Found Treasure: Mendocino Magic

February 16, 2024 – Marketing minds get aspirational. That’s the gig.

The first promotional sign seen on the southern end of Lost Coast country reflects that, reading,  “Visit Mendocino: Magic is real.”

OK, let’s settle down.

Only it starts happening without even much of a polite pause, about 5 minutes later, then again with the redwood passage into central Mendocino County after that, and rematerializes steadily—‑sometimes in scheduled ways, others much more spontaneously—until I leave three days later. 

Within the confines of the tiny town of Mendocino (population 707) where I’m staying, hints at what’s happening here jump out. 

A former church is now a natural food grocer-apothecary (hallelujah). 

One local textile artisan leaves pottery outside his studio-home, with an honor system box and Venmo QR code.  

Dogs howl with the patrons inside the legendary local saloon Dick’s (cash only, with a photo of Johnny Cash giving the single-finger salute). 

And—oh yeah, the scenic front yard for the town is a state park within strolling range.

So maybe fairy powers are just in the air. 

After all, persistent Pacific mists give the streets a gauzy glow and there is a pygmy forest just down Highway 1. 

Still, the moments happen frequently enough I develop a particular paranoia, glancing around in search of the leprechaun director hiding just off set. 

Here appear a few of the most striking scenes Visit Mendocino helped plan, and many more which happened more in the…moment.  

Mendocino Magical Moment #1 • “Is that price current?” • Pennyroyal Farm

This award-winning, family-owned, multi-generation, working vineyard-ranch grows grapes for the wines and raises sheep for the cheese. Both vineyard and pasture set the backdrop for a sleek tasting room-patio stage, then the stars appear. Dairy-free cheeses shape shift through texture and firmness and unlock saliva glands by their memory. From the tangy semi-soft Log Lifter to the hard and savory Boont Corners Reserve, they present a tour-de-flavor-force. The wines are every bit as good, crescendoing from a light and bright white Pinot blend of thee grapes (Best in Class at 2023 North Coast Wine Challenge) to a dark-fruit-and-floral-edged 2020 Eye of the Needle single vineyard gem (Wine Enthusiast Editors Choice). The sequence gains dimensions from the familial attention, who might share the taste quake that is the fennel pollen pink peppercorn soft chèvre. A five-part pairing, not counting a smoked-salmon cream cheese puff preamble, feels too gourmet to be true at $25. 

MMM#2 • “Can we do this wakeup call at my house?” • Port Room, JD House, Four Sisters Inns

Part of what inspired this mission is Four Sisters, which owns and/or operates boutique one-off bed and breakfasts in strategic destinations from Sonoma to Dana Point, and is based in Pacific Grove (where it has Gosby House Inn and Green Gables Inn). Better yet, its team happens to be obsessed with travel, value, responsiveness—and CEO Tamara Mims is a friend I’ve known since middle school. Four Sisters agreed to put me up during Visit Mendocino’s Sips and Seafood Week in exchange for consulting on their communications. The lodging proves memorable, with three different outposts just in Mendocino (and around 20 statewide). I checked in at The Blue Door, where they host a generous wine and hors d’oeuvres hour daily, then made my way over to the JD House, where the jet tub is substantial and our one bedroom suite opens onto a porch with peeks at (and perfumes of) the ocean. Every morning, a gentle knock at the door told us a slate like day one’s warm peach cobbler, yogurt, savory sausage pastry balls, orange juice and joe from Thanksgiving coffee awaits. 

