After San Francisco, Fred heads up the north coast toward Fort Bragg.
040809.1823 — Gualala, CA (just down the CA coast from Point Arena)
I’m stopping here for dinner, and there happens to be an open internet connection, so I might as well dash off a note before I head up the coast to find a camping spot.
I also tried to visit the Bay Model in Sausalito — a giant model of the SF bay, built by the army corps of engineers to understand water patterns, etc.
After dinner — barbequed oysters and salmon, with North Coast “Old Rasputin Imperial Stout” — I’m going to find an early campsite and get some to-do list items out of the way, various things I have to write checks for and mail because they’re too primitive to have electronic billing. Tomorrow I plan to visit the Mendocino County courthouse, which I believe is in Ukiah, and try to get a copy of my Great-grandmother Helene Rickard’s birth certificate; she was born in Mendocino in 1898 after her parents sailed around South America from Ireland because of the potato famine (back when low-carb meant you starved).
More pictures from today are in the camera, not sure if I’ll get around to loading them before I take off. I wasn’t expecting that the barbequed oysters would actually have barbeque sauce, which is a little gross but not enough to stop me from enjoying the tasty bivalves. If I hadn’t found a dive restaurant I was planning on cooking in the car.
Often when I’m dining alone I wonder how restaurant critics do their jobs — I guess they’d usually go in groups so they can sample more than one dish, and see how groups are treated; singles are always awkward. Sardine Factory, Monterey — thumbs up; Bubba Gump’s, Wherever fine tourists are served — so-so; Oceansong Pacific Grill, Gualala — not so much. The salmon with mango chutney didn’t make me physically ill, yet, though the beer was fine out of a bottle.
(Speaking of which, how am I going to visit the North Coast brewery if I’m in Fort Bragg at 10 in the morning? Hmph.)