pictures from our recent trip to the Oregon Coast for Spring break.  What an amazing time.  We went to Newport Oregon which is considered part of Oregon's Central Coast.  There is so much to do there and we took full advantage of that!

On our 3 day trip we enjoyed the food, antique shops, museums, beaches, lighthouse, state parks, and more!

The priority was for our young children to play on the beach and go to the variety of museums available there.  Upon arriving, we ate at Mo's World Famous Restaurant - famous for their clam chowder.  That is a requirement for my husband everytime we go to the coast.  The restaurant in Lincoln City (just North of Newport) sits right on the beach, so we were able to go onto the beach so the kids could have some fun digging in the sand.

It was cold and windy, which the Oregon coast is known for, but that doesn't seem to stop kids.  Later they both said that was one of their favorite parts of the trip.

Upon arriving at the hotel condo where we would be staying, we were more than pleased with the beautiful view of the bridge that connects both parts of Newport.  It was an amazing view in the morning when the sun was coming up and again at night with the sun setting behind the bridge.

We finished the day roasting marshmallows at Beverly Beach with family who was at the coast that night as well.  The kids were out quick that night, so we were able to get an early start the next morning for all of the museums we had planned to visit.

We started the morning by beachcombing for shells and agates, then it was off to Hatfield Marine Science Center which is a research museum and visitors are allowed to touch many sea creatures.  We saw: sea stars, an octopus, jelly fish, sea urchin, sea anemone, and of course all kinds of fish!

Then it was down to the docks which is a major tourist attraction in Newport.  My favorite is the sea lions.  There is a spot where they can always be seen and the crowd is always there to enjoy their barks.  I'm pretty sure this one was posing for me.

Down on the waterfront we went to: Ripley's Believe It or Not, Wax Works museum, and Underwater Sea Gardens.  I believe the latter was my kids' favorite since they were scared of the other two.  We finished the day eating ice cream cones, listening to a woman playing guitar and singing on the boardwalk.
Over our few days at the beach, the weather got better and better. Determined to make the most of our time there, we had a filled last day.  The morning started with my favorite - antique shopping!  We probably visited 6 different antique shops and I found a lot of great items - some I bought, some I just admired. 

Our final stop before heading home was the Yaquina Head Lighthouse - the tallest lighthouse in Oregon and a major attraction in the area.  I came away with a lot of great pictures and hope you enjoy all of them.

Don't forget to visit Jody's Etsy shop!
Here's the link: http://www.shabbynchic.etsy.com  Here's a cute Beach Cottage Crate that you might like featured in her shop - 

More Adventures on Hwy 1 - Central Coast of California part 1

Well... let me start off by saying, we got sort of lost. Our goal was Stinson Beach, and we "sort of"  knew the way from Mill Valley. If you have ever been this way over to Stinson Beach, you will have to agree that it is not well marked at all.  Driving up windy, twisting, skinny residential streets, you just hope that you're going the right way.   We even used the GPS  in Tom's car, and boy did we go the wrong way! Sometimes getting lost can be the best thing though...

All the way up Mt. Tam, we kept saying to each other "wow, I don't remember this" and "do you remember this view", "maybe it was foggy the last time we came this way?"  We kept passing signs on steel gates "park road closes at sunset" - sure didn't seem like we had gone this way before??

Look what our view was from the top! By the way, it looks a lot warmer than it was.  The wind was blowing incredibly cold and just about blew us over...

So glad that we did go off the beaten track, we would have missed this opportunity to see the city from one side, and the expanse of the Pacific Ocean on the other side... all the way down past Pacifica.

In the span of 5 minutes, I am once again reminded of how small we are and how incredible the world really is.