Winter days along the Sonoma Coast were made for a cup of warm clam chowder, but choosing where to tuck into a bowl of the seaside delicacy is always tough because there are so many great options.

Bodega Bay’s 23rd annual Chowder Day on Jan. 31 is the best opportunity to find a favorite — or a few of them — once and for all. A dozen restaurants stretching from Spud Point to Valley Ford will fire up their giant kettles and dish out samples of their finest chowder while guests drive and slurp at their own pace.

The event, which supports the Chamber of Commerce and visitor center, is a boon to coastal businesses during the slow season and goes on no matter the weather. If the sun is shining, enjoy a glorious day at the coast. If it’s rainy, slip on boots and a jacket and let the hearty chowders work their magic.

There are two check-in locations for the event, at Valley Ford Hotel (next to Rocker’s Roadhouse) and at the Sonoma Coast Visitor Center. Chowder tastings begin at 10 a.m. and end at 3 p.m., Jan. 31.

Valley Ford Hotel, 14415 Highway 1, Valley Ford. Sonoma Coast Visitor Center, 913 Highway 1, Bodega Bay.

Learn more and purchase $30 tickets at visitbodegabayca.com.

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Travel and lifestyle magazine Condé Nast Traveler recently announced its 38th annual Readers’ Choice Awards winners — and a familiar locale rose to the top. For the second consecutive year, The Lodge at Bodega Bay came in at No. 1 on its list of the 50 best hotels in the world.

The awards survey aggregated the top-rated resorts, spas, trains, cruise lines and more from around the world, based on a total of 757,109 votes from Condé Nast readers. In addition to being named the best hotel in the world, The Lodge at Bodega Bay also clinched the title of No. 1 hotel in Northern California.

Award déjà vu

For travel buffs in the know, the wins for the coastal hotel may feel like déjà vu. The Lodge at Bodega Bay ranked as the No. 1 hotel in the world and No. 1 hotel in Northern California in Condé Nast’s 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards. The Lodge was featured in the annual awards before then, too, in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2023.

“Receiving this extraordinary recognition for the second year in a row is incredibly humbling and it speaks volumes about the remarkable team we have at The Lodge,” said Jason Reiplinger, managing director at The Lodge at Bodega Bay, in a recent press release.

“This award belongs to our staff, whose passion and commitment shine through in every guest interaction,” Reiplinger said. “It’s their genuine care and pride in showcasing the beauty of Bodega Bay and the Sonoma Coast that makes guests feel like they’ve discovered a home away from home, and that’s what this recognition is really all about.”

The Condé Nast listing for The Lodge at Bodega Bay cites it as a “laid-back getaway” on the Sonoma Coast. Here’s all you need to know about the award-winning hotel to start planning your trip:

The accommodations

The Lodge at Bodega Bay features 83 guest rooms and suites along with a pool, spa, gym, bocce court, fireside lounge and in-house restaurant. In-room amenities include complimentary Wi-Fi, a 55-inch or larger LCD television, “Sleep Sound” sound machine, plush bathrobes and slippers, 100% cotton luxury towels and more. Most rooms have fireplaces and private balconies with bay views.

The heated pool and hot tub overlook Doran Beach, a short walk from the hotel. Two spa rooms are open every day, offering several tranquil massage, facial and body treatments. Fitness classes are also available for all experience levels and include yoga, Pilates and guided meditation.

Guests at The Lodge at Bodega Bay can enjoy sustainable, locally sourced cuisine at Drakes Sonoma Coast. Great fresh eats include omelets and Benedicts made with local eggs; cheese and charcuterie boards featuring Valley Ford Creamery cheeses; Manila clams made with Sonoma Chardonnay; and pan-seared local black cod with couscous. The more casual Drakes Fireside Lounge is open daily with seasonal bites to enjoy indoors or by the outdoor firepits.

Rates start at $399 per night. 103 Coast Highway One, Bodega Bay, 707-875-3525, lodgeatbodegabay.com

More local wins

The Lodge at Bodega Bay is part of the Menlo Park-based Woodside Hospitality Group. Other hotels from the Woodside Collection also appeared in this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards, including St. Helena’s Harvest Inn (No. 2 hotel in Northern California and No. 15 in the world), Napa Valley Lodge (No. 8 hotel in Northern California) and Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa (No. 20 hotel in Northern California).

Similar to last year’s awards, Sonoma and Napa counties dominated the top hotels in the Northern California category. In addition to the Woodside properties, local hotels include North Block Hotel in Yountville (No. 3), Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa in Sonoma (No. 7), Vintage House at The Estate Yountville (No. 10), Alila Napa Valley in St. Helena (No. 11), Hotel Villagio at The Estate Yountville (No. 12), The Madrona in Healdsburg (No. 14), SingleThread Farm-Restaurant-Inn in Healdsburg (No. 15), the Farmhouse Inn in Forestville (No. 17), Stanly Ranch, Auberge Collection in Napa (No. 18) and Auberge du Soleil, Auberge Collection in Rutherford (No. 19).

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Early each Friday and Saturday morning in summer, Lana McIntire rolls a cute-as-a-button, Barbie-pink cart in front of her Bodega Bay home and plants signs along Highway 1, pointing beachgoers and coastal cruisers to her summertime-only sweet stop. “I feel like people see pink and think dessert,” says McIntire.

The mom of two launched her Nom Nom Cakes bakery cart last summer to supplement her year-round custom cake business. It was an instant success. It also happens to be Bodega Bay’s only bakery.

Laden with cookies, tarts, and McIntire’s signature cake jars, the sweet car is just a short detour into a residential neighborhood a few minutes’ drive north of town. The clientele is a mix of neighbors, day-trippers and tourists staying in nearby vacation rentals, who pull up, browse the shelves, and peek into the cart’s two refrigerated coolers in search of the perfect dessert.

The Nom Nom cart operates on a self-serve, honor-based payment system, accepting cash or Venmo. Since cell service in the area can be spotty, McIntire posts her Wi-Fi password to help customers pay online. She is usually nearby in her home — happily baking, and ready to bring in sweet reinforcements when supplies run low. McIntire notes that the cart often sells out on busy holiday weekends.

