Thirty Storey Lighthouse Trek - Point Reyes

Point Reyes Lighthouse, California

Point Reyes Lighthouse

Having just one whole day in Tomales Bay made us want to see everything we could in and around that area, so we drove about 30 minutes to Point Reyes National Seashore on a beautiful clear sunny November morning and made our way to the lighthouse situated at the tip of the peninsula. 

Scenic Walk 

The park, covering 71,028 acres in Marin County, California, is about a one and a half hour drive from San Francisco and is characterised by rolling hillocks mostly lightly covered by green or brown grass and every now and then you'll come across an opening between the hillocks where you catch a glimpse of the clear topaz blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. 

Deep Waters

The walk from the car parking area to the lighthouse steps was picturesque with gnarled trees along the side of the road. We also got a beautiful view of the expansive stretch of beach which would have been ideal for a long lazy picnic on such a beautiful day. The tree branches were low and beckoned to me like low hanging fruit, so I thought I'd try and sit on one. 

Huffing and Puffing up the Equivalent of 30 Stories

Well, lets just say I’m not as agile as I may have thought I was, living a city life for the last gazillion years, so that ended up being quite an effort and the sight of me with well fitting jeans trying to get a leg up provided a fair bit of amusement for my husband and friends. Managed to hoist myself up though, and even got a picture on the branch with my friend - who somehow didn't seem to have as much trouble getting on herself!

The Beach 

Getting to the lighthouse from the station is a challenge for the lazy and the trek up and down the 308 steps is guaranteed to give your glutes a solid workout. Visitors are cautioned that negotiating the stairs is equivalent to climbing a 30 storey building so not that appropriate for the fragile. However, there is a welcome respite every hundred steps or so in the form of rest stops with benches which we happily availed of on our way up. 

And Who Are You Looking at? 

Looking inside the lighthouse and the standing on the wraparound porch you realise how vast the ocean is and how quiet and peaceful it is around there. One of the rangers we met there said that t's quite an isolated life and sometimes they go days without seeing anyone. If you're lucky, you can spot dolphins and whales in the water but we had no such luck that day. Also, given our limited time available, we needed to get going to our next destination, Muir Woods.  

Between the Rocks

We just visited the lighthouse at Point Reyes, but the park has many other activities available such as hiking trails lasting less than one hour to six hours, the beach and culinary pursuits around.

Tomales Bay Resort

Tomales Bay Resort, Inverness, California

View from beside the dining room

Where do you go for a four day trip from San Francisco? We chose to do Napa and then were recommended Point Reyes by a friend. So from Napa we drove the two hours to Inverness, where we arrived at the Tomales Bay Resort, which we were staying in for two nights. If you've read my post on Hennessey House, you would know our first impression of this place but for those who haven't, an excerpt..

``We arrived at our `resort' which was more like a motel in the middle of nowhere, It was dark, our friends' room keys were taped to the window pane of the reception door in an envelope, and ours was nowhere to be seen. After calling our contact we found it had fallen on the floor. The place was so impersonal, and the exact opposite of our experience at Hennessey that we were quite depressed. We razzed our friend quite a bit for opting to spend more nights here. However, we got a ton of sightseeing done over the next day and a half which would never have happened otherwise and the motel grew on us by the second night so she was forgiven!''

Bungalow rooms

We chose the Tomales Bay Resort as it was the only place located on the bay inside Point Reyes National Seashore Park, so obviously the only place to stay. The room was quite large, clean and had a kitchenette and a heater with a chimney whose thermostat was bust so we kept our windows open to avoid getting stifled by the heat. Somehow none of us took pictures of the room so you're not going to be able to see that unfortunately. The place was deserted and the whole area is so quiet that its a bit disconcerting if you arrive after dark. 

After getting settled in our rooms we got back in the car to drive to Inverness to find a restaurant for dinner. We stopped by a grocery store in the middle of nowhere and being the last customers, as soon as we exited, they switched off the lights. It was really dark, quiet and eerie and reminded me of a scene out of the movie Psycho Cop where you get jumped on by a crazy killer in a deserted spot! That's my imagination running wild. That night we ate at the Station House Cafe in Point Reyes Station which was so so. 