MMM#3 • “Is this a regular thing?” • Mendocino Headlands State Park

The idea was to sneak in a quick 20-minute ride on my fold-up travel bike before lunch. Then, yup, it happened again. A click north of “downtown,” Mendocino Headlands State Park’s bluffs keep curving along tide pools, marine canyons, occasional pocket beaches and coastal grasslands. I made it 3 minutes and had to brake for the visage of a dramatic rock arch framing fuming waves, where a pair of plein aire painters stood atop a little peninsula rendering versions of the splendor. A vinyl record player in the trunk of Marcelo’s hatchback—next to a selection of paintings—relayed his music to his bluetooth speaker. Both were open, conversational and thoughtful. The same vibe persists at Artist Co-op Gallery of Mendocino, where I felt compelled to duck in on the way to lunch. A versatile blend of fine art photographs, mixed medium paintings, sculpture and even furniture made from scavenged tools reminds me that few towns this size boast as much nature and art so close by. And I didn’t try Water Gallery—which looks strong—or any of the other 10 Visit Mendocino lists on its gallery and museums index.

MMM#4 • “Is this Carmel’s cooler baby cousin?” • Trillium Cafe

Fog Eater Cafe and Fog Bottle Shop and Wine Bar—with their natural wines and Black Oak coffee, Southern-inspired vegetarian muffuletta panzanella salads and biscuit sliders—would’ve been irresistible anyway. Then it turns out they’re a hush puppy’s toss from our porch. Next to them is California seasonal fare standout Trillium Cafe & Inn. Diners sit in the converted house or the ample garden, receive a warm welcome, a quality wine list and plates like the caramelized onion tart and seared albacore we tried—elements which reveal why it’s been a travel magazine darling for nearly a decade. A few blocks down lingers what insiders call required dining in Mendocino, Café Beaujolais. In its 1890s Victorian farmhouse, the habit-forming foodstuffs range from classic cioppino to smash burger specials to pizza in the garden, with its sister, The Waiting Room coffee shop, doing high-grade caffeine next door. Elsewhere in a town that makes 1-square-mile Carmel seem huge (and crowded), Patterson’s pub does a ++ fish ’n’ chips and the crab melt at Mendocino Market comes highly recommended. 

MMM#5 • “Is this a top-five picnic spot in California?” • Russian Gulch State Park

An early winter visit to the North Coast can mean some key spots are closed, but it also means heaven-sent solitude in a wonderland like Russian Gulch. The options range from beachcombing under Frederick W. Panhorst Bridge to ambitious loops through redwoods and ferns to shorter ones that peer into the Devil’s Punchbowl, a giant sinkhole plopped in the context of trails snaking through grassy maritime cliffs  overhanging sea caves and finger canyons with aquamarine waters. By the westernmost parking lot, dreamy campsites nestle into redwood-rimmed lawns and picnic benches tap views from the timeless Panhorst Bridge way down the shimmering coast to the south. Bon appetit and amen at the same time. 

MMM#6 • “Can you beat this?” • Noyo Harbor

Mendocino Bay and Monterey Bay are not exactly close (the drive from the redwoods of Santa Cruz to redwoods of Navarro Creek clocks about 4 hours). But you could make a case the trek is worth it for Princess Seafood Restaurant alone. It earns international applause for its all-fem boat-to-plate ethic (every staffer, crew member and captain is female), then the vibe and backdrop cement the experience. While gulls and harbor seals play out the window to your left, picnic seating on a Saturday afternoon involves hyper fresh seafood while a live guitarist does folk rock covers. On the other side of the walkable harbor sits the sister market and a nice stash of fresh fish, prepared sundries and eclectic collectibles. Across from that, in turn, Schnaubelt Distillery pours intriguing small batch spirits like candy cap mushroom vodka in a space that feels a little like Mad Max and a mermaid birthed a tasting bar-working still with a giant off-road go kart in the middle (and on the label). In the tank by the door, Artemis the charismatic pufferfish presides over everything with wide galaxy eyes.

