PamSF

SOmeone asked awhile back about the Old Druids Hall Inn. Therefore, I've included it in the title.
We spent a wonderful three days out in Point Reyes this past weekend. We stayed in the cottage at Old Druids Hall Inn in Olema. This is a wonderful small inn with a great attention to detail. The cottage is set apart from the main inn. It has a full kitchen which we did make use of. It also has a double jacuzzi tub, VCR, DVD player and a basket of "french continental breakfast" delivered each morning along with the SF Chronicle. We would stay here again in a heartbeat but will need to feel flush when doing so.

Thursday night we ate at the Olema Inn which is within walking distance of Old Druids Hall. We have eaten here several times over the years as the place has waxed and waned. It seems to be waxing again. The wine list is impressive but more to the point they have a very good selection of 1/2 bottles. Most of the food including oysters was very good.

We spent Friday at Limantour Beach reading a pile of things that needed to be gone through and watching everything from the shorebirds to other folks. This is a wonderful spot for folks to visit while in Point Reyes. It's a relatively easy walk from the parking lot. We returned to Point Reyes Station and stocked up on goodies from Tomales Bay Foods which ended up being dinner on Friday night.

Saturday was so overcast it seemed it would never lift. We hit the Farmers Market @ Tobys Feed Barn and sampled various local cheeses and preserves. The best news is Sun Marin Farms (all grass fed stock) is opening a meat market and eatery where Chez Madeline was all those years. They should be open in about 2 weeks. We shared a burger from there while at the Farmers Market and thought it was delicious. We poked around our usual haunts in town on Saturday and headed up coast to the Mostly Natives Nursery in Tomales. That evening we drove up the coast (about 1 hour) to Bodega Bay. R5 had turned us on to The Seaweed Cafe in BB.
What a treat! This is a very small venue, great wine list and very interesting foods. I liked everything about the place. If anyone is heading that way, I'd say make it a point to go to the Seaweed. They serve brunch on the weekends and dinner Thurs-Sunday. They have a website which will give you a hint of what's in store. We were too late to make it to the Ren Brown Gallery (Japanese art and right around the corner from the cafe) but will make it a priority soon.

Sunday we checked out and headed for our annual walk out Abbott's Lagoon. This remains one of my favoirte walks in all of Point Reyes. It's about 2 miles out to the beach through pastureland. There has been a great deal of work done lately to try and restore some of the native flora and make the surrounds more habitable for the Snowy Plover (a shore bird). The lupine are returning and theis year's bird count is improved. We were serenaded by various birds as we walked in near silence otherwise. It's gotta be good for the soul! The lagoon was loaded up with both brown and white pelicans. By midafternoon we headed back to Inverness. We did stop by Manka's to look at the menus. It is now $88 on the weekend and $58 Thurs and Friday nights for a set dinner. The front "palor" seemed very crowded and the feel of the place, in general, has gotten a bit too contrived IMO.
We miss the early days of the Grade ownership when locals night was one of the best ones to dine there. Even the lodge plate days seem to have faded from view.

We headed out for home with a stop along the way to visit with Marilyn and Phil Flash and their lovely children, Romeo and LuLu. It was a very good way to end our "petite vacance".

Now it's back to the grind but restored.

Marilyn

Very prompt, Pam! Everyone should be suitably impressed.

Thanks for the info. I'm glad to hear good things about the Olema Inn, since it's so close to our house. We haven't eaten there in years, but will make a point of trying it again soon.

Thanks for stopping by! Romeo and Lulu say Prrrrrrr.

nicoleevon

Pam,

Thanks for the great trip report. Now I'm even more excited for our October honeymoon at Druids Hall! We'll definitely be taking that walk to Abbott's Lagoon.
I have to agree with your opinion of Manka's being over the top. I initially looked into renting a cabin there for October, but they were amazingly expensive & when I asked for a brochure so I could what I was paying for I was told they were currently out of print. Sounds like I made a good choice by going with Druids Hall.

PamSF

Nicoleevon~I am so glad you saw this posting. Yup, the Old Druids Hall Inn is exceptionally well done and the staff were immensely helpful. The cabin is lovely and will be a great honeymoon getaway. The kitchen is complete so you will be able to cook as you desire. There is even a Bosch dishwasher!! The breakfast is simple. They delivered soft boiled eggs each day which we boiled a bit more and made egg salad for beach picnics. They will have granola, yogart and Struass milk and 1/2 and 1/2 in the frige when you arrive.

If you don't want to go out every evening, hit the Tomales Bay Food company as I mentioned. They have roasted chickens for take out. We bought a half and it was delicious!(I seem to remember you are not a red meat eater).

Bring DVDs as the cabin has a DVD player. We loved being in our own little space with Diana Krall singing. They also have a VCR and the Inn has a pretty good selection of films to watch.

Abbott's Lagoon is absolutely our favorite walk in Point Reyes although you will have other choices. There will be an official map of the Seashore among the papers waiting in the cabin for you. Some other points in the park we particularly like: Tomales Bluff and Limantour Beach.

This will be a significantly more low keyed place to stop along your honeymoon trail than Post Ranch but it is stunning and definitely not to be missed.

BTW~when you are in the area of Post Ranch, consider a trip to Point Lobos State Park. The walks are easy and you will be in the midst of beautiful Califoria coastline splendor.

Let me know if you need any more info. R5 is a great source of info for Point Reyes and Sonoma surrounds.

nicoleevon

Thanks for all the great advice. I printed out our past thread & have highlighted all the walks, restaurants, etc. that you & R5 have mentioned (yes, I'm a planning nerd).

Low key is just fine with me. I'm looking forward to Post Ranch Inn, but that's definitely not our usual kind of vacation. Normally we do half camping/half hotels. It will be a treat for me to be in hotels for the whole trip!