Entrance to our rooms

The bungalow rooms we were in did not have a bay view but there are others that do. Breakfast was very basic and after spending more than $200 a night for the room the choice of cereal, two fruits and a couple of croissants (tea and coffee included) on both mornings was quite disappointing. The place is wonderfully located and the restaurant with glass windows faces the bay but I feel they haven't capitalised on the opportunities they have and lots more could have been done about the food which really is a huge part of the appeal in any resort one stays in. 

Train Through California - Coast Starlight

Train to Los Angeles

All Aboard!

Most people whom I told that we were using up a whole day of our holiday on a train from San Francisco to Los Angeles said I was mad to be wasting 10 or more hours where we could easily drive and make it there in five hours, or take the flight, my husband included. But, he very kindly humoured me and went along with it. I promised him that this would be one of the highlights of our U.S. holiday and he wasn’t disappointed. 

Before booking the tickets I researched for a month, reading blog posts, tripadvisor reviews and information on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, a direct shuttle to L.A. and I got loads of perspectives, from people cribbing about coach seats, to fellow passengers, to the delays the line was plagued by, to the service and surliness of dining staff, to the age of the tracks. However, there were also people who had a wonderful experience and gave very useful tips. Biggest of all, to take the train only if you are not on a tight schedule as sometimes the delays could extend to well over 12 hours! 

Dining Car

So I did. Kept a good two day buffer before our flight back home, booked a sleeper cabin - never mind the cost, was going to be a holiday indulgence - and looked forward to getting on the train. We almost didn’t make it though. 

Staying with a childhood friend in Mountainview, California, we had to catch the train from Oakland’s Jack London Station at 8.50 a.m. My friend insisted on driving us there, as only good friends do, and assured us that 40 minutes was all it would take to reach, while carefully making herself a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast. Got into the car at 7.45 a.m., turned on the GPS and uh oh! The earliest we were likely to reach was at 8.45 if we were lucky, and then have to park, find our way in and check in 2 suitcases, it was all looking very bad. 

Breakfast

The highway was jammed because of two or three accidents and apparently a jumper. We were bang in the middle of rush hour but the one thing going for us was the carpool lane which was thankfully free for a huge distance. My friend drove like Schumacher but we were forced to take some circuitous detours and even managed to go off track at one point thanks to me not paying attention to the GPS at a crucial time (OK I know what you’re thinking).

 My heart was sinking, I could see the not-so-small amount of money we paid vanishing in front of my eyes and having to shell out another God-knows-how-much for last minute airfare and my poor friend was beating herself up about taking her time with the peanut butter sandwich, muttering that she would never eat another one in her life, while navigating lanes like a pro. Buy hey, we got to see a whole lot of Oakland that we never would have otherwise! Look at the bright side. 

Pacific Parlour Car Lounge

After about almost an hour of tension, crucial moments ahead where a minute here and there would make all the difference, the hubby suddenly piped up and said `the only way we will make it is if the train is late’. He looked up the website for the timings and voila! It was! By a whole 20 minutes! Phew! All that tension dissipated, we started laughing and joking and made it to the station with a good 15 minutes to spare. 

Aboard the Coast Starlight, our cabin had two long sleeper seats on one wall, and one chair on the opposite window, a teeny tiny bathroom stall with a commode and shower and there was a sink with liquid soap in the cabin just as you enter. We were then directed to the dining car, where we were seated at a table with a white table cloth and given options of different combinations of eggs and pancakes and sausages and the like.

Dining Area of the Parlour Car

The highlight of my journey, however, was the Pacific Parlour car, where there was a single row of chairs lining the windows on each side for a bit and then four dining tables. The parlour car is only accessible to the occupants of the bedroom and roomette categories and all meals are included in the fare while passengers in coach have to pay for their meals. 

