Novato’s Nice, But Play in the Bay

I didn’t think I’d find myself back in the Bay so soon. I was just here in February, but 3 weeks just outside of San Francisco sounded like a great way to ring in spring. Novato’s nice, but like Flagstaff, it’s just a nice home base for all of the other areas I wanted to explore. I made a few revisits and chartered some new territory around the bay. I love that there are so many wildly different adventures you can take within a couple hours drive in this part of California. I went back to Point Reyes, San Francisco, Napa/Sonoma, Berkeley, and explored Petaluma, Santa Cruz, and Richmond, and loved every single stop.

Point Reyes is so unbelievably beautiful, I will gladly return every time I find my way to the bay. I got to go explore the Cypress Tree Tunnel, which has topped my wishlist since I saw it from the road in February. There is a closed gate in front of the trees, but it’s to keep the cars out not the pedestrians. Feel free to pull off and walk down to the art deco building at the end of a dreamy tree lined lane. I wish I’d known that as I drove by at golden hour last time. Ah well, I made the most of my repeat visit. The light filtering in and the smell of the ocean mixes with the trees, and it is AMAZING.

Last time I visited Point Reyes on a Tuesday, and the Hog Island Oyster Cafe is only open Friday-Sunday, so I was determined to make a return visit to the exact location from the episode of The Chef Show. It did not disappoint, but it’s still absurdly expensive. $60 for 10 oysters, a salad, and a local beer is a little obscene. It was fun to be at the cafe, but I thought the food and experience were a little better at Tony’s Seafood Restaurant down the street. So if you can only choose one, I hope you pick Tony’s and get Mike as your waiter. Be sure to check out the Tomales Bay Trailhead, Point Reyes shipwreck (park at the little convenience store and climb over the dune), stroll around the sweet shops at Point Reyes Station, check out Drake’s Beach, and how could you resist a place called Heart’s Desire Beach?

I met a dear friend from college in Sonoma. I went with no plans or tasting reservations. I just got in the car, put Sonoma in the GPS, and pulled over where things looked interesting. I had the most incredible ceviche tostada and fish taco on the pretty patio at El Molino. I had a very interesting spirits tasting at Italian inspired Prohibition Spirits, their space is dreamy. I wandered around the precious plaza, split a bottle of bubbles at an adorable champagne bar called Sigh, and had a delicious meal and local bourbon flight at The Girl & The Fig. It was a picture perfect impromptu day. Bonus points for Bluebonnets before my meet up with a fellow Texan.

Winging it in Wine Country has been totally working out for me. Last time I noodled around Napa. This time I took a field trip out to Geyserville just to look at the vines developing, the wildflowers in bloom, and to sample the solid selection of barrel aged beers at Barrel Brothers. With inventive flavors, hilarious names, and badass branding, I was hoping to be a fan, but honestly it missed the mark a bit for me. I was underwhelmed by my whole flight and absolutely hated the Friends themed kiwi strawberry beer. I had better luck with the fantastic bbq and delicious Tango con Mango sour at Old Possum Brewing and the Juiced at HenHouse on a subsequent trip out that way.

Petaluma is SO pretty. I checked out the adorable town square, stalked a serious collection of Victorian mansions, and was really really pleasantly surprised by my trip to Lagunitas. I expected it to be corporate and generic, but their seasonal selections were all fantastic and the food was ridiculous. Being a Vietnamese Texan, I am preternaturally programmed to hate banh mi brisket tacos, but they looked SO good, I had to try them. They were fantastic, and every single day I considered my options for each daily adventure, I considered putting Lagunitas back on the list.

An aimless road trip north toward Healdsburg yielded some gems. I went with no plan, just hopped in the car and looked to while away a few hours. Every single stop I made was a pleasant surprise. There were plenty of victorians, antique stores (Modern Antiquarium is a must stop) and there is something truly magical about vines in late afternoon sunlight. I had the best buffalo burger and cajun fries of my life at Healdsburger. It was remarkably retro, made for two great meals, and I had a wonderful time on their patio. Parliament Brewing was a fun stop and their trivia game was on point. The Coconut Hootenanny tasted more than a little like straight soy sauce, but the Elation Pastry Stout was perfection. The win of the week for me was Old Caz. The crowd kept me in stitches, and I loved every pour of BOTH of the flights I experienced there. The Lavender Lemonade Radler was ridiculous, and I completely understand why their citrus hazy has won so many awards.

