SF trip, part two

Continuing / completing the trip to SF and Dillon Beach saga, I'm picking up where part one left off.

Car Time
Boo and I had reservations for dinner with her aunt, uncle, cousin and a friend at Phil Lesh's restaurant/bar in San Rafael, Terrapin Crossroads. Boo and I wrapped our last day in the East Bay with coffee with my sister and then headed west, rolling "Stranglehold" as we hit the freeway. The run from Albany to San Rafael is a simple shot down I-580, across the Richmond San Rafael Bridge.... our first and apparently only opportunity to use that $70 FastPass. Lighted signs and painted words on the freeway raised expectations that there could be heavy traffic as we approached the bridge. We slowed as we rounded corner, only to find that there were 2 cars in the queue to pay cash to cross the bridge and all of the pre-pay lanes were either empty or had a single patron passing through. Note for other travelers: don't get the FastPass offering from the rental company unless you intend to cross multiple bridges every day. We expected the drive to take much longer. In fact, we probably could have played "Stranglehold" 3 times between the time we got onto and off of the freeway. Germane to nothing, "Stranglehold" may very well be the best road song ever. Just sayin.

Terrapin Crossroads
Terrapin Crossroads is right off the highway, up against the San Rafael Yacht Harbor. That sounds fancy, but it reminded me of the canal in North Portland called the Columbia Slough. While there is water, and docks to tie-up boats, either side of the water you see the backsides of industrial businesses. The venue has 2 distinct areas: the Grate Room for larger acts and the restaurant/bar for smaller ones. Our reservation was for dinner, but the Grate Room wasn't booked that night anyway. The bar was hosting a 2-man crew,Sean Leahy & Brian Rashap, for Happy Hour when we arrived. They were fantastic, and the bar patrons were letting them know it. It was only 4:30 in the afternoon, but seating was at a premium, so we wandered the place, looking at photos until we found a little 2-seat spot at the top of the stairs. The music mix was perfect, seats comfy, company delightful. We sat and enjoyed the 2-piece through their encore before heading back downstairs to meet Boo's family.

this is a farm. on the water. seriously

We were no sooner down in front of the hostess than we were back upstairs getting seated at a table. Terrapin Crossroads is a farm-to-table concept kitchen, so everything us uber-fresh. I definitely liked the idea of higher-level food with higher-level live music paired with it. We were far enough from the main act (Goodnight, Texas) that we could hear them, but could still talk to, as opposed to shout at, each other. The staff was great, even floating us desserts in recognition of my birthday. Honestly, we chose this trip so we could spend my birthday meal at Phil's place.



Dillon Beach

After we ate, the family wanted to shove off back to Dillon Beach. We bought a few remembrances at the exit counter and climbed back into the Chysler 200. After the urban hussel-bussel of the Bay, Marin County California is the polar opposite. The old US 101 leaves San Rafael and lights disappear. While the maps show what looks like urban areas of Novato and Petaluma there really isn't anything there except a couple of big box stores in Petaluma. Part way into Petaluma, we took a left onto Bodega and entered some of the darkest road I've driven. A couple of turns later, we were driving along the twisty-turny highway 1 heading into Dillon Beach.

Dillon Beach is pretty amazing. The views are spectacular, and the streets, beach and water are very sparsely populated. Looking out into the ocean, there is a spit of untouched land approaching from the south (pictured on the left, here). This is the northern tip of the Point Reyes National Seashore, a massive protected greenspace for birds and wildlife. There are hiking trails and multiple state parks contained within this large area. With a refuge so close, the native birds were plentiful. In contrast, there is a very old mobile home / trailer park located at the southernmost water's edge of Dillon Beach. This park is actively being torn down, but there were trailers in there dating back to the 1950's. For an old car hound, that was really cool.

Our time in Dillon Beach was a combination of family time with Boo's relatives and alone time walking on the beach. The family was very welcoming, making big meals and sharing lots of laughs. The beach was so quiet with a light breeze, easily avoided by simply sitting down on the sand. We didn't have much time though. It felt as though we had just arrived and we were packing up to drive back to Oakland airport, where this 2-part posting began.