About Fort Bragg and the Mendocino coast

My wife Sylvia and I moved up to Fort Bragg five years ago from Palo Alto, in the San Francisco bay area, where we had lived for 31 years. The honeymoon with the area is not over yet. We love it here. A former lumbering and fishing town, with a harbor formed by the mouth of the Noyo river, Fort Bragg is now dependent on tourism for its economic base. But it's still a real, small American town, with friendly people ready and willing to help their neighbors, and not in too much of a hurry to stop and talk. Here are some photos, all taken within a mile or two of my shop.

This is typical northern California coastline. We are at the southern edge of the Pacific Northwest, with about 45 inches of rain a year. It's what's called a "cool Mediterranean" climate, with rain in the fall and winter, some in the spring, and virtually none in the summer. There's plenty of water to grow redwoods and pines. In November, when the rain starts, the grass stays green without watering.

The view from the log where we sit at the halfway point of our afternoon walk ~ that's right, no people...well, maybe a dozen at the height of the summer season.

The Botanic Gardens are 47 acres of marvelous plantings, and natural vegetation of the area that go right down to the ocean from highway 1. They are a bit over a mile from my shop, and are a very pleasant place for a walk.

The view from the observation house, at the end of the Botanic Gardens.

Downtown Fort Bragg retains a lot of the atmosphere of  the 1920's, when most of the buildings were built. There are lots of specialty shops and art and craft galleries. The town of Mendocino, 9 miles south, has the really upscale shopping places.

Local websites: gomendo.com Mendocino County’s official visitors’ website - travel, lodging, events mendocinocoast.com Mendocino Coast Chamber of Commerce - arts, business, community services, events, recreation, real estate, travel, photo gallery, film office mendowine.com Mendocino Wine Growers’ Alliance - tours, history, events, wineries artsmendocino.org Arts Council of Mendocino County - organizations, calendar, artists, resources mendocinofurniture.com Mendocino Coast Furnituremakers - events, gallery, artists mendocinomusic.com Mendocino Music Festival redwoods.edu/mendocino College of the Redwoods, Mendocino campus - programs in fine woodworking, marine science

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