I had a vague idea to head back south towards Santa Cruz and just stop at some of the places that caught my eye on the way in. I passed a sign for the Rosie the Riveter World War II Museum and immediately pulled over. It’s free and VERY well done. I couldn’t for the life of me find my way to the Rosie Memorial Rose Garden. The map kept sending me to a gated community, but I think I got pretty close. I was a little bummed to miss it, but the museum was a highlight of the trip. There was a class field trip there on a scavenger hunt which made it a little difficult to social distance my way through the space, but they were having so much fun, it was infectious in the best kind of way. The views around the bay from the park are pretty spectacular, so even if you aren’t an uber feminist paying your respects, you’ll enjoy your field trip too.

Last year when I explored Berkeley, I went with a vague idea to try to get in for at least a drink at world famous Chez Panisse, but they were closed for the week. I was almost unsuccessful this time too. My reservation was rescheduled after a Covid Closure, but I was able to make it to town to do a little exploring before dinner.

I tried to visit some of the Julia Morgan buildings in Berkeley. My self guided tour was a total bust. My first four attempts were aborted and I gave up and headed to a sour brewery called The Rare Barrel to do a video interview for my next house sit. Turns out everywhere in Berkeley requires vaccination proof and I was horrified to find that my vaccine card was not in my purse as expected. Luckily the sweet neighbor for the housesit was home and able to send me a photo of my card, so I was able to enjoy a half pour at the brewery and made it to my table in the very Frank Lloyd Wright inspired craftsman bungalow, but not without a fair amount of stress.

I am no stranger to fine dining, but I’m not currently at the income bracket to do the full tasting menu AND full time adventuring. I thought I could come in, get a salad and an entree and peace out for about $60. The menu changes every single day, and you will have absolutely no idea what you’re in for when you arrive. Of COURSE the only entree that interested me was a $40 piece of fish, so I left still slightly hungry and $90 lighter. Their “iconic” goat cheese salad was pretty generic and honestly, so was the fish. The spritz and free bread were my favorite parts of my 45 minutes there, so I’m going to have to put the cafe at Chez Panisse on the skip it list. I was able to console myself watching “What About Bob” with an excellent flight at a literary inspired brewery called Novel. My samples were served in a hollowed out Hitchcock mystery, so that was a total win in my book.

San Francisco seriously never gets old, but I discovered some new gems this time around. I had a wonderful watermelon wheat at 21st Amendment and a tequila barrel aged mole stout that melted my brain at Black Hammer Brewing before I went to my first Giants game, and had the most memorable day. I explored all 7 fantastic floors of the SFMOMA, especially the contemporary optics and one way color tunnel. I found some random architectural marvels, though I still haven’t made it into the spectacular spiral staircase at the Mechanics Institute Library. I checked out the Jack Kerouac Alley and Beat Museum, and wandered around North Beach. I waited in line for the world famous focaccia at Liguria Bakery. It is NOT overhyped, the pizza, jalapeño cheddar, and rosemary & garlic flavors were beyond badass. I wandered around Chinatown, Union Square, happened upon the Hearst Building which was absolutely stunning, as were the Moraga Mosaic Steps. Baker Beach and Stinson Beach were both beautiful. The Hunter’s Point sculpture park is delightful, and I had a lot of fun checking out the views at the Mildred Howard Frame. I did have to do some repeat visits. I made it back to Bourdain’s beloved Tonga Room for Tiki cocktails and indoor rainstorms. And honestly no trip to the bay is complete without a wander around the Marin Headlands or Fort Baker’s beautiful scenic overlook to check out the Golden Gate Bridge.

My petsit in a sweet victorian inspired house was lovely. The cats didn’t really want to have anything to do with me, so I I spent plenty of time exploring. Honestly, Novato is cute, but doesn’t really require a stop. If you need a home base that is relatively convenient to Napa, Sonoma, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and most of the bay, you could do far worse. I found fun all over the map, and considered myself lucky to call it home for a few weeks. It was a total blessing to be back, and something tells me I’ll find myself there again soon.