| More than forty films have been made in the tiny | | | | into the redwood forest. You can even pay a |
| Northern California town of Mendocino. Some of | | | | supplement and ride in the cab with the engineer. |
| these films are a little dated, "Same Time Next Year," | | | | Back in Mendocino, the Kelley House Museum on Main |
| "The Summer of '42." They belong to a time when | | | | Street is dedicated to the history of the Mendocino |
| America was a more distant, glossier place, when | | | | Coast. Also on Main Street the Ford House Museum |
| both love and travel could evoke glamour and | | | | will tell you more about those thirty or so water |
| romance and when we thought the global village was | | | | towers that make the skyline so unique. |
| probably a ride at Disneyland. | | | | Many of the shops are quirky and unique: Wind and |
| Mendocino belongs to that same time and there is | | | | Weather in a water tower on Albion for the |
| nothing wrong in that. This artists' colony, a hundred | | | | paraphernalia of weather, Papa Birds, also on Albion, |
| and fifty miles north of San Francisco, has no | | | | for organized bird walks and all the paraphernalia of |
| supermarkets, fast food chains or motels. The town | | | | birds. WilkesSport combines elegant men and |
| does, however, have Bed and Breakfasts -. They are | | | | women's clothing with a gallery featuring local art. Old |
| not cheap - a room costs a minimum of $100 but | | | | recordings can be found at Alphonso's on Main. |
| Mendocino's location, perched on the cliffs high above | | | | One of my all time best breakfasts was a guacamole |
| the Pacific ocean, makes them some of the most | | | | and salsa omelette with a freshly baked cranberry |
| romantic B&Bs in America. And, being Californian | | | | muffin, taken out on the upper deck with the locals |
| B&Bs, hot-tubs and wood-burning fireplaces are | | | | at the Bay View Café. Comfortable, |
| as automatic as unlimited coffee with breakfast. | | | | small-town, early morning bustle and views out over |
| Built by escapees from the bitter Northeastern | | | | the wildflowers and the royal blue Pacific just a few |
| winters in Maine, the town originally lived off fishing | | | | hundred yards away. |
| and logging from the surrounding giant redwood | | | | If you are visiting the Botanical Gardens or taking the |
| forests .Most of the buildings have the white | | | | Skunk Train, stop by the wharf at Fort Bragg for |
| clapboard New England style of architecture. They | | | | seal watching and seafood lunch at The Wharf or |
| also film "Murder She Wrote" here but, because of | | | | Sharon's by the Sea. Try Mama Carini's for fat crab |
| the change from East to West coast, they have to | | | | sandwiches- all at North Harbor Drive. |
| be careful where they situate the sunsets. | | | | Back in Mendocino, Café Beaujolais on Ukiah |
| Both tourists and fog are drawn to the little town in | | | | St is nationally famous, has its own cookbook and a |
| summer. Better to come in the crisper, brighter | | | | changeable menu that features fresh local ingredients |
| autumn or winter. The ocean is the dramatic, | | | | in dishes such as tuna wrapped in applewood-smoked |
| turbulent Northern Californian version - excellent for | | | | bacon and rosemary roasted chicken. Next door at |
| long, bracing hikes along the beach but definitely no | | | | "955 Ukiah Street" seafood is a speciality. |
| swimming or sunbathing. In November, the town | | | | At the end of a peaceful, if bracing day stop by the |
| holds a Mushroom and Wine Fest with wine and | | | | ornate Mendocino hotel for drinks or the small, cosy, |
| mushroom tastings and fungi forays into the forest. | | | | Irish Patterson's Pub on Lancing . |
| Also in November, when the Arctic grey whales begin | | | | And then where? In a town where the best thing to |
| their annual migration south, the wooden water | | | | do is nothing, the place where you do it is important. |
| towns that are scattered throughout Mendocino | | | | I stayed at the John Dougherty House - it has an |
| provide excellent viewing platforms. In late January | | | | English garden tumbling towards the Pacific, fireplaces, |
| come the "Crab and Wine Days" with more tastings | | | | early American antiques in the rooms and a fabulous |
| and the chance to ride out with the crab fishermen. | | | | breakfast around a communal dining table. Notices |
| In high season, a lot of the B&Bs ask for a | | | | warn that the two house cats are pushy. I ignored |
| minimum three day stay. In such a tiny, secluded, | | | | the notices, let Tristan sleep on the bed and woke |
| stupendously beautiful spot as this you could easily | | | | up convinced that my room was haunted when the |
| spend three days just watching that ocean and | | | | cat started to snore. Other lovelier night sounds are |
| waiting for the sunset. I started my stay with an | | | | the Pacific crashing against the rocks and the foghorn |
| hour long walk around the headland, just minutes | | | | groaning like a mournful old sea monster in the bay. |
| beyond the shops of Main Street, on precarious cliffs | | | | Further up the coast at Fort Bragg is the Weller |
| high above dark caves and the smooth beige beach | | | | House Inn, right next to the Skunk Train depot. This |
| far below. | | | | working town provides a welcome contrast to all |
| There are fine hiking trails all around the town but | | | | that unrelenting Mendocino loveliness. Run by Ted and |
| save some time to walk through the spectacular | | | | Eva Kidwell, a couple of classical musicians, the |
| ferns, fuschias and other flora just a few miles north | | | | entrance hall of the Weller Inn looks like the James |
| at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens (134 | | | | Stewart house in "It's a Wonderful Life." Breakfast is |
| Highway I - tel:707 964 4352) the only public garden | | | | served in the third floor ballroom. Along the road is a |
| in the USA situated directly on the ocean. During the | | | | glass beach...Many years ago it was the town dump. |
| Mushroom and Wine Fest, fungi forays are led | | | | People threw thousands of discarded bottles there - |
| through the gardens. | | | | the Pacific went to work at tumbling the glass of all |
| Just a mile or so north of the gardens at Fort Bragg, | | | | colours and now it glitters with flashes of blue, red |
| California Western Railroad's Skunk Train, with a | | | | and green on a sunny day. |
| steam engine on selected days, will take you deep | | | | |