Breathe. Exhale. Relax.
How to settle in and enjoy a luxuriously extended vacation in Mendocino
Enjoy a long walk along the Coastal Trail in Fort Bragg
Happy May, all! Spring has sprung out in all its flowery glory, and people have started to come out of their COVID shells, anxious to get OUT of the house and OUT of the city, to go somewhere beautiful where they can reconnect with nature and breathe in the calm of the woods and the waves. That itch to get out combined with more flexible work schedules and all the accumulated vacation hours that didn’t get used last year means that people are able to book longer stays and really settle into their time in Mendocino.
It has been so much fun watching these folks mellow out and relax over their extended visits. There is a distinct difference between how they carry themselves when they arrive, still tense from the stressors of work and daily life, and how they carry themselves a few days into their stay, visibly relaxed once they’ve had a chance to mentally disconnect a little from their regular cares and worries. The general pace of movement and activity is also different from a shorter stay, in which visitors feel the urgency of time and often try to pack as much in as possible – there seems to be a greater degree of relaxed enjoyment overall in these longer stays, a delight in the luxury of time.
After helping set up quite a few of these longer stays in the past couple of months, we’ve come up with a few recommendations to inspire you as you start to dream about your own extended visit to the Mendocino coast…
Take a drive down one of the country roads that meander through the hills and see what lovely, pastoral gems you find.
It’s all about margin.
While we love planning activities, hikes, site seeing, and all the fun things to do, we firmly believe in the importance of underplanning over overplanning. Allow yourself the space to stop in the middle of your hike and just sit on a rock and soak in the quiet of the woods if you want to. Plan for free time at the inn that could be a nap, reading on your private deck, playing Scrabble, or sipping on some chilled white wine while catching up with your partner. Completely adlib at least one day, letting the various little moments come to you as they may and going as the inspiration strikes you.
Take time to savor a fine meal in good company
Food is art.
We are all about food. Just look back over previous posts and see how many deal with delightfully delicious things. And with a longer stay, you have more opportunities to try local eateries.
Dinner: During a longer visit, we like to recommend making a dinner reservation for at least one night, maybe two or three, depending on how much you want to be out and about. The other evenings, perhaps you’ll want to just keep it light with our Wine Hour appetizers and maybe a few other snacks you pick up during the day at the market.
A few of our favorites for a special dinner include:
Tasting Menu at the MacCallum House
Fine seafood at Wild Fish
Romantic garden seating at Trillium
Cocktail dinner at Noyo Harbor Inn
Our favorite more casual options (also great if you want to bring food back to the inn) include:
Pizza from Café Beaujolais (they have other delicious things on their menu too, as well as the best international beer selection in the area)
Clam Chowder at Mendocino Café
Fish tacos at Casa del Sol
Cozy outdoor set up at Mayan Fusion
Lunch: Umm, so the list of delicious places to go for lunch is tooooooo long. We really enjoy recommending places that fit into your plan for the day, where you think you’ll be, etc. Most are casual enough that you don’t need a reservation, but there are several nicer restaurants that do lunch reservations as well as dinner in case you are looking for a more formal midday meal.
For reservations, check out: Mendocino Cafe, Trillium, Noyo Harbor Inn
For no reservations, drop by:
In Mendocino: Good Life Cafe & Bakery, Patterson’s Pub, Cafe Beaujolais, Frankie’s
In Fort Bragg: Piaci’s, North Coast Brewing Company, Princess Seafood, Casa del Sol, Noyo River Grill, La Estrella, Super Torta, Sea Pal
Make your way to the ocean as often as you can during your visit and just watch the waves
Get outside
The greatest wealth that the Mendocino coast has to offer is its abundance of stunningly gorgeous Nature. Try to get out and connect with the earth around you for at least a little bit every day. This could be setting up a guided Shinrin Yoku session, going for a hike (however long or short), getting out for some kayaking, bird watching, or even simply sitting on the beach or on a comfy seat somewhere along the miles and miles of ocean bluffs to watch the waves and let the sea breeze wash your mind clean. Time with and in Nature is one of the single greatest ways to optimize the amount of refreshing and relaxing that you can fit into your time away. And with a longer stay, you can really soak it all in.
Follow a long hike with a quiet, weather-appropriate beer on the back deck at the inn
Switch things up
Maybe take the first day or two to really relax and let yourself unwind, then plan a structured day of higher activity, followed by a free form day that unfolds before you as it goes. If you feel led to have more activity every day, switch it up so that you have higher activity in the morning followed by more relaxed afternoons, or vice versa. And yes, we know this recommendation is very similar to the first, but actually relaxing on vacation is just so darn important to us that we have to find multiple ways to focus on it apparently!
Early morning on Big River is a favorite time and place of ours
Find your favorites
Take the time to find vistas along the cliffs, sunny picnic tables, or fun little shops that make you feel at home and revisit them at least once or twice during the duration of your visit. It’s incredible how quickly you can feel that grounding sense of belonging when you do this, a sense that builds its own sort of calm into the overall experience. This is even more pronounced when, like many of our guests, you revisit those favorites every time you come back to Mendocino.
Another favorite of ours that we love sharing with everyone - wildflowers!!!
We could, of course, go on and on talking about this sort of thing – we love Mendocino, we love sharing it with all of you, and we want everyone to have the sort of experience that will make them love it as much as we do. We will stop here for now though, and when you come visit we can go just as in depth on every one of these recommendations as you like!
Now go start planning your own extended visit with us here in Mendocino!
Words & pictures by Laura Hockett