Mendocino

Mendocino shoreline, looking towards the westering sun over the Pacific Ocean.

Masonic Hall in Mendocino, California, the cupola topped with the sculpture Father Time and the Virgin, crafted from a single redwood trunk. "Time, patience and perserverance will accomplish all things."

Weathered trees in front of an old house in Mendocino. They started building this town in 1866 using local redwood. Obviously a lot of folks started coming to the West Coast after the Gold Rush, but I've seen a lot of circumstantial evidence that folks came out here on the railroads after the Civil War--there's so many towns (Fort Bragg, for example) here that are probably named after towns in North Carolina.

Repurposed well house. You see so many of these around Northern California that you start to overlook them. I don't think I've ever seen one outside of this part of the country, though there's huge swaths from the Midwest to New England & Mid-Atlantic I've never seen.

Love this view of a distant shore down a typical Mendocino street. In case you've never been here before, and are thinking of coming, keep some things in mind. It's pretty windy most of the time, so it's good to bring a wind-breaker and securable hat. Summer's the tourist high season, though I didn't think it was too crowded yesterday (6/23/2018). But on my first visit, a Tuesday in March 2006, it seemed like I had the entire town to myself. Also there weren't quite as many upscale shops and galleries back then. And even though Mendocino can be "spendy," I found plenty of bargains. 

Above and below: Corners Of The Mouth Natural Foods. Authentic Hippie Culture in an old church, doing it absolutely right, offering locally sourced foods (no meat, that I could see), great bulk section, nice selection of dairy, and arguably some of the best produce I've ever seen in a small co-op setting, in terms of quality. Robin pointed out that they source their produce from farmers who grow their lettuces, fruit, and vegetables close to the ocean. Think in terms of the high quality produce from Green Gulch that you find at Good Earth Natural Foods in Marin County. 

Now here's one thing that's very rare: bulk seaweed, all sourced locally, probably most of it from Elk, California. Impressive.

OK, so Corners of the Mouth isn't the only grocery store in town. We also checked out Harvest Market, which has an amazing array of stuff to choose from, including a pretty good spirits selection, but probably the meat section is the most impressive. Check this out: locally sourced Ground Elk? Ever seen that anywhere? I haven't. I got a pound, and we're going to have some of it momentarily. I'm sauteeing a Vidallia onion with Trumpet mushrooms in chicken stock now, about to cook two Elk patties with it. This Elk meat is very lean.

A dozen oysters (these were enormous, each about 3x the size of a regular oyster) from Washington, with fried calimari (incredibly fresh), & pints of Anderson Valley Stout from Booneville. A perfect dinner at Patterson's, an Irish-style pub in Mendocino. They say they have raw oysters on Fridays and Saturdays, & I can honestly say I've never had better, fresher oysters before. Perfect complement with the stout and vice-versa. Especially considering how large and perfect they were, $24/dozen was quite the bargain.

More shots from the Mendocino shoreline. Whales can be spotted from this vantage point.