I was quite impressed, as anyone who has travelled on Indian Railways would be. My journeys to boarding school the first few years was nothing short of a test of endurance. Once we were stuffed two to a broken wooden bunk on third class (yes they even had third class at one time where there were wooden benches with no padding) with children and parents and porters rushing in with our trunks and bedding holdalls, injuring people in a quest to get a seat because the school would always book fewer seats than the number of children travelling. And the bathrooms! the less mentioned the better. We would hold everything in for as long as we could to spare ourselves the least possible trips there. 

Tenderloin Burger Lunch

Then there was one time, when I was 11 years old, returning from school for the holidays in the second class coach (padded berths and fan) on the Tinsukia Mail, a journey of two nights and three days from Delhi to Guwahati in Assam in June - peak summer - the lights went off in Patna, Bihar for a couple of hours. Traumatic. Food was basic. Rice, dal, chapatis and a vegetable preparation for the vegetarians and chicken curry for the non vegetarians which you had to buy separately. 

California Countryside

I had no money on me and was too shy to ask anyone so I stayed hungry! By the time we arrived in Guwahati, my white shirt had turned grey, filthy. My father, who had come to receive me at the station walked right past me, mistaking the bedraggled imp for a street urchin! I was immediately taken to a hotel where a shower and food were in order before our 8 hour drive home!

After a while our parents threw a fit and the school then started sending us by air-conditioned coaches on the Shatabdi and the Rajdhani, India’s premier trains, though they are still not a patch on the trains of the west. I’m to believe things are changing now, but because train travel in India is regarded as for the masses and those who can afford it mostly choose to fly However, it will take a while for us to have trains with parlour cars and dining cars. On our trains food is delivered to your seat. 

Teeny Tiny bathroom

Shower over the Pot!

On the Coast Starlight, they never allow you to have your own table at the dining car and always seat you with other people. At breakfast, we were seated with a young lady of African American origin with whom we had a delightful two hour chat about everything from current affairs to where to visit in our respective countries and what not. Forgetting the time, we yapped on and on and literally had to be politely reminded that it was time for them to start prepping for lunch service!

At lunch we were paired with a couple, the gentleman from the U.S., the lady from Iceland and us. We had a lovely conversation with them too and marvelled at the fact that on one table we had people of three nationalities. The girl from breakfast we had been chatting with was seated at the table next to us and was paired with another girl from the U.S. and after our table companions left, we all started talking to each other and the waitress was amazed. She pointed to the two tables with an approving smile and said..look at that!

More Brown 

Dinner was with another elderly couple returning to California after visiting their daughter in Seattle and we had a pleasant conversation with them as well. The food options were steak, crab cakes and a couple of other dishes. I went for the crab cakes and then realised I should have opted for the steak. The dining room is a great place to meet new people, though we were very lucky to have had friendly companions for all our meals. Being paired with not so pleasant people would have sucked. 

Still more brown!

I spent all my time in the parlour car reading a book, or gazing out the windows and helped myself to some strawberries that were placed in a bowl for us to help ourselves. Didn’t want to miss out on anything. We barely spent time in the cabin. The meals were so elaborate and so close to one another that it felt like one continuous hog fest the whole journey. My friend, like a super typical hospitable Indian, very particular about feeding people properly, had come back home the night before after a long day at work and immediately got down to making us chicken curry and rice for our journey and even after my trying hard to dissuade her, still went ahead with the meal. We did not get to eat it. Feel so bad. 

We reached Los Angeles Union Station about two and a half hours after the scheduled time and were surprised at how quickly and comfortably the 13 hours on the train went by. Also, the train was quite empty that day so there were no issues with getting a seat at the dining tables and we had a choice on the meal timings and there was always a seat free at the parlour car the entire time. A full train and the scenario would have been very different as my readings divulged that sometimes people did not get accommodated at the dining car because of the numbers.

By the time we got to the good part...Sunset!

The Coast Starlight travels 35 hours from Los Angeles all the way to Seattle, with breathtaking views of the ocean from Los Angeles and apparently gorgeous scenery through forests and mountains through Oregon. Passengers are treated to the ocean view if they start their journey in L.A. and also get to see some of Santa Barbara. We however, were coming the other way round and because it was winter and the sun set around 5.30 p.m. We got just about 15 minutes to enjoy the view of the ocean. The views overall were nothing great and for most of the way we passed through a desert like valley and small hills with pretty much brown scrub. Blame the California drought. 