McIntire, a Los Angeles culinary school graduate with experience in high-end restaurants in L.A. and Las Vegas, moved to Sonoma County in 2014. Here she draws inspiration from seasonal fruits and rotates her cart menu each weekend. Her summer cake jars feature flavors like brown sugar peach, vanilla blackberry, and strawberry crunch. “I make my own strawberry crunch with Golden Oreos and freeze-dried strawberries,” she says. “It’s like that strawberry ice cream bar on a stick.”

That dessert is one of her most popular along with peanut butter cheesecake and a treat called the millionaire bar — a buttery shortbread crust layered with rich salted caramel, chocolate ganache, and a light sprinkling of sea salt. “It’s almost Twix on steroids,” says McIntire.

This summer, McIntire has added charcuterie boxes as a savory option, perfect for a beach picnic. Packages of homemade pancake mix are another new addition, tailored for travelers staying in the many Airbnbs in her neighborhood. Those temporary guests inspire some of the little extras she includes on the cart, like gift bags, candles and cake toppers — an instant party for those celebrating a special occasion. There are also s’mores kits and reusable marshmallow roasting sticks. As of June, the cart carries copies of her new, self-published cookbook, “Sweet Creations: Crafting Your Dream Desserts.”

McIntire has become a bit of a celebrity in her seaside town. On a trip to the post office just before opening for the season, three different people recognized her as “the dessert cart lady” and shared stories about their favorite treats. “To have three people at the same time recognize me, I was like, wow,” she says. “I’m thankful that people support my small business and the good things we’re trying to do.”

The Nom Nom Cakes bakery cart is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Friday and Saturday from May through September. Check the Instagram page, @nom.nom.cakes, for menu updates.

Nom Nom Cakes, 390 Calle Del Sol, Bodega Bay, 805-350-0680, nomnombaking.com

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Discover the hidden treasures of Bodega Bay. From stunning beaches to delicious seafood, this coastal destination has something for everyone.

Find more gems in the charming town of Bodega Bay here.

On the way

While heading to the coast, make a pit stop in Valley Ford for coffee (or a tasty breakfast burrito) at the Estero Cafe. And for the road, grab a brown paper bag of the homemade teriyaki beef jerky next door at the Valley Ford Market — it’s kind of famous in these parts.

Approaching Bodega Bay from the south on Highway 1, turn right on Bodega Highway to visit the charming town of Bodega, where you can see the Saint Teresa of Avila Church and the Potter Schoolhouse (now a private residence) — both featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 horror film “The Birds.” And don’t miss screenings of “The Birds” in October during the annual Hitchcock Film Festival at the Bodega Bay Grange Hall.

Take in the sights

Coming out of a steep ravine as you roll into Bodega Bay, turn left on Doran Beach Road and wind down to the 2-mile spit that stretches into Doran Beach at Doran Regional Park ($8 fee). It’s a great place to picnic, explore the beach, and watch surfers and fishing boats come and go through the harbor.

Back on Highway 1, as you enter town, Sonoma Coast Vineyards (limited production Pinot and Chardonnay) is on the left. On a sunny day, the back patio is a cheese-plate picnic perch for watching snowy egrets that like to roost in trees along the eastern edge of the bay. 

Less than a half-mile down on the left is the Tides Wharf and Restaurant, where Tippi Hedren, in a long fur coat no less, rented a skiff in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 horror film “The Birds.” It’s a tourist trap today, but still a fun spot from which to watch workers unload fresh salmon filets at the wharf. And if you barely poke your head in the front door, you can see a massive set of shark jaws on the wall and a photo showing the more than 17-foot great white shark caught near Bodega Bay in 1984.

Best bay bites

Back on the main drag, blow past the saltwater taffy shops and windsock peddlers, and turn left on Eastshore Road where Terrapin Creek is tucked away in a row of shops like a secret culinary hideaway. Owners Andrew Truong and Liya Lin serve up a briny seasonal menu of scallops, Marin miyagi oysters, Monterey sardines, charred octopus salad and pan-roasted sea bass, all freshly sourced from the sea.

Down the way, past abandoned boats with names like Jezebel and Deliverance, Eastshore Road dead-ends at Porto Bodega Marina where Gourmet Au Bay and Ginochio’s Kitchen sit side-by-side, topped with low-slung roofs like twin trailer-park mobile homes or converted storage containers. Don’t be afraid, Gourmet Au Bay boasts an eclectic wine cellar and owner Brian Roth invented (and trademarked) “wine surfing” — so when you order a flight, it arrives on a mini surfboard. And Ginochio’s breakfast hash is loaded with 14-hour slow-cooked Texas brisket.

From Eastshore, take Bay Flat Road west as it turns into Westshore Road and you’ll smell the steaming pots in front of Spud Point Crab Company across from Spud Point Marina. Carol and Tony Anello’s fish shack is home to a renowned clam chowder that has won the annual Chowder Day in Bodega Bay contest more than any other competitor.

Coastal education

Further down the road on the right, the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory offers public tours on Fridays. The first story docent Roger Patton likes to tell is how PG&E once tried to build a nuclear plant in the 1960s at nearby Bodega Head. After that, you get to check out the aquariums, walk outside and see Horseshoe Cove, and touch purple urchins in model tide pools.

At the end of Westshore Road is the climb to Bodega Head, a windblown, dead-end vista overlooking the majestic, white-capped Pacific. A popular spot for tourists, it’s a great excuse for a hike and one of the best whale watching vistas along the coast. In March and April, docents from Stewards of the Redwoods are stationed along the cliffs to help spot mothers and their young calves migrating from Mexico back to Alaska.

Also in Bodega Bay

Pinnacle Gulch Trail: This is one of the best hikes to a secluded beach in all of Sonoma County and totally unknown to most visitors. Just before rolling into Bodega Bay, turn left on South Harbor Way, then make a quick left on Heron Drive. Cruise through the Bodega Harbour subdivision, past “Golf Cart Crossing” signs. Turn left on Mockingbird Lane and a few hundred feet on your left is the Pinnacle Gulch parking lot. From there, hike about a mile down a ravine to a beautiful beach sanctuary. Check tide charts before you go. At low tide, hike south down the beach to pick up Shorttail Gulch trail and make it a 2-mile loop back to your car.

