USA: California Hwy 1: Gualala to Santa Cruz

Day3: Gualala to Santa Cruz
The Day of Food, Drink and Curves










Oh Glorious day! We woke up with the sun in the sky and only a few clouds. This leg of the drive is stunning. Extremely curvy in and out from drastic seascapes into drainage's and back out again. You want to pull over at every stop. 

Stillwater Cove Country Park- We did not stay here, but drove past it and I immediately marked it on my map. It is $26/car and the scenery was amazing. It had been raining a lot and there was a waterfall flowing into the beach adjacent to the campground. I also like that the campground was on some cliffs rather in some of the steep gullies many of the other campsites are like.

Tomales Bakery - a very small bakery in Tomales that sells a select amount of pastries and coffee. Everything we got was phenomenal.

Heidrun Meadery

Point Reyes Station is a small touristy town but definitely worth a pit stop. We found a very lovely bookstore, shops, good coffee and Heidrun Meadery.

Mead is a sparkling wine made with honey. They get the honey from bee keepers that have hives specifically harvesting pollen from one crop. They had carrot mead, macadamia nut mead, and orange mead. The Meadery itself grows wildflowers and had their own bees to make a special batch of mead. The tasting room was in an old greenhouse and was simple, delicate, and beautiful. I highly highly recommend making a stop here.

Point Reyes National Seashore- Originally, we wanted to spend some time on the peninsula but decided against it after the lighthouse keeper on Point Arena told us it took a good half hour to get to the end. I am told the whale watching is some of the best out there. I would like to spend a weekend there and backpack across the island.

Pigeon Point Light Station

Next we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. This was a breeze compared to previous trips over the bridge. All tolls are automated now and you pay over the phone. Just don't forget to pay!

Half Moon Bay Brewery- We stopped for lunch and once again was not disappointed. We learned the area is known for their artichoke so we got grilled artichokes in balsamic vinegar and pretzel with beer cheese sauce. Their food was originally quite expensive had a great happy hour. I ended up leaving with a sour that took 2 years to make fermenting in a barrel. I am yet to drink some of it.

Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park- Another spot I wrote down immediately for future places to stay. This is an old lighthouse that has turned the old living quarters into a hostel. That day seemed to have a school field trip staying there which quickly made me want to try another day. Here are the rates.

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Santa Cruz - We had a bit of a brewery craze here. We got a hotel next to the boardwalk but unfortunately during the winter the boardwalk is only open on the weekends. We probably would have made a different choice on hotel if we had insight on this.
First, SeaBright Brewery, I don't know if we were just very thirsty or it truly was consistently awesome beer but it truly was.
Next we went to East Cliff Breweing Company. Here, they serve all their beer English style which often decreases the carbonation. I personally love bubbles in my beer so I had trouble loving a lot of the beers. I don't know if this place will last, Seabright was slammed and East Cliff was awkwardly scilent.
Our final stop was Shanty Shack Brewery. This place was hip, not much seating but a perfect amount for the amount of people that were there. They had some yummy beer and they carried a cider from Santa Cruz Cider Company. I cant rave enough about that cider.
We finished our night playing games on the boardwalk. Many of the games took our money and we finally spent our $15 on Dance Dance Revolution.