The train also has a movie screening hall and champagne and cheese party in the evenings in the parlour car which did not happen the day we travelled. Don’t know if I would be able make the 36 hour journey anytime but whatever we did was a great first experience. It also helps if you go with no expectations. You get pleasantly surprised sometimes. We could have done with more interesting scenery though. 

Gourmet Meals on Wheels - Napa Valley Wine Train

Napa Valley Wine Train and Grgich Hills Winery

Some years back, I watched a program on the Travel and Living channel about the Napa Wine Train. They spoke about the overhauling of its rail cars, the route it took, the carefully crafted multiple-course dining menu and the places it visited, and I thought to myself, how nice it would be if I could experience that. And last November, I did.

There are quite a few options to explore Napa and its wineries. You could hire a chauffeur driven car or a limousine - they get as fancy as you want -or you could take guided tours, or rent a bike or hire a car and drive yourself. The latter would not be advisable for, after a few tasting sessions, your senses start to get a bit woozy and it would be a problem if you get caught driving under the influence. Same with the bikes. For the serious wine aficionados to make the most of Napa, you need to stay for a few days and leisurely tour as many wineries as you can. As we had only one night there, we decided to go for the Napa Valley Wine Train, which is highly recommended all round and since I was the only really enthusiastic wine drinker among the lot, a tour of one winery was more than enough. Also, it was our friend's 40th birthday, so that made it special. 

Chugging Along the Country Side

With much excitement we got on the train with its refurbished Pullman rail cars at 10.50 a.m. and were promptly directed to our dining car for our meal. If you read my previous Napa post on Hennessey House you'd know that we would have just stuffed our faces with a rather large breakfast less than half an hour before. The thought of lunch immediately after, was a bit horrifying, so we asked if we could eat our lunch on the way back after the winery visit. They very kindly agreed and we were directed to the lounge a few coaches down and just as we were about to get comfortable, we were told that we had to go back to the dining car as that was the only option for those that had chosen the single winery visit as opposed to two. Yikes.

Perfectly Cooked Tenderloin Steak

So, back we went to the dining car and prepared to eat our gourmet meals. Now three of us went to boarding school where we were perpetually hungry and I don't think we're completely cured of that yet, so back-to-back meals are completely doable. Two of us ordered the steak (their specialty), one ordered the pork medallions and another ordered the salmon? We ate it all, drank a glass of wine, then rolled out of the train to drink some more wine.

The Wine Train stops at the Grgich Hills winery and it's of significance as the founder Mike Grgich, a Croatian immigrant whose Chateau Montelena Chardonnay beat French wines for the first time in the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, instantly catapulting Napa and Californian wines into the serious global wine map. He then set up his own winery.

It was a cool, crisp, sunny day perfect for wine tasting. So in we went, got a detailed tour, sampled seven different types of wines from chardonnays to sauvignon blancs to merlots and more. Towards the end of tasting, while we were on our sixth glass of wine, as I turned to our friends and remarked that this was probably the most wine the hubby would've drunk in his life (he's a whiskey drinker) I felt a sloshing in my glass. He had poured his red into mine. He just couldn't take any more wine. Karmic connection or what! After the tasting we were each given a complimentary Grgich Hills wine glass - which we brought all the way back to India - and those wanting to sign up to be a part of their wine club could do so. 

Mustard Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

After the tour, we got back onto the wine train and sat in the lounge car for our coffee and dessert on the way back. Each trip, up and down is about an hour's ride. The views in itself were nothing spectacular. We went parallel to the road for much of the journey and years of drought in California have stripped the lushness of the foliage.