Salmon Creek Beach: One of the best places to watch surfers around Bodega Bay is at Salmon Creek State Beach, along Highway 1 north of town. The parking lot at the end of Bean Avenue (on your right off Highway 1) often fills up on busy days. About a quarter mile up the road, you can park in another lot along the bluffs overlooking the ocean, and take the stairs down to the beach and lagoon where tiny Salmon Creek trickles into the Pacific. 

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With its rugged coastline, historic charm and some of the freshest seafood on the West Coast, Bodega Bay is a must-visit for anyone craving a classic Northern California escape. Whether you’re savoring a warm bowl of chowder with harbor views, exploring scenic coastal trails, or indulging in fresh-baked treats along the way, a day here is as breathtaking as it is delicious.

Where to go

There will be a line. There is always a line. But it moves fast, and after your first bite of a scone laced with Meyer lemon and blackberry or butternut squash, Gouda and onions, you’ll vow to return to Freestone’s Wild Flour Bread (140 Bohemian Highway). The landmark bakery is just off the winding highway that many travel to reach the two sister communities, Bodega and Bodega Bay, that are such a draw in winter seafood season.

There’s something about that first glimpse of the white steeple of St. Teresa of Avila Church (17242 Bodega Highway) in the distance that captures the spirit of Bodega’s serene surroundings. The simple façade was made famous by two great artists, photographer Ansel Adams and film director Alfred Hitchcock, and its beauty still resonates today. You don’t want to just blow through the small town that surrounds the church — after all, the ocean isn’t going anywhere.

If you’re questioning whether you should have brought that extra hoodie, now’s your chance to pick one up at neighboring Northern Light Surf Shop (17191 Bodega Highway). Also in the town of Bodega, the Dodrill Gallery (17175 Bodega Highway), located in a former butcher shop, showcases the work of adventure photographer Jerry Dodrill, who shoots climbers and adventurers around the world. His rich photographs of Sonoma County landscapes remind us to seek out special experiences close to home.

The drive from Bodega out to Bodega Head adds to the magic of the day’s journey. Take the time to notice the windswept hues and fluttering kites of the shops along the coastal highway, and stop in at Patrick’s of Bodega Bay (915 Highway 1), a sweets shop with a sweet, pink-and-white striped paint job. Later in the week, when you’re wishing you were at the coast, a stash of saltwater taffy can ease the sting.

Continue around the small bay to Spud Point Crab Co. (1910 Westshore Road), where you can take in views of a resilient fleet of fishing boats harbored in Spud Point Marina and warm up with a cup of clam chowder. Nearby, Bodega Head promises striking views with little effort. It may be a bit early for migrating whales, but there are crashing waves and many other types of coastal life, including seals and birds. If the tide is cooperating, save a few moments to pull into Campbell Cove, the too-often overlooked stretch of sand at the base of Bodega Head. At low tide, the tidepools here sparkle with sea stars and anemones.

A swell way to cap a day on the coast is from a table by the window at the new Southern-style fish house, Rocker Oysterfeller’s at Lucas Wharf (595 Highway 1), which has brought even more fun to the waterfront scene here, already a standout with fresh fish from the counter next door at Fishetarian. As the sun sets, watch for harbor seals at play from a table topped with local barbecue oysters and the giant Captain’s Platter, with seafood and hand-cut fries.

Find more of the best places to eat, drink and stay on the Sonoma Coast here.

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Windblown locals know when the best weather rolls through this gorgeous coastal hamlet. “Fall and winter is probably my favorite time of the year because you don’t have all the fog like you do in the summer,” says Shona Campbell, who recently opened Rocker Oysterfeller’s at Lucas Wharf with her husband Brandon Guenther, bringing a new iteration of their popular Valley Ford seafood restaurant to the coast.

“Also, it’s more locals and less traffic in the fall and winter,” says Campbell, who also serves as president of the local chamber of commerce.

A boom-and-bust town that seems to ride the waves of the latest tourist or fishing season, there’s something still delightfully old-school about Bodega Bay. You can see it in the weather-beaten, yellow fishermen statues, the kite shops, the salt-water taffy shops (watermelon is the best-selling flavor at pink-and-white-striped Patrick’s of Bodega Bay) and the glass-encased shark jaws hanging on the wall at the Tides Wharf and Restaurant.

Underneath the tourist kitsch, there’s still an authentic fishing village, even if it’s just barely hanging on by a 15-pound microfilament. The last two salmon seasons have been canceled. Every fall, the opening of crab season seems to get pushed back by state fish and game department officials wary of long crab-trap lines entangling migrating whales.

“We’re having a really hard time getting by,” says fisherman Tony Anello, who has been fishing for 56 years, and recently sold his boat, the Annabelle. He remembers when there were more than 100 boats fishing out of Spud Point Marina. Now, there are maybe 20, he says.

One of the smartest things he ever did was open Spud Point Crab Co. with his wife Carol Anello. The clam chowder that you see steaming in pots in the front has won nearly every tasting competition ever entered, and the crab sandwiches melt in your mouth. “Thank God for that, because if I had to count on fishing again, I would never be able to make it,” says Tony Anello.

Getting into the holiday spirit, Campbell and Guenther are planning to host a series of New Orleans-style, three-course réveillon dinners at Rocker Oysterfeller’s throughout the month of December — without a doubt, oyster stew will be on the menu.

The most convenient place to stay on the main drag is The Inn at the Tides, especially if you’re one of those Hitchcock fans who can’t resist watching a looping video of Tippi Hedren renting a boat (in her fur coat) at the Tides in the 1963 film “The Birds.” From the hotel, it’s a short drive to the trailhead for the Pinnacle Gulch Coastal Access Trail, which leads a half-mile down to the beach along a narrow ravine. At low tide, you can hook up with the Shorttail Gulch Trail and make it a 1.9-mile loop, or wander down to Doran Beach in the other direction.

