Bodega Bay

We started our exploration of the coast today with a trip into the town of Marshall, pop. 500 and a visit to the Hog Island Oyster Company. We know they are fresh because we see the oyster boats putting in from the boat ramp across the road from our cottage. They are harvested from oyster beds in Tomales Bay and delivered in huge truckloads to an outdoor shed where they are cleaned and sorted. If we had wanted to stay we could have participated in ‘shuck your own oysters, but 10am was a bit early….They would be available everywhere we went, as they are a huge part of the economy here.

Next stop was Doran Beach which is on Bodega Bay looking across to Bodega Head with its large marina. We walked along the beach and although the view was nice, Spike was unimpressed by the water lapping at his feet and leapt away from the waves.

Today’s shot is taken from the visitor’s center at Bodega Bay where we chatted about the tsunami we were warned about but which never came to pass, and looked at all kinds of Alfred Hitchcock and ‘The Birds’ memorabilia, for this is the town where the movie was filmed.

Driving back down the coast slightly inland, we admired the bluffs and the unchanging scenery. This part of West Marin County is full of dairy farms, a matter if constant controversy because it is a National Seashore and although they were here first, the land is only leased to the dairy farmers.

We drove down the narrow winding road to Dillon Beach, a privately owned beach which allows dogs to run free. This is Spike’s happy place and, from the look of it a lot of other dogs too. We walked down the beach which was littered with jellyfish and seaweed. Perhaps the tsunami treated enough more turbulence in the water to wash them ashore. Spike isn’t all that keen on getting into the water but loved running around the beach and meeting other dogs.

We had lunch at a Coastal Kitchen, a restaurant overlooking Dillon Beach. The weather has been mostly overcast since we got here, but today was a lot warmer than yesterday (or at least I was) and the sun did make occasional appearances. We sat at picnic tables outside with all the other people with dogs and enjoyed fish tacos and Caesar salads.

When we got back to Nick’s Cove we decided to walk out to the end of the pier where they are rebuilding the old bait shop/snack bar which burned down in 2023. They were just starting to rebuild the piling and planking when we were here last year, and this year they’ve just started on the building.

We sat and had a glass of wine and watched all the boats coming back in and being pulled out of the water at the boat ramp. We became totally involved with watching a young guy pulling his Hobie catamaran sailboat out of the water, secure the boat to the trailer and lower the very tall mast, much of it while soaking wet as he had to wade into the water to turn the boat around. He seemed uncertain, but eventually accomplished the task as we cheered him on his way as he drove off.
We’ll be back there for dinner soon, after we thaw out and wash off the sand….

I love this part of the world with its quaint old houses, dilapidated barns, rolling hills and dramatic coastal bluffs. It is its timelessness that gives it such charm and we all agreed that it’s a wonderful place to return to every because nothing ever changes…