I must admit we weren't sure what we would experience on the train because a few months before, there was a ladies book club comprising predominantly African American women who were escorted out of the train for allegedly being too loud and it became a racism row. The women in October filed a $11 million racial discrimination lawsuit against the company, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Our Grgich Hills Guide and the Oak Barrels

However, our trip was very enjoyable and the lounge car on our way back was full of slightly buzzed people chatting among themselves and we had a short but entertaining conversation with the people on the table next to ours. The train staff are still a bit touchy about any reference to the book club incident and when someone joked about getting kicked off if he spoke to loudly, he was told to please refrain from bringing it up!

Wine Library Grgich Hills Winery

The wine train is a bit of an extravagance, but its totally worth the experience for those who enjoy fine dining and the good life. Have crossed that off my bucket list.

Wine Country Lodging - Napa

Hennessey House, Napa

One of the most important decisions for me when planning a holiday is accommodation. I think the place you're bunking in can make or break your vacation, so when we planned to go to Napa, the wine growing region in the United States last November, I pored over Tripadvisor, travel blogs and Google for more than two weeks looking for the perfect place for our stay......and it sure paid off.

After all that research, I zeroed in on Hennessey House, a lovely bed and breakfast run by Lorri Walsh which got rave reviews. The place is a charming old world house with Victorian interiors and each room has a unique character, some with four poster beds and names like Mary Delight, Fox's Den, Pheasant Dreams, Duck Nook and Vintner's Trellis to name a few.

We stayed in a room called Lavender Lace and our friends stayed in Mary Delight. Our room had a four poster queen bed complete with drapes and a canopy and while I admit I wasn't too keen on a queen bed thinking it would be too constricted for the two of us, I had one of the best nights sleep there.

Lounging in Lavender Lace

What also helped was the fact that the rooms, instead of having a kettle with provisions for tea and coffee had instead a decanter of sherry with two glasses in keeping with the whole wine country atmosphere. Nice touch! 

The bathroom had a stained glass window and a boxy wooden flush above the commode with a chain that you needed to pull, which gave off the old world vibe perfectly. The place has since been renovated so might be a bit different than I described. The inn, located in a residential area is about a 10 minute walk from the Napa Wine Train station.

Mary Delight

However, the high point there was actually the service. We got so much more than we bargained for and every aspect of it was personalized. We arrived late around 5 p.m. driving in from San Francisco and were warmly welcomed by Lorri and Lynn. After dropping off our bags in the rooms we were treated to an evening feast on the dining table. 

Laid out on the dining table were three different bottles of wine, one red, one white and a rose, a cheese and fruit platter, and very refreshing water with cucumber and lime along with home made cookies. All on the house.

Last but not the Least

Breakfast the next morning had very nice coffee, even though I'm not much of a coffee drinker, teas of different kinds laid out, home made granola and breads laid out on the side table. The meal was personally made by Lorri and Lynn and served by them to all the diners. If the dining room gets full, guests are set up in the living room. We had a crystal goblet filled with freshly cut fruit placed in front of each of us and then plates with an artichoke omelet with asparagus on the side and a delicious muffin. 

There were two different types of butter on the table including maple butter and a foodie glutton like me just had to have it all! The coffee, the granola and, and, and. By the time I got up from the table, I was ready to explode. We also had to eat fast as we were running late to catch the wine train and then head out to Tomales Bay for the next leg of the trip. Our time at Hennessey House was so short and fleeting that it felt incomplete. 

While planning our trip my friend and I had a tussle about whether to spend two nights in Napa or two nights in Tomales Bay. I was pushing for more of Napa, but we went with Tomales Bay. We arrived at our`resort' which was more like a motel in the middle of nowhere, It was dark, our friends' room keys were taped to the window pane of the reception door in an envelope, and ours was nowhere to be seen.

 After calling our contact we found it had fallen on the floor. The place was so impersonal, and the exact opposite of our experience at Hennessey that we were quite depressed. We razzed our friend quite a bit for opting to spend more nights here. However, we got a ton of sightseeing done over the next day and a half which would never have happened otherwise and the motel grew on us by the second night so she was forgiven!

Still, Hennessey, the lovely bed and breakfast, run with so much warmth, care and thought is a destination in itself and should be savored for at least two or three days. I'll be back for sure.