If four legs suits you better, hop on a horse and choose from beach rides, sunset ridge rides and wetlands expeditions offered through Five Brooks Bodega Bay equine outfit.

But sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all. “I think people who come here are looking for relaxation, and some good Pacific air,” says Campbell. “It’s just a quiet, little village.”

Where to visit

Spud Point Crab Co.

When the crab season is delayed in Bodega Bay, the Anellos source their crustaceans from either California fishermen plying in-season waters above Fort Bragg or from Oregon and Washington fisheries. 1910 Westshore Road, 707-875-9472, spudpointcrabco.com

Rocker Oysterfeller’s

This Southern-style roadhouse serves Louisiana hot barbecue oysters, barbecue shrimp, and shrimp and grits. 595 Highway 1, 707-772-5670, rockeroysterfellers.com

The Inn at the Tides

Perched on a hill above the Tides Wharf and Restaurant, the 86-room hotel offers sweeping views of the bay. 800 Highway 1. 707-875-2751, innatthetides.com

Pinnacle Gulch Coastal Access

Enjoy the recent $50,000 renovation of a 101-step stairway along this secluded beach trail. 20600 Mockingbird Road, 707-875-3540, parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov

Five Brooks Bodega Bay

This wide-roaming equine outfit also offers horse-and-kayak combo trips. Some rides cross through newly preserved public lands at nearby Chanslor Ranch. 2660 Highway 1, 707-589-5040, fivebrooksbodegabay.com

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Travel site Condé Nast Traveler just released its Readers’ Choice Awards for 2024, which included a roundup of the 50 best hotels in the world. The Lodge at Bodega Bay came in at No. 1.

Condé Nast tallied 575,048 votes cast in its 37th annual Readers’ Choice Awards survey, released Oct. 1. Voters ranked hotels around the globe based on their design, food and immersive experiences.

This is the fifth readers’ choice award since 2017 for The Lodge at Bodega Bay — which also ranked No. 1 on Condé Nast’s top 20 hotels in Northern California. The hotel was chiefly noted for its laid-back vibe, proximity to beaches and vineyards, and breathtaking sunset views of the Pacific Ocean.

The Accommodations

The waterfront lodge features 83 cream and blue-accented guest rooms that offer a modern nautical feel. Rhode Island-based design firm Superette Studio recently completed guest room interior renovations for the property. Most rooms include a fireplace, private balcony or patio, in-room jacuzzi, Nespresso coffee maker, sound machine and 42-inch LCD TV.

Other hotel amenities include a spa, sauna, heated pool, infinity edge hot tub, bocce ball court and outdoor fire pits. The lodge also has two restaurants: the upscale Drakes Sonoma Coast and the cozy-casual Drakes Fireside Lounge.

Drakes Sonoma Coast focuses on local, seasonal produce and sustainably caught seafood. The menu includes the likes of smoked salmon benedict, Tomales Bay manila clams, mussel cacio e pepe and oven-roasted black cod. Drakes Fireside Lounge boasts oceanfront views with its outdoor fire pit seating, perfect for sunset drinks and nibbles. The bar fare includes chilled and baked oysters, cheeseburgers, charcuterie boards with Valley Ford cheeses, Hamachi crudo and other snacks.

The Lodge at Bodega Bay also offers complimentary fare for its guests. Guests can roast marshmallows and enjoy s’mores from 7-9 p.m. every Sunday and Monday in the lobby. Additionally, guests can taste wines and bites during the wine receptions from 3-5 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the den by the lobby.

103 Coast Highway One, Bodega Bay, 707-875-3525, lodgeatbodegabay.com

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With stunning views of Bodega Bay, a convenient location and ample parking, Lucas Wharf Restaurant has been a popular stop on the Sonoma Coast since it opened in the early 1980s. The food, was another story. Let’s just say it never made my annual “Best Restaurants” list. This year, it probably will.

(Side note: Fishetarian, the restaurant’s fast-casual seafood sibling, is spectacular.)

The coastal restaurant, which closed abruptly last March, reopened as Rocker Oysterfeller’s at Lucas Wharf in mid-August. Within days, new owners and longtime restaurateurs Brandon Guenther and Shona Campbell had a runaway hit on their hands. And the excitement is only growing.

Locally sourced seafood, rock star chef Jamilah Nixon (of Jam’s Joy Bungalow) and a full bar have made the restaurant a new destination dining spot for visitors and locals seeking the kind of experience coastal restaurants often promise but rarely deliver.

But Lucas Wharf has always been more than just another seaside restaurant to Guenther and Campbell. The couple, who also own Rocker Oysterfeller’s in Valley Ford, loved its historic mahogany charm and rough-around-the-edges aura, and frequented the restaurant on days off. It was a no-brainer to save it after it closed last year.

Once known as Lazio Dock, the restaurant has been a centerpiece of the local seafood industry, where salmon, shrimp, rockfish, crabs and all other kinds of seafood caught in and around the Bay were processed.

“Lucas Wharf was important to the community. Watching it sit there for so long empty drove me crazy, so we jumped on it and threw ourselves to the wolves to get it opened back up,” said Guenther. “We wanted it for the community, even though I didn’t want to give up our favorite bar seats.”

The eats

The menu, developed by Guenther and chef Nixon, is classic wharf-side dining with some Southern twists — not surprising since the original Rocker Oysterfeller’s restaurant in Valley Ford focuses on dishes like shrimp and grits and fried chicken (as well as oysters). The two restaurants, however, are literally and figuratively miles apart.

While Rocker Oysterfeller’s at Lucas Wharf focuses on “surf” dishes like fat Captain’s Platters loaded with fried fish, calamari and fries, peel-and-eat shrimp, blackened rockfish and chowder, Rocker Oysterfeller’s Roadhouse (the new name), will evolve its menu around “turf,” with fried chicken, pasta and burgers (though its fish tacos and oysters will remain). (The daily happy hour is a Valley Ford tradition and is highly recommended.)

Guenther said the couple closed their third Rocker’s location in Placerville recently so they could focus on the new restaurant in Bodega Bay.

