We spent three nights in Fort Bragg. Sarah, Joey and James drove up from Novato Thursday evening and it's been a nonstop party every since. As you can probably imagine, James has been the life of the party. He's kept us all laughing and entertained from early morning until after the sun goes down. In addition to James, we've been entertained by a family of five deer that live in the field beside the house. They can often be found grazing in the front yard or hanging out in the shade of some cedar trees.
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| The Swinging Martin Men |
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| MacKerricher State Marine Conservation Area |
Fort Bragg is a coastal city of just over 7,000 located in Mendocino County. The Airbnb we stayed at had great views of the Pacific Ocean and Noyo Bay. Because of Fort Bragg's proximity to the water it is a popular tourist destination. Two of it's most popular attractions are Glass Beach and the Skunk Train.
Glass Beach is exactly as the name implies. It's a small beach that is covered with small pieces of glass. How they got there is a true "trash to treasures" story. From the late 40's to the mid-60's the site served as the town trash dump. In a stroke of brilliance someone realized it probably wasn't a good idea to dump trash along what otherwise was a beautiful coast line. Not only did they stop dumping but a massive cleanup effort was undertaken and much of the trash was removed. What was left behind was literally millions of small pieces of glass that had been broken up and smoothed by the crashing waves and rocks. Today there are small pieces of smooth glass of all colors, much like a typical beach with seashells. There is a local ordinance prohibiting visitors from removing the glass, although we understand it's frequently taken and used in jewelry and household decorations.
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| Glass Beach! |
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| James and MiMi hanging out along the shore of Glass Beach |
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| So much glass...…. |
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| Fun, Fun Fun! |
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| King James and his assistant at the top of the hill |
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| Dirty Hands=Happy Faces |
The skunk train takes visitors on a one hour ride through the surrounding redwoods. It got it's name back in the early 1900's when the railroad first starting single unit self propelled motorcars. The cars had pot bellied stoves that burned crude oil. According to legend, the residents named them skunk trains because you could smell them before you could see them.
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| James giving the engineer of the Skunk Train some last minute instructions |
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| Three stinkers in front of the Skunk Train |
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| Noyo Headlands Coastal Trail |
Joey had to leave us on Saturday afternoon to prepare for church on Sunday. Before he left we had a nice lunch at the Noyo Fish Company, a small casual restaurant with outdoor seating right on the harbor.
The rest of us enjoyed one more night in Fort Bragg before making the three hour drive to the Martin house in Novato. We're looking forward to refinishing a cedar chest for Emma Joy's room. It was given to Beth and I by my parents when we got married. It's got some miles and years on it and it's exciting to see it getting repurposed and ready for Emma Joy's arrival!
