We spent a day exploring the Mendocino area, including a casual afternoon picnic on Mackerricher Beach. The picnic basket backpack I bought as a birthday gift to myself finally arrived and we figured this would be a good time to use it as any. So we packed up some scones, our entire stash of cookies, and tea.

We stopped by the Carbrillo Light Station along the way. It’s an easy hike out from the parking lot that opens up to the coast. At the very end is this lighthouse. It’s a beautiful, remote place to stop. There are also a few houses you can rent if you’d like to stay here. Though we randomly stopped by here, we later found this lighthouse is a popular place for sunset photos. 

One of my favorite places is also the little town of Mendocino itself. It’s lined with cute cottage inns, Victorian homes, boutique stores, and restaurants. It’s located around a grassy outcropping that reaches out to sea. 

I always like dropping by the wood store here. Someday I’ll buy a piece when I can think of the right project. There’s just something soothing about the feel and look of wood that makes any room feel warmer.

We stopped by the Gallery Bookstore and couldn’t help admiring the cozy reading nook. 

Not too far from the Mendocino town is Stanford Inn. There are some beautiful blooms at the Medicocino Coastal Botanical Gardens  that we’ve been to a few times, but the vegetable and flower gardens at the inn are worth visiting too. For vegans, Stanford Inn has a well rated restaurant called The Ravens.

We spent the rest of our evening taking golden hour photos of the coast, which I’ll share in the next post.  Because we were so cold afterwards, we we went back to our rooms to change into fluffy robes and swimsuits. Then promptly headed for the sauna and hot tub. We finished drying by our fireplace and eventually fell asleep for the next 8-9 hours. Not a bad way to end the day!