The vibe

Lucas Wharf’s brick-red exterior and old-school interior are mostly the same, purposefully.

Things have been refreshed, though, and artist Joe Szuecs has created a metal kelp garden with moving lights above the dining room, echoing the Bay’s aquatic life.

The bar is still a focus, with seats and window views always at a premium. There are no reservations, so you’ll likely be in for a wait if you visit at peak times.

“This place already has a built-in audience, so you’re constantly getting people coming by who came here for years. They’re excited to have it back,” said Guenther. “We’re definitely going to have some fun out there.”

Best bets

Butterball Potato and Manila Clam Chowder, $9.95: Not your average pasty chowdah. Rocker’s version has a New Orleans-style roux base, giving it a light caramel color and loads of flavor. Not too thick or too thin, but something perfectly in between. Served with applewood-smoked bacon and garlic toast to sop up all the goodness.

New Orleans BBQ Shrimp, $19.95: Shell-on wild Gulf shrimp in Worcestershire butter sauce. Worth the mess.

Pan Roasted Local Fish Fillet, $29.95: Rockfish (aka rock cod or Pacific red snapper) is a local favorite and a workhorse of this menu. The styles will change seasonally — we had it with blackened spice, basmati rice, corn and summer squash, black-eyed peas and green tomato chowchow. You’ll be a fan even if you’re not a fan. If the charbroiled whole rockfish with garlic butter and fennel (with jambalaya fried rice) is available, it’s also spectacular.

Captain’s Platter, $38.95: This is the holy grail of fried seafood pilgrims. A ridiculous amount of saltine-fried shrimp, beer-battered rock cod, salt and pepper calamari, a Dungeness crab cake and Kennebec fries served with tartar, rémoulade and cocktail sauce for your dipping pleasure. Easily enough for two. I’ve looked for something as impressive as this on the coast for decades and never before found it — a tip of the captain’s hat to the kitchen.

Rémoulade Louis Salad with Dungeness Crab, $29.95: Soft butter lettuce, toy box tomatoes, pickled onions and a jammy-yolked egg set the scene. A pile of fresh crab gets dressed with a Cajun-spice riff on the classic Crab Louie dressing.

Smoked Salmon Dip, $14.95: Just what it says. Creamy smoked salmon with salty capers, salmon roe, fresh herbs and plenty of cream cheese — another tasty dipper.

Banana Pudding, $11.95: Tiramisu meets English trifle meets maw-maw’s home cooking. Though it was first introduced in the North, this simple banana pudding recipe is layered with ‘Nilla wafers soaked in Saint George NOLA coffee liqueur. Your inner child will squeal while your adult self contemplatively savors the deep coffee and banana flavors.

Also great: The Rocker Oysterfeller’s at Lucas Wharf menu is expansive and the portions are generous. We barely got through a handful of dishes before tapping out. Guenther said the PEI Mussels in a Creole tomato beer broth with Andouille sausage ($23.95) is a personal favorite, along with the ever-evolving Chilled Seafood Tower ($49.95), with raw oysters, mussels, shrimp, smoked fish dip and pickled corn. If you’re not a huge seafood fan, steak and pasta are also available.

Rocker Oysterfeller’s at Lucas Wharf is open 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. 595 Highway 1, Bodega Bay, 707-772-5670, rockeroysterfellers.com

Carey Sweet contributed to this article.

The post Rocker Oysterfeller’s at the Wharf is a Bodega Winner appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

This article was originally published in Sonoma Magazine in 2015.

Like so many birthplaces, Bodega Head was the scene of enormous excitement and hope. It also saw jangled nerves, uncertainty and some very sharp pain. Ultimately, the place was a source of great joy and a deep optimism.

Bodega Head was not the delivery room for a squalling infant, but a bare coastal ridge typically inhabited by more shorebirds than people. Fifty years ago, this granite rise on the outskirts of the small fishing village of Bodega Bay gave birth to an environmental movement that eventually protected the rugged beauty of the California coast. It would inform later anti-nuclear protests and inspire citizen activism for generations to come.

To this unlikely spot and this unlikely town came a colorful combination of grassroots environmental organizers — students, ranchers, dairymen, former communists, far-right libertarians, musicians, young parents, a local waitress and veterinarian, a marine biologist, and even an ornery woman who occasionally carried a shotgun — to join forces. They united in opposition when Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E) decided to build a nuclear power plant on Bodega Head, atop the San Andreas Fault. In a contentious three-year battle that brought the plight of tiny Bodega Bay to the attention of the Kennedy administration, they fought in the halls of justice and actively debated in the court of public opinion. Ultimately, they prevailed, proving that common people with uncommon vision and hard work can indeed change society.

Power to the people

The nuclear age entered the public consciousness with full fury on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945. On that day, in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, the world learned what concentrated nuclear power could do. In a single sharp flash, a nuclear bomb dropped from an American B-29 bomber leveled the city, flattening buildings and vaporizing citizens. Three days later, another bomb fell on Nagasaki. Within a week, Japan surrendered. It was a savage end to a brutal war, and it was also the start of a terrifying new chapter in advanced weaponry. In the next few years, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union would engage in a frantic arms race, building increasingly more powerful atomic weapons, some with the power of millions of tons of TNT.

By 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower wanted to counter “the fearful atomic dilemma” and the scorched-earth reputation of
nuclear energy. In an address to the United Nations, Eisenhower proposed an Atoms-for-Peace Program, designed to quell rising fears of World War III and show how uranium in nuclear reactors could serve as a powerful national energy source. A year later, construction began on the nation’s first nuclear power plant, located in western Pennsylvania near the Ohio border. Eisenhower remotely initiated the first scoop of dirt at the groundbreaking ceremony, and the nuclear age was on.

The West Coast soon followed with its own nuclear facilities. A small experimental reactor went live in Ventura County in April 1957 and a few months later, the Vallecitos Nuclear Power Plant near Pleasanton came online. The Vallecitos project, a joint effort between General Electric and PG&E, was the first privately owned and operated nuclear power plant to deliver significant quantities of electricity for public use. A newsreel at the time boasted that the nuclear-based plant was “one of many that will dot the nation in the near future.”

