Beach

Stinson Beach & mountain flowers

My favorite  tourist attraction in Northern California is not the Golden Gate Bridge.  Shocked, aren’t you? I take my visitors, many from the mountains of Montana to Stinson Beach.  They can get an inside look at the California lifestyle in action–white sand, bikini clad teenagers, spider crabs, crashing waves and look–surfers.  Rad, man. I usually have them rent wet suits and boogie boards and make them try to catch a wave or two.  Most of the time, I can’t get them out of the water.  Glacial fed  mountain lakes and the Pacific seem to be the same temperature, totally cold.  When I took my 70 year old aunt the ocean for the first time, she stood in awe and immediately stripped off her shoes and socks and went wading.  She just wanted to touch the water.

If you go to Stinson, you can get a picnic lunch at the local store, barbecue on the grass near the beach or get a burger at the Parkside Cafe.  Get there by 5:00 p.m., they close early. The Parkside also serves good meals at fair prices and the service is really good.  The restaurant staff has a laid-back attitude and delivers timely service in a friendly manner.

My southern Californian friends are not as smitten with Stinson as I am.  They are accustomed to warmer weather, warmer water and the more cool socal beach scene.  But as a  Montana/Washinton state transplant, I am always taken with the Pacific’s immensity and beauty.  It is the only thing that can calm my soul as my Montana and Washington mountains once did.

Photo courtesy of yarhargoat