We slept soundly after
carrying ourselves and our bikes over 3 hills yesterday. We woke up in the morning and planned our day--which has no real plans except getting ourselves to the town/village of Mendocino and enjoy the day. We did have a reservation at
Raven's Restaurant at
Stanford Inn. The restaurant boasts a great menu of vegan brunch items. We have ridden/driven by it many times but this will be the first time we eat there.
We packed our bags for the day--books, layers, snacks, and water bottles--and headed out. The ride from Little River to Mendocino started with a fast descent on Little River Airport Road toward Highway 1. The scenic highway then takes us to the intersection of Ukiah Comptche Road where the restaurant is and a stone throw from the Village of Mendocino. Stanford Inn has a large farm/ranch where they grow much of their ingredients. The entrance of the restaurant/inn lobby is at the end of a short but steep grade, nestled behind a beautiful garden.
The dining room has many windows and a gorgeous view. We enjoyed our brunch very much, and as well as the ambiance of the restaurant. We'd definitely recommend it as a place to eat and stay. We stopped by the ranch to check out the vegetable gardens and some
curious farm animals, before getting on our bikes and headed to town.
Mendocino is buzzed with many vacationers walking around. We wanted to check out several galleries in town that had some woodblock prints we were interested in. Mendocino became an artist colony in the 60's and 70's and art galleries are all over town. While we were happy to look at some nice art pieces the crowd and the screaming/running children were begin to get to us. Finally we were able to find a nice wooden bench on the back porch of the visitor center in town away from the hustle and bustle. It was perfect for us as it's quite close to the beautiful bluffs and has a great view of the ocean and the coastline. We sat and watched the water, read some, and napped some for the rest of the afternoon.
We stopped by the market near sunset to buy some supplies for dinner, then rode an easy pace in coastal sunset (read: cloudy, foggy, and slightly chilly) back to Little River, after a very relaxing and enjoyable day.
More pictures of the day (with the
whole set here):
2 comments:
Mendecino is beautiful, but not a good place to bike. Several cars drove real close to me when I biked there, and one driver even told me to get the f... off the road. It is not biker friendly up there. Stay away!!
Hi, Bloggergutt, thanks for the comments. I am sorry your experience riding in Mendocino was not as nice as ours. We have ridden there at least half a dozen times through the years, and have had good experience and wonderful cycling there overall. Hope you have better experience next time, cheers.
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