Those expansion plans soon reached the Sonoma coast. At the start of the 1950s, the 947 acres of Bodega Head were divided among three property owners. The Head was then, as it is now, a stunning piece of land. Some was used for cattle grazing, but most remained as nature intended: sweeping hills of sand, dune grass, jagged cliffs. Miwok Indians first occupied the area, drawn by its abundant sea life and freshwater springs. Later, Russian colonists lived nearby, using the harbor as a base while they hunted the coast for otters, sea lions and seals.

Bodega Head is also alive with birds. It’s part of the Pacific Flyway — a major north-south migratory route that extends from Alaska to Patagonia — and more than 150 bird species have been spotted there. Egrets, herons, hawks and pelicans are common, but a binocular-wielding birder might also see endangered species such as the snowy plover, black oystercatcher and long-billed curlew.

PG&E saw another potential for Bodega Head. The years following the Great Depression were a time of enormous growth in California. Between 1940 and 1946, the population in PG&E’s service area — an enormous stretch of land between, roughly, Bakersfield in the south and Eureka — rose 40 percent. Following World War II, the boom continued. In 1946 alone, 1,200 industries in PG&E’s service area announced plans for new or expanded facilities. PG&E needed to generate more power to serve its customers.

In May 1958, the company acquired property on Bodega Head, revealing plans to build a “steam-electric generating plant” there. Bodega Head was less than 70 miles north of one of the energy giant’s hungriest clients: hundreds of thousands of customers in the burgeoning San Francisco Bay area. The granite ridge of the Head would provide a solid foundation and there was plenty of natural water that could be used as a coolant — Bodega Harbor on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other.

Locals were flabbergasted. Just three years earlier, the National Park Service recommended that Bodega Head be preserved for its natural beauty. In 1956, the state legislature approved funds to purchase the land and make it a state beach and park. The University of California was interested in building a marine laboratory there. But all those plans swiftly disappeared. The state parks agency said it was no longer interested in the site and the UC system did the same.

PG&E needed more space for its sprawling site, and approached Rose Gaffney about buying her land. Gaffney, a craggy-faced woman who sometimes brandished a shotgun on her ranch to turn away intruders, was interested in selling, but not to the power company. She wanted her 408-acre property to go to the state or the university system. She declined PG&E’s offer. Gaffney later told the Petaluma Argus-Courier that even at that early day, a PG&E official confided to her that the company planned to build a nuclear plant there, “but they didn’t want the public to know yet.”

It pushed on, wooing local politicos. County officials saw the plant as a way to increase tax revenue. Fishermen, however, began to grumble, concerned about soaring water temperatures and construction runoff that might silt up the narrow harbor entrance near Campbell Cove, where the plant was to be sited. There were also aesthetic concerns about the steel towers that would be built through what is now Doran Regional Park to carry the power lines, as well as fears that a planned road to the industrial development would harm wildlife on the shoreline.

But there was more than that. Bodega Bay is a natural harbor created by movement along the San Andreas Fault. The fault extends more than 800 miles through western California, forming the tectonic boundary between the Pacific plate and the North American plate. It runs parallel to the coast and crosses Bodega Bay. The narrow ridge of Bodega Head sits on the Pacific plate, while the town itself is on the North American plate. When the fault shifts, it can do so violently. During the 1906 earthquake, nearby land moved as much as 15 feet; tremors are frequent. As early as 1958, Joel Hedgpeth, the head of the University of Pacific Marine Station at Dillon Beach, began raising questions about earthquake safety and the health of marine wildlife.

Going nuclear

In 1961, finally, PG&E revealed that the proposed plant would be a 340-megawatt nuclear power plant. The state Public Utilities Commission OK’d the permit, subject to approval from the federal Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). PG&E was so confident of future permitting that it began to ready the site, including digging what was designed to be a 90-foot by 120-foot hole to house the reactor. Critics would soon give the giant pit a wry nickname: The Hole in the Head. The Atomic Park, as it was to be called, would be a showpiece. “This was back in the day when nuclear was a wild dream,” said David Pesonen, who would come to lead the movement to foil PG&E’s plans. “They were telling us that one day we could put a pill-sized piece of uranium in your car tank and drive to the moon and back.”

Locals were despondent about the pace of the development and PG&E’s seemingly unfettered race to completion. The town of Bodega Bay, famous as a filming location for Alfred Hitchcock’s horror movie “The Birds,” became the site of something much more consequential. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Harold Gilliam wrote an article lamenting the loss of the coastal beauty of Bodega Bay. Karl Kortum, founder and director of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, wrote a letter to the Chronicle encouraging citizens to write PG&E and oppose the plan. Hundreds did, but PG&E didn’t waver. A nuclear power plant on Bodega Head seemed certain.

But Gilliam’s piece attracted the attention of Pesonen, a junior staff member with the Sierra Club whose life was about to take a dramatic turn. Sent by Sierra Club president David Brower to investigate PG&E’s plans, Pesonen came back a changed man.

“I had a feeling of the enormousness of what we were fighting; it was anti-life,” he said. He recalled a drive he took to the site one day, through a beautiful countryside filled with chicken farms and eucalyptus windbreaks. An accident at the site could make all this land uninhabitable.

“I had an epiphany,” he said. “I began to think that there really was evil in the world. PG&E had a single-mindedness that didn’t involve people’s well-being.”

Suddenly, the fight was a moral issue.

Pesonen left the Sierra Club and in 1962 helped form the Northern California Association to Preserve Bodega Head and Harbor. He was articulate and had a sense of strategy. He quickly became the leader.

Pesonen reasoned that the group’s members must find an alternative to battling PG&E through the regulatory process, where they was losing. First, they would fight the project in the court of public opinion. During the 1950s and early 1960s, persistent political protests were rare, but the group tirelessly organized rallies, marched with sandwich boards and wrote letters to state officials. Hazel Bonnecke (later Mitchell) spearheaded a petition-signing campaign. Jean Kortum, Karl’s wife, organized sign-carrying demonstrations at PG&E headquarters in San Francisco.

