A few days after the big July 4th weekend, Cliff started feeling like his allergies were acting up. Turns out, it was COVID. Bummer. Then about four days later, Anne Marie felt a tickle in her throat. Damn. Several weeks of feeling like crap later, we were back in action and ready to continue to experience the area's food, wine, and more.
Kids, Keys, and Chakras
The July 4th weekend was another Lens Tour event at the lighthouse. The weekend was super busy with the influx of many, many visitors escaping the record high heat in California's central valley and parts of the Bay Area. While Cliff was at the lighthouse working a tour shift, Anne Marie was in the motor home getting ready to work her shift later in the afternoon when two women knocked on the door. In accented English, one woman told Anne Marie she had locked her kids in her car and needed help. She had zero cell phone coverage in the park so had no way to call for help. They asked if Anne Marie had any tools to help them break into their car. Anne Marie grabbed a spatula and knife (yeah, really lame) from the motor home and headed to their car, which was parked in the full sun.
After 10 minutes of the women unsuccessfully attempting to jimmy open their car doors with a bread knife, Anne Marie called the California Park Ranger dispatch number. They sent a ranger over right away. Anne Marie told the ranger the woman's kids were locked in the car. The woman, Maria, looked at Anne Marie weirdly and said no, not kids, keys. Oh. Language barrier FAIL. Good thing Anne Marie didn't call 911. That would have been a tad embarrassing.
A while later, there was another knock on the motor home door. It was the same two women. They thanked Anne Marie profusely for all of her help and wanted to give her a gift. Turns out they were artists from Mexico. They handed her a purple tissue-wrapped package and told her it would help her balance and align her energy centers. Then they gave her a hug and left.
The gift was a chakra bracelet, which combines seven different crystals and purportedly helps the wearer "funnel energy from the universe, and align the person's chakras for physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being." Cool.
Anne Marie wore the bracelet for several days. And then got COVID.
Point Arena Lighthouse
The Monday after the holiday, we decided to take a road trip to Point Arena, another small coastal community about 35 miles south on Highway 1. Now that we're official lighthouse geeks, we wanted to check out the Point Arena Light Station.
The Point Arena lighthouse was built in 1870 and is of a more traditional lighthouse tower design. In 1906, the San Francisco earthquake damaged the light keeper's residence and lighthouse so severely that they had to demolish and rebuild them. The rebuilt Lighthouse began operation in 1908 and
stands at 115 feet tall. We climbed the 145 steps to the top where we had some spectacular views of the Pacific and surrounding topography.
Not to be competitive or anything, but...our lighthouse tours are much better than theirs.
Dining
By and large, the Mendocino-Fort Bragg area is not a haven for fine or foodie dining. The majority of restaurants serve the usual three-star suspects: clam chowder, fish and chips, and fish tacos. We have, however, discovered some gems that have now become our favorites.
The Brickery
The Brickery, in Mendocino, has become our weekly go-to for lunch. They serve a variety of Neapolitan-inspired wood-fired pizzas that change as the seasons change. The crust is thin and charred to perfection in their brick oven. The seating area is a laid back outdoor space with tables sprinkled throughout a garden setting where they grow herbs and vegetables they use in their recipes at both The Brickery and their parent restaurant, Cafe Beaujolais (which we have not tried yet).
You can order a mug of craft beer or a glass of wine to pair with your 'za. We also tried their blue cheese and grilled onion smashburger one week and it was also quite yummy. We highly recommend this place if you're in the area.
Noyo Fish Company
Some Jackson friends of ours, Sharon and Mike, who have a second home in Fort Bragg (10 miles north of Mendocino), recommended Noyo Fish Company (no website; just come on down), in Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg for the best fish and chips in the area. The seafood they serve comes, literally, straight from their boat to their restaurant. We sat out on their deck overlooking their docks and watched the fish being delivered.
Cliff had their fish tacos with wild rock cod on corn tortillas topped with cabbage, mango pico de gallo and their homemade Baja sauce. Anne Marie had their fish and chips. We agree with our friends. The fish is fantastic and is some of the freshest we've tasted.
Another thumbs up.
Trillium Cafe
This past Friday evening before a concert (more on that shortly), we dined at Trillium Cafe in Mendocino. Highly, highly recommend. They serve quintessential California cuisine with an emphasis on fresh seafood.
Anne Marie had their grilled Alaskan halibut with mashed potatoes, broccolini, and baby carrots, topped with a sauce of lemongrass coconut milk and Fresno peppers. Cliff had their seafood special: grilled rock cod with a mango salsa, fingerling potatoes, and steamed veggies on a pesto sauce. Amazing and unique flavors.
We paired our meals with a Pinot Noir from nearby Anderson Valley's Pennyroyal Farm Winery.
We dined out on their deck with heat lamps and wind protectors. The atmosphere was lovely and the service was impeccable.
Anderson Valley Wines
After escaping COVID quarantine hell, we decided to head out on another road trip to the Anderson Valley wine region, about an hour east of Mendocino, to do some wine tasting. Anderson Valley offers some of the top Pinot Noir regions in North America and also makes some superb Gewurztraminers and Rieslings. Our first stop was Lula Cellars, a boutique winery located in the “Deep End” of the Anderson Valley. This was, by far, our favorite of the three we visited that afternoon. Their handcrafted Pinot Noir wines were lovely. We also visited Pennyroyal Farm Winery and Goldeneye Winery. Pennyroyal also makes their own goat cheeses. We chose a pairing of their cheeses with our tasting. At Goldeneye, we were, unfortunately, fairly turned off by its pretentiousness. The wines were hugely expensive and the surly guy who greeted us made us feel very unwelcome. "Do you have a reservation?" he asked. "No," we said. "But we'd love to taste if you have availability." "Well, let me check." (All while we're observing many open tables.) They served all five tastings at once and overwhelmed you with a lengthy description of each. Not our preferred style.
We'll be back because there are many other wineries to experience, so more to come.
Music
Each summer, the Mendocino Music Festival offers a wide selection of musical performances for two weeks. This year, one of the concerts they featured was Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a South African male choral group. They became known internationally after singing with Paul Simon on his 1986 album Graceland.
The last time we saw LadySmith Black Mambazo was 35 years ago in Austin when they were touring with Simon. We attended the concert last night and found that they still put on a great show of musical harmonies, rhythmic dance, and humor.
We heartily recommend them if their tour comes your way.
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She only gave you one chakra bracelet to wear on only one wrist?!
Well no wonder you got COVID, your chakras were unbalanced to one side!
No, what I found out is that I wore the bracelet at night. I should only wear it during the day while awake.
I'm glad you took away an important life lesson from this experience.
It was a Chakra Con
We have always enjoyed Ladysmith Black Mambazo. On our cruise through the Panama Canal we had one couple at our table from Long Island and the man was really into light houses and took pictures everywhere. Later we cruised with them out of Puerto Rico, and he was still happily snapping pictures of lighthouses. I don't know if he ever visited any.
I’m totally hungry now! The photos helped with that too. I guess Covid exposure is part of the risk with that job, especially over a holiday weekend like that. I forget that crap is still around, until someone I know gets sick again!
I so love your blogs, such adventures.
Thank you for sharing.
OMG!! I laughed so very hard at this one. Yet, I am sad that you had to re-experience Covid and the dreaded lock-down. Since you were able to continue with the food and wine experiences, I hope that means that neither of you sustained any loss of smell and/or taste. (?) Your write-ups on the restaurants and food sounded amazing and made me hungry for fresh fish.
You are both sincerely missed at the winery. When are you due to return to Jackson?
You had me at Halibut! Great blog and I hope your feeling better!