Schools Out

The sun came out, the fog left and the chill lessened. We enjoyed playing tourists over the weekend, starting with an excellent history tour of Mendocino. In the forty plus years we have come up here, we were too busy having a good time to learn about the town.

Jeff, our guide, made learning about the town a good time. From its early days as a lumbering town to its virtual abandonment during the depression to its revival as an art community by SF beatniks to its tourist and art status today, the buildings have remained. They bear the names of those early lumber families such as Kelley, Ford and Mac Callum and those who supported them, such as Doctor Whitegate.
Our visit to the Dao temple was most interesting. Over the years we had gone by the small colorful building but ignored it. Inside, the temple is filled with the small statues, incense, and tributes, in paper and produce, that are part of the Dao ritual. The docent and her sister are the sole remaining descendants of the early Chinese community that lived on the outskirts of town.











Jeff led us quietly into the Presbyterian Church, where choral rehearsal for the Mendocino Music Festival was in session, to see the bell pull. No ordinary pull this one. Instead it is a one-of-a-kind history of the USA in macrame, including muted colors for the Great Depression, the glaring brightness of the Age of Aquarius and culminating with a piece of tile from the space shuttle.











After lunch at the Mendo Deli, we wandered the shops of town. There used to be three excellent galleries that included wood furniture in the exhibits. That number is down to one but what beautiful pieces they have. We were also attracted to the word “sale” in a clothing shop (souvenirs). After all that walking, we just had to have a bit of ice cream to rejuvenate.
As with the history tour, we made a discovery of an Italian seafood restaurant that had only been in Noyo Harbor for sixty years. Family run, the atmosphere was as good as the food. The proprietor, a third-generation matron, expects us back again this week.


The Noyo River flows between Mendocino and Fort Bragg. The tiny fishing village suffers from the ban on salmon fishing. Crab boats and tourism keep it going. Jerry recalled fishing trips with Saul and whaling viewing with Anna Lee (both trips included unhappy tummies, though not for Jerry.)
On Sunday, we drove the spectacular Highway 1 down the coast. Then we turned inland along the windy, tree lined road to Hendy Woods State Park and walked trails through towering old growth redwoods. In case you were wondering, Anna Lee still likes to hug the trees.

These, and others in state and national parks, are but a small remnant of the giants that once filled the west coast from California to Washington.