Happy First Wedding Anniversary to Us!

We decided the best tradition for this blog was to given it annual updates on our wedding anniversary. We took a long, glorious weekend in Mendocino where we journeyed last January to write our vows (scour the internet) by the fire at the Mendocino Hotel while it drizzled rain outside.

This weekend, we were welcomed on Friday evening with a glorious sunset, we woke to a rainbow the following morning! If you love the sea, the trees and plants exploding with life under the kiss of spring- come to Mendocino in March. Not only is it whale migration time (with their calves they birthed in Mexico), it's a great time for scouring tidepools for life, visiting art galleries, hot tubbing, and more.

Here's the short list of to dos for anyone headed to Mendocino:

• Eat at Cafe Beaujolais. The menu is incredible. The trick to getting a table is to eat early (or late). That's 6pm or 9, respectively, defined by American standards.
• Rent a hot tub for two at Sweetwater Spa.
• Visit the tidepools and follow the marsh, cliffs or beach walk at MacKerricher State Park.
• Wander in the redwoods by the Navarro River.
• Explore the art galleries in both Mendocino and Fort Bragg- you won't be dissapointed!
• Wine taste in the Anderson Valley along Route 128. Special love for Handley Cellars and Greenwood Ridge winery. Greenwood has recently delved into OEMd dark and milk chocolate bars courtesy of Mendo Chocolate company. With no cacao percentage listed on there, I recommend chocolate snobs pass on the dark bar- too sugary and no flavor body to speak of...
• If traveling in March, enjoy the pinks and greens of the oaks with pink/chestnut colored buds at the ends of branches with moss growing closer in toward the trunk. Plus the white, pink and fuscia flowers on the fruit trees are incredible!
• Definitely visit the Mendocino Art Center. Nice folks with a bit of history on board- Ansel Adams had his darkroom on their site back in the 1950s. They sent us off with a congratulatory copy of Mendocino County Wines & Cooking cookbook. A homegrown, somewhat carefreely edited cookbook of delectable recipes compiled from local wineries and inns throughout the county. Can't wait to dig into those!
• Don't be afraid to go slim on the accommodations budget. A bit rustic but with plenty of simple charm and convenience to compensate, we stayed at the Seafoam Lodge. Not a bad view in any room plus the fun of watching people who've brought their dogs to this pet friendly place play on the lawn. Of course, if you really want to splurge on yourself, don't take anything but the Elk Cove Inn...and you'll need a heck of a lot more advance planning to get in there. I've been going there on and off for 10 years- the place is fantastic and with the addition of its restaurant- getting better. The massage...well, my thought is try first at Sweetwater.
• See all the baby lambs jumping in the fields. According to my new copy of Images of America about the Anderson Valley, sheep farming goes way back in this valley. What's most amazing to me is that the wineries weren't even part of the picture here until the early 1980s! More local history at the Anderson Valley Historical Society.
• Further into the year- don't forget you can horse backride on the beach and sea kayak!

More pictures on our Flickr site and some tide pool video at my other blog. Thanks for reading!

Auspicious Nuptial Signs

A misty day in January, with drizzle as thick as bear's fur. It gently soaks through to the bone making you hurry indoors. Thus was the setting for the first day of our weekend away in Elk and Mendocino- some time away to write our wedding vows.

Our first stop inside a store found us face to face with Barbara Phillips, our host for Latitude who lives in Berkeley. One stop on our honeymoon includes the Lot Valley in southwestern France for a weeklong workshop on Medieval singing, food and culture. We have the honeymoon suite in this 14th century Mill (shown above) at La Toulzanie.

The sea outside the window of the Mendocino Hotel is filled with rollicking waves crashing against cliffs and the dreariness has a mystical quality to it. Built in 1878, 26 years after the town was founded, the Mendocino Hotel boasts elegant decor with lots of russets and blues that remind you of the previous century. Old, well-kept wood and a large fireplace in their lounge is where we periodically warm our backsides and sit surfing the net and scanning various books to create the ceremony.

As we work, friends and strangers appear. David's high school friend Kevin calls from Africa to say he and his family will be coming to the wedding. They'll be journeying from the Gambia in West Africa. Visitors come and go, lured by the fire. Two young blond boys take up a game by the fire and eventually, the older asks if we are writing a book.

Two foamy cups of hot chocolate streaked with chocolate sauce appear to nourish our spirits as we write. "How civilized," David says. Without trying, I think this may end up being a tear-jerker of a ceremony. We seek out the whimsical and eccentric to lighten the heaviness that even life's most wondrous joys can carry.

At the end of the weekend wandering the private beach of the Elk Cove Inn, we find an abalone shell on the beach (photo of its pearly inside shown above). It is a gift from the sea with meaning relevant to what this weekend is all about for us. The universe has given us its blessing.