Bonnecke, a waitress at the Tides Wharf Restaurant in Bodega Bay who often served PG&E officials lunch, was said to have tipped off The Press Democrat to PG&E’s nuclear intentions in 1958, although she never acknowledged that role. Hedgpeth’s secretary also was mentioned as the possible whistleblower.

“If not for a few key people, none of this may have happened,” said Doris Sloan, a young mother then, who was a key member in the campaign.

Publicity stunts were fair game. On Memorial Day 1963, organizers released 1,500 helium-filled balloons from Bodega Head. The balloons represented radioactive isotopes, and their random flight dramatized to local dairy farmers how far airborne contamination from the PG&E site could drift, then enter their grass and make its way into the milk. Each had a note attached: “This balloon could represent a radioactive molecule of Strontium 90 or Iodine 131. Tell your local newspaper where you found this balloon.” The balloons descended in San Rafael and Fairfield, and also drifted into the East Bay. Some were found in the Central Valley, more than 100 miles away.

Music became a key part of the protest, Sloan recalled, and the campaign was enlivened with many songs ranging from Dixieland jazz to blues to jug-band music. Celebrated trumpeter Lu Watters came out of retirement to record the “Blues Over Bodega” album, while the Goodtime Washboard Three’s song, “Don’t Blame PG&E, Pal,” even concluded with a menacing explosion.

The group’s trump card, Pesonen believed, was in raising ominous concerns about the reactor’s location on an active fault line.

“PG&E said that if there was any threat to public safety, they would not build it,” Pesonen said. “What tripped up PG&E was the geology of the place.”

PG&E claimed that innovative engineering techniques would eliminate damage to the reactor building in the event of an earthquake. Pesonen and others were skeptical and brought in Pierre Saint-Amand, a respected geologist who prepared the definitive reports on the catastrophic Chilean earthquake of 1960.

“It was a rainy day, the gates were open and there was no construction going on,” Sloan recalled. “The guard wasn’t in the kiosk, so we walked in. Pierre found the fault that runs right through the reactor pit.”

He spent another two days exploring the land nearby. His 46-page report, issued in summer 1963, was devastating. Saint-Amand noted that the site was not the island of granite PG&E had claimed it to be, but a more geologically fractured site. “A worse foundation condition would be difficult to envision,” he wrote. The report drew the attention of Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, who assigned his own investigators to look further into the proposal.

PG&E still maintained that the site was safe and the AEC continued to mull the application, but by October 1963, construction on the reactor pit was halted. In March 1964, southern Alaska was hit with an 8.6 earthquake, the largest recorded in North America. The four-minute temblor buckled streets, liquefied soil, reshaped the shoreline and caused tsunamis. Opponents of the Bodega Head plant pointed to the headlines: Could the same thing happen here? If so, how would a nuclear plant located directly on the fault line fare?

Finally, in October 1964, the AEC released its report on the proposed plant. While noting that PG&E had tried to engineer suitable protection in reactor containment structure in the event of a quake, those “pioneering” designs were unproved and untested. It concluded that “Bodega Head is not a suitable location for the proposed nuclear power plant.” On Oct. 30, 1964, PG&E president Robert Gerdes withdrew its application and canceled plans for the plant.

Miraculously, and against all odds, the protesters had won.

Many of the key figures who represented PG&E in Bodega Bay have died. But at the time, they repeatedly and unequivocally dismissed the protesters’ concerns. PG&E spokesman Hal Stroube, in a May 1963 interview with San Francisco television station KPIX, said the activists’ fears about radiation release were “completely incorrect.” He compared the amount of radiation emanating from the plant on a typical day to be the equivalent of what a family would receive while watching television in their living room. As to concerns about the location’s seismic vulnerability on the San Andreas Fault: “We would simply overdesign the plant,” Stroube countered. “We have built 76 plants (in California) … and every one of those is built with earthquake possibilities uppermost in mind. We have to keep these plants running in the event of an earthquake or any other civil commotion.”

A half-century later, PG&E remains philosophical about its defeat. “PG&E’s decision to withdraw from the project is demonstrative of our No. 1 priority, and that is to always put safety first,” said Blair Jones, a PG&E spokesman based in San Luis Obispo. “Our decision to not pursue it does not in any way reduce the overall benefits that nuclear-generated power continues to provide to our customers and other utility customers around the nation. Nuclear power is a significant supplier of clean energy to Americans.”

A turning point for many lives

When the site was abandoned, the reactor pit had been dug more than 70 feet deep. It has since filled with water, replenished by the natural springs that drew Miwoks to this location thousands of years ago. Today, the Bodega Head power plant site is a serene pond, lined with reeds and filled with noisy birds. There’s little to remind a casual visitor of what almost arose here.

On Oct. 30, 2014, the 50th anniversary of PG&E withdrawing its plans, the remaining veterans of the Bodega Head fight gathered for a luncheon at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel in Santa Rosa to again celebrate their victory. While their frames are stooped and their hair is gray, their spirit remains young. They’re still witty and warm and are keen to talk about political issues. And they still dislike PG&E.

The room was filled with laughter and love. Many said the fight to save Bodega Head changed the direction of their lives. Sloan, for instance, went on to help establish an environmental studies program at UC Berkeley, and was involved in many local environmental movements, including Save The Bay, which works to protect and restore San Francisco Bay. Bill Kortum, brother of Karl, was just starting his veterinary practice when he joined the campaign. It led to a lifetime of environmental activism, including helping to establish the California Coastal Commission. Jean Kortum, Karl’s wife, played a key part of the 1960s Freeway Revolt that halted the construction of major highways through San Francisco. The projects were wildly supported by the city’s politicians and labor leaders, but were defeated by citizen opponents.

“This kind of fight got into our DNA,” said Julie Shearer, then a young reporter for the Mill Valley Record who was married to Pesonen during the Bodega Head fight. “It made us all more alert, more responsive and more active for the rest of our lives.”

