Day 3

 I don’t know how to even begin describing the beauty we experienced today. I know the pictures will not do justice to what we saw. I apologize for the number of photos but I just couldn’t stop taking them. 

We left the Half Moon Bay Inn this morning just before 7 to go get our breakfast and lunch for the trail. 

This is where we had breakfast and they packed our lunches. There were no grain free options but I managed with gluten free/dairy free steel cut oatmeal with banana and honey. Jo Anne had a thick slice of pumpkin bread. 

This sign says your speed 0 mph 🤣

Love these little planters of pansies

The fence is made from the most interesting things like garden hoes and rakes and the red door that opens to the garden area with mushroom and gnome statues. So fun!

These signs are posted everywhere along the walk. Our rep told us we didn’t have to wear them on the walk but everyone is so... hopefully since tomorrow is Monday there won’t be as many people and we won’t have to keep them on so much. 

We enter the state park and the beginning of our coastal walk. 

Most of today’s trail follows the California Coastal Trail. The state beach is made up of Roosevelt, Dunes, Venice and Francis beaches. The Ocean Shore Railroad laid tracks over much of what is now Francis Beach and in the 1920s “rum runner” cruises offshore unloaded illegal booze on Francis Beach. An army post was set up here during WWII

Taking a minute

Surf fishing at Half Moon Bay. 

My uncle Bill sent me this picture of the results of surf fishing at Half Moon Bay with him, our grandad, and great granddad taken in 1951 or 52. It’s a small world. 

Sign posts for the trail

Sam’s chowder house is the 4.5 mile mark for our walk today. 

Jo Anne didn’t realize she had an ice cream shop and restaurant here 😁

I think these are crab traps but feel free to correct me. There were hundreds of them stacked here. This little town is known as Princeton-By-The-Sea. It’s noted for the streets named after famous colleges (Princeton, Yale, Harvard, West Point etc). 

Our lunch stop is at Pillar Point Harbor, once a whaling station run by Portuguese sailors. It’s now home to one of the largest commercial fishing fleets in Northern California. There are 369 berths and an estimated annual haul of 10 million pounds of fish. We saw a sea lion up close to the shore hoping for someone to toss him some food (not allowed). 

My Cobb salad

Jo Anne’s chicken spinach wrap

Maverick beach, a world famous surfing spot. Waves here are regularly over 25’ high and can go as high as 80’ caused by an unusually shaped underwater formation. 

Air Force station at the top of the promontory at Pillar Point. It is now a missile tracking station. Interesting fact: my uncle George was stationed at Half Moon Bay when he and my aunt Mary Jo first got married. 

A meditative moment

Arriving at Moss Beach 

Moss Beach was founded by German immigrant Juergen Wienke, who planted all the groves of cypress. 

There’s another picture taken from this spot at the end of the blog with the sun setting. 

The cypress trees in Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. It is now an important research area for marine biologists and has one of the best tide pool habitats in Northern California. The reserve backs up to our Inn for the night. 

Driveway to the Inn. 

Our room

We have a gas fireplace in our room. 

The view from our patio 

The gardens and Inn are phenomenal. 

Front of the Inn

Back of the inn

We were told THE place to eat in Moss Beach is the Distillery. It’s an historic building opened in 1927 as a speakeasy, “Frank’s place” was popular with famous silent film stars. It converted to a restaurant after the 1933 repeal of prohibition. We called at noon when they opened to see if we could get a reservation. They were already booked for the entire day. 🙁 Sooo, we walked to a market and bought a bag of veggie chips for supper 🤣. 

Watching the sun set on Moss Beach. 

Reflecting off the cypress tree

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The walk from Half Moon Bay to Moss Beach took about 5 hours including our lunch and other breaks. We arrived at our inn at 1 pm. 

An absolutely indescribable day. Every time I am at the ocean I am awed by the power and majesty of God’s creation. This has been a much needed respite and blessed time together