From: linda@wendy.net.com (Linda Hill)
Subject: Re: Gualala (was East Bay Breakfast...)
Organization: Network Equipment Technologies
Distribution: ba
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 18:26:10 GMT

In article <1k6bf4INNbik@morrow.stanford.edu> CT.LAS@forsythe.stanford.edu (Laural Sledge) writes:
>Does anyone have suggestions for restaurants, hotels or inns
>around Gualala (Northern Calif. near Sea Ranch)?  My husband and I
>are planning a trip in February.

Yes, yes, yes!  Go to St. Orres and stay in the Rose Cottage (or any of the
others that appeal to you more).  Here's a trip report I wrote up last year:

We spent our honeymoon weekend at Murphy's Jenner Inn in January,
1991, and St. Orres this year was for our wedding anniversary weekend.

From Alameda we made our way to Petaluma on 101 and then cut over to
Bodega Bay from there to catch Highway 1 the rest of the way north.
We made our requisite stop at Goat Rock Beach to visit the seals (if you
see a guy on the side of the road near there selling smoked salmon, get
some!) and then we made another stop at Fort Ross.  This was about a
$5.00 fee and although it wasn't outstanding, it made for a nice stretch
stop.  We walked to look out over the beach from the fort itself
and then walked back to the parking lot, passing in front of the
ranger's residence, which was a sweet little house with a garden
full of flowers (in January!) and hundreds of Monarch butterflys
in the air, against the house, and on the bushes.  I don't know
if they were migrating or not, but if you stop, be sure to look
for them.  Gualala is not too much further from here and you get
to pass through infamous Sea Ranch on the way.  There's a pretty
unusual chapel (I think that's what it was!) on your right as you
head north that might be worth stopping at, but we didn't.

Except for checking in and out we had no contact with the staff, so I can't
say good or bad about that aspect.  The woman who checked us in did offer
us a complimentary beer or glass of wine if we cared to return that
evening or the next, which we did not.  I took a peek in the dining room
which was lovely.  The menu was mouth watering ($28.00 per person for
3 or 4 courses), but we had already blown our budget on the room so we
decided to pass.

We stayed in the Rose Cottage ($130.00/night) which is directly up the
hill from the lodge/restaurant itself.  I had initially been disappointed
that all the cottages with access to a shared hot tub were taken, but
after taking a cursory drive into that area I think I'm glad we were in
the less congested section (only four cottages in The Meadows vs. seven
cottages and some private homes at Creekside).

We were very happy with our accomodations which consisted of a living
area with sofa, easy chair, Franklin stove (complaint:  the firewood
provided was either wet or unseasoned), and French doors opening out onto
a deck facing the ocean, a kitchen with stove, refrigerator, coffee
maker (coffee, tea, sugar and cream provided) and dining alcove, an elevated
(open) bedroom with queen sized bed (and a beautiful, heavy comfortor), and
a bathroom with shower tub (complaint: the tub had to be filled from the
shower head, which I had been advised of in advance when I booked the room,
but what wasn't anticipated was that it would be a low-flow showerhead!).
There were huge potted plants and even a potted orchid which was a nice
touch.  It sounds silly, but the windows were so clean that I kept doing
doubletakes to see if there was really glass in them!  There was a large
skylight over the kitchen and on the second night we turned out the
light in the bedroom to find we could see the stars through the skylight
over the bed.  Very romantic!

The breakfasts were a real treat compared to Murphy's Jenner Inn.  The
latter served cold muffins/breads, fruit and coffee/tea/juice in their
community sitting room.  But St. Orres delivers a "basket" (really more
like a clever wood box with a divider tray inside) to your doorstep at
around 9am.  There is a plate with a warm entree (first day was a yummy
pizza type affair; second day looked like quiche but ended up being some
kind of egg custard on a rice pudding "crust" with currents - too gourmet
for my taste!) and a fresh fruit garnish.  This is accompanied by a
preserves jar of outstanding fresh fruit juice (a different kind each
morning) and a bowl of delicious granola cereal with a container of milk.
And there was a small banana loaf the first morning as well.

We had a great time at the Gualala State Park beach (be sure to
take the walk on the trail above the beach out to Whalewatch
Point or something sounding like that).  We also enjoyed a few
hours at Stump Beach which is south of Gualala (skip Shell Beach
in Sea Ranch as it wasn't very interesting; Stump was south of
that).  The beach itself is a small cove.  The great part was
the hike up the bluffs on the south side of the beach.  Gorgeous
crashing waves a bit south of the point and a beautiful view of
the waves rolling into the cove.

On our way back home, instead of going down to Bodega Bay and
cutting inland, we turned east at Jenner to go to Duncans Mills
which is a kind of a tourist trap I guess, but which has a store
called Weavers and Dreamers (you have to look for it because it's
tucked away in the middle of the complex) where they have the most
beautiful "lithophane" night lights.  These are 19th century porcelain
transparency reproductions and make great gifts for new babies ($20),
if you're in the market for that sort of thing.  :-)  I only mention
it because I've bought one of these both times we've been there!

Sorry to be so long winded, but we really enjoyed our stay.  The phone
number is (707)884-3303.

-- 
Linda V. Hill                           "Nakia", Hans Christian 33
Network Equipment Technologies          Email: linda@net.com
800 Saginaw Drive, 23.2.3               Phone: (415) 780-5785
Redwood City, CA 94063 			Fax:   (415) 780-5001
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