Pesonen agreed. “It was the turning point in my life,” he said. Pesonen later attended law school at UC Berkeley and was active in the anti-nuke movement, leading the Sierra Club’s opposition to PG&E’s ill-fated nuclear power project at Point Arena. He later became director of the California Department of Forestry in the late 1970s and was also a superior court judge.

These environmental elders, as they’re called, made an important statement: Economic growth and technology must not trump respect for the land. Their unlikely victory was a revelation and an inspiration to many. In the late 1960s, similar citizen opposition grew in Southern California near Malibu, where the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power had proposed to build a nuclear power plant in rugged Corral Canyon. Following a string of activist protests and actions, the Malibu plant project was dropped in 1970.

“People saw that they could speak up, take on major institutions and win,” Bill Kortum said in October. Ultimately, the action of a few tireless crusaders launched an environmental preservation campaign that continues today. The movement “grew because we were persistent,” Pesonen said.

But just as importantly, he noted: “It grew because we were right.”

The post From the Archives: How Bodega Head Almost Ended Up with a Nuclear Power Plant appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Concealed behind a gate just steps from Highway 1 in Bodega Bay is is a jewel box of a Japanese garden, filled with meticulously sculpted cypress and pine trees, a flowering cherry, a dry stone river—even a tiny teahouse. It’s the result of owner and gallerist Ren Brown’s lifelong passion for the art and culture of Japan.

Brown and his late husband, Robert DeVee, moved to Bodega Bay in 1989 to open a gallery dedicated to Japanese art. The couple quickly found a location—a well-lit space with frontage along Highway 1 to capture coastal visitor traffic. Fortunately, just behind the gallery was a sturdily built, though rather dated, cottage.

Realizing their luck, the couple bought the property and made plans to remodel the home. Both home and garden now incorporate Japanese design principles and aesthetics. Outside, that means a restful, peaceful garden with such hallmarks as a rock garden, carefully trimmed evergreens, bonsai, and wabi-sabi stone footbridges. Inside, the Japanese touches include shoji screens, tatami mats, and antique tansu chests of every size to display Brown’s collection of Japanese ceramics.

“It’s what I love,” says Brown.

Though Brown grew up in the East Bay, his childhood was steeped in the culture of Japan. His mother had been born and raised there, the daughter of a Presbyterian missionary who traveled throughout Japan’s smallest island on horseback to convert the locals. As a young college graduate, Brown’s father traveled to Japan during the Depression, looking for teaching work. His father later earned a doctorate in Japanese history and taught the subject at UC Berkeley for many years.

“I was always surrounded by Japanese visitors coming to the house, Japanese art and ceramics,”says Brown.

From the mundane to the sacred

His tranquil courtyard garden, completely enclosed by a wooden fence, feels worlds away from the highway just beyond. One enters through a traditional torii gate, a gate commonly found at the entrance to or within a Shinto shrine, symbolically marking the transitional step from the mundane world to the sacred one.

The torii at the entrance to Brown’s garden was made by Sonoma County sculptor Bruce Johnson. Brown first became familiar with Johnson’s piece when he was curating an exhibit at Sebastopol Center for the Arts. The exhibit was meant to allow the local Japanese American community to show appreciation for those who supported them while they were incarcerated during World War II.

The torii, which features hammered metal and redwood and a sculpted juniper tree growing in the middle, is angled to frame a view of the garden. It centers on the pond, where shimmering koi glide peacefully through the water and the gentle sound of a small waterfall echoes peacefully among the stones.

In the jewel box space, serpentine stone pathways lead past water features and plantings of Japanese maples, now mostly bare in the winter season.

There’s a small dry-gravel garden, much like ones seen in Japanese homes and temples in Kyoto. The raking of the gravel around the islands of stone is a meditative, cleansing ritual, particularly after a winter rain.

Masterly sculpted evergreens

Precisely sculpted evergreens are a fundamental feature of traditional Japanese gardens. To shape his trees, Brown sought out Michael Alliger, a master aesthetic pruner who for many years has also maintained the exquisite garden at Osmosis Day Spa in Freestone.

Alliger says that while Brown’s garden is smaller than the one at Osmosis, it is very authentic in both hardscape and in the palette of plants and koi. Standout specimen trees, winding paths that reveal new views around each small bend, and the innovative use of stone are all hallmarks of traditional Japanese garden design, explains Alliger.

Japanese black pines and other specimen trees are carefully trimmed to open up the branches and showcase the trunk and branching structure. The pruning isn’t hard, says Alliger, but it does take a lot of focus, concentration, and timing.

Each season has its own beauty

Winter reveals details that might be missed at other times of the year: the shape of branches bare of leaves, delicate catkins cascading down from the twisted walking-stick tree. Even the borrowed scenery: a reflection of sky and hillside on water, or a glimpse of the coast over the garden wall, seems more vivid in winter. Brown says that the garden receives less moisture than gardens do in Japan, so the moss isn’t as lush as it might be, but there are softened edges of green that might not be as apparent in summertime.

“The garden has beauty every month of the year,” says Brown. “There are different things that bloom, new views revealed. But the strength and power of the shaped tree is what holds everything together and makes it unified.”

Brown often reminds himself to slow down and take time to enjoy the serenity of the space.

“Too often, gardeners find themselves focusing on all the things to do—the deadheading and the weeding. They don’t spend time just enjoying,” he says. “Japanese garden styles are meant to make you slow down—to take the sharply angled path, to follow around the corner, to take in that next view. You’re compelled to breathe it in.”

Visiting the gallery and garden

Gallery owner Ren Brown will happily share his garden with gallery guests who would like share in the space’s serenity.

“The whole point of a gallery is to offer beauty, and the garden is another way of doing that,” says Brown. “We often find that people who come to visit the gallery can enjoy the art even more after spending a few minutes in the garden.”

Ren Brown’s gallery of Japanese art features rotating exhibits of ceramics, works on paper, and other finds and is open year-round, 10 a.m.5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

The Ren Brown Collection, 1781 Highway 1, Bodega Bay. 707-875-2922, renbrown.com

The post This Secret Sanctuary in Bodega Bay Has a Jewel Box of a Japanese Garden appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.