MMM #7 • “How many local artists in one shop?” • Little Cup

Fort Bragg’s small historic downtown—10 miles north from Mendocino—presents an outsize range of draws. North Coast Brewing Company continues to build on its craft beer legend with a tap house-restaurant (with underrated food) across from the brewing facility (Overtime Brewing and new Tall Guy Brewing also specialize in craft beer). Near NCBC, the historic Skunk Railroad takes travelers on one- and two-hour trips to local elevation peaks and through redwood-dense Noyo River Canyon, and does more modest hand-pump cars. Great community institutions like Lost Surf Shack, Headlands Cafe and Sip Wine Shop populate the main street (East Laurel). Perhaps most enticing, though, is the bumper crop of artists trying to fill in an economy pock-marked by the downturn of fishing and medicinal Mary Jane markets. Fourteen far-ranging murals decorate streets like East Redwood Avenue, where a 30-step stretch of blow-your-mind includes a vintage vinyl and curios hub, an incredible local artist super-spot Little Cup (peddling 50 artisans’ worth of clothing, art, textiles, kombucha and tempeh, plus housemade stick-and-poke tattoo kits) and the crown coup, antique haven Lost Coast Found (which also plays home to the whimsical foraged art, irrepressible wisdom and quirky logic that of local legend and Zenith TV salesperson Larry Spring Museum of Common Sense Physics).

MMM #8 • “Is this scripted?” • Catch a Canoe & Bicycle Too

Paddle away from the soaring Big River bridge above and up Big River from Catch a Canoe’s picturesque dock, into (you guessed it) Big River Estuary State Marine Conservation Area, and an already peaceful region gets outright meditative. On a Monday morning starring spotless skies and only an occasional whisper of wind, the only companions to my canoe are the geese doing a call and response with one another and the chubby churros on the river’s peninsula, where harbor seals are protected by law. This magic won’t quit.

MM#9 • “Am I awake?” • Goldeneye

On the back patio of the senatorial grounds at Goldeneye, I crouched to take a photo of paperwhite narcissus flowers with the fountain and vineyard in the background. Just as I tapped, a honeybee dropped in to smooch the blossom. No stage director in sight, I happily settle for hospitality supervisor Ernest Rubio Miranda’s orchestration of simply world class Pinots from a range of hand-tended vines within a few miles, with varying micro-terroirs that weave tapestries on the tongue. Relatively under-celebrated Anderson Valley comes stuffed with small-production wineries making great juice, so it’s hard to go wrong, but the soft and mineral-rich single vineyard and blended Pinots here make it smart to have on your short list. Plus you can order the dizzying fun-with-fondue experience, dipping Harvest Market bratwurst, local apple slices and Fort Bragg Bakery baguette cubes into a pot of melted Point Reyes Farmstead truffle-mushroom cheese, Marin French triple-cream brie and Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. The fondue teeters deliciously on the brink of too much, which feels representative of the wider Mendocino experience. Both of these last two visits were courtesy Visit Mendocino, and I dig the choices.

MMM#10 to #87 • “What are you doing next month?” • Fern Canyon Trail 

Up north an earnest publication called 101 Things to Do Mendocino County can be found in a range of spots worth visiting, Princess Seafood included, where I heard a group talking about it over lobster rolls, smoked sablefish and prawn po’ boys.

To leaf through it is to remember Mendocino and adjacent areas are one tiny puzzle piece of the wider expanse that comprises the county. 

It’s also a reminder that, amid a long weekend that felt somehow relaxing but loaded with intrigue, there’s a lot more to explore.

My running cheat sheet for a return visit:

• Jug Handle State Natural Reserve Ecological Staircase, described by interpretive panels as “one of the most interesting geological areas in the Northern Hemisphere.”

• Vegan glamping destination Stanford Inn & Resort, where leadership brings in chefs for locally famous meat-free feasts and experts for life-affirming retreats.

• Little River Inn Restaurant, perhaps for a drink in the historic bar overlooking the horizon from on high, or a bite in The Abalone Room, or just a hang on the handmade bench above Van Damme Beach. 

• Fern Canyon Trail in Van Damme State Park, an ambitious 8-mile creekside ramble that navigates topography so lush it had the park ranger gushing.