Part 1: A Road Trip: California Coast with my two main men! NICK'S COVE on Tomales Bay.
Long overdue and yet a road trip along the California coast is frankly delightful no matter the time of year... SO, here goes.
I am a big fan of being away for New Year's-- preferably somewhere remote without a lot of people, urbanity, traffic, noise, etc. That may surprise some of you as I am a woman who likes to kick up her heels, but New Year's has always felt like a time to have a fantastic time with an intimate few, and especially as I get older (!!), I'm much more conscious of starting a new year off on the kind of foot I'd like to permeate my year. Wow! I'm sounding so grown up?!
This year, with Baby Ever in the world, I knew I wanted to be somewhere idyllic with just my two main men. I didn't want to fly, and I wanted to plan ahead so, after a lovely California Coast Babymoon with Napper, I was inspired to roughly retrace our steps, this time with the baby boy out in the world.
Nick's Cove is one of our favorite spots on earth-- Lucy and I both seem to write love letters to Nick's Cove after every visit. It was the obvious choice for a cozy, festive New Year's where we would literally go to sleep and wake up on the water surrounded by pine trees-- heaven! I booked Al's Cottage, a waterfront cottage that is painfully cute and immaculate. It is perfect for a couple but would say it was a little tough with the travel crib and Ever as there isn't a door that closes between the bedroom and living room. Next time we're springing for Big Rock or Bandit's Bungalow that have two bedrooms each!
We spent two glorious days in the area-- we had oysters, clam chowder and sandwiches with wine on the dock at the Marshall Store; brought a picnic lunch to Heart's Desire beach across the Bay in Inverness and hiked the trails through the woods to the neighboring beaches; had sundowners on our porch (Ever loves a good jam session); festive dinners at the restaurant (one of the lovely women who works at the front desk babysat for us); browsed our favorite hippie store in Inverness, Spirit Matters-- true exchange between guy working the register and a customer, "hey man, you still dancing with the Sufis?"; and did some serious lounging in our cozy cabin. It was a perfect New Year's. Can't wait to get back up there! Seriously contemplating what it would be like to live in Marin......???
And you're asking yourself, "well where did they stop along the way to and from Tomales Bay as it is a 7 hour drive from LA?" Rest assured that burning question shall be answered this week! Stay tuned!