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Albion River Inn

Address: 3790 CA-1, Albion, CA 95410

Albion River Inn is a romantic inn with stunning ocean and river view rooms. It is situated on a bluff top with a view from your own private deck. The Albion River Inn has 22 elegant rooms with spectacular cliff views, an onsite restaurant, and a good wedding venue.

It took us about 5-6 hours drive to get to Albion River Inn from CA-1 scenic route. It was a beautiful day as we drove through the coast with our rental convertible car. We already noticed and saw the beautiful Inn from a distance while we were on the Noyo River Bridge. We had to check in to the main office to get our actual room keys and had to park our car in our reserved parking space. After we opened our room door, we were in awe of the picturesque view of the Noyo River and the Ocean views from our private deck area. The room had a classic room theme with a queen bed, a roll-out bed, wood fireplace, wall heater, mini-fridge, wifi access, and no TV. Since the place is catered to romantic couples and promotes tranquil and a peaceful place to relax and unwind.

We only stayed at the Albion Inn in room#6 for one night. The restaurant on site was fully booked since they only have an outside tent due to Covid restrictions. So, we ordered our food to be delivered to our room. We were surprised as our food arrived within 20 minutes with an extra plate included for us to transfer our food. We ordered the famous Like & Ginger Grilled Prawns (6 pcs), Pan-Roasted Pacific Rock cod, Indian Style Chicken Curry, Cheesecake, and Coconut Banana Cream Pie.

We brought out a table outside our private deck and transferred all our food onto a plate that the restaurant had provided us. We ate our delicious and savory dinner outside with gorgeous views of the Noyo River and the ocean while we watched the beautiful sunset.

Overall, it’s a very classic and romantic Inn with a wonderful ocean view, cozy rooms with a wood fireplace, and your own private deck area.

Tips: The Albion Inn provides wifi access but it doesn’t have a TV in our room since it’s supposed to be a tranquil and romantic place. Right across the Inn is a Llama Farm Ranch where we took a picture of a Llama. Book early as the Inn only has 22 rooms and a very popular Inn. Some rooms even have your own private hot tub.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about Albion River Inn after your visit in the comments below. And kindly subscribe, share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you

Click here to find a hotel close to Albion River Inn in Mendocino.

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Bowling Ball Beach

Address: Hwy-1 and Schooner Gulch Point Arena, Ca. 95468

Bowling Ball Beach is a unique beach due to its spherical sandstone mineral cement rocks or concretions which often are visible during low tide. Bowling Ball Beach is part of the Schooner Gulch State Beach located in Mendocino County, California. It’s about 10-15 minutes away from Point Arena Lighthouse via Hwy-1.

We left Point Arena Lighthouse and drove through Hwy-1 for about 15 minutes until we saw a signage that stated Schooner Gulch State Park and proceeded to parked safely on the side of the road. We noticed that there were two trailheads from the parking area. We took the southern trail but realized that it was the wrong trail. There were a few tourists that were also lost and one of them indicated that they saw another trail near the parking area. Everyone went back and proceeded to the other short trail (northern) with wooden stairs that led us down to the beach. As we went down to the beach, we had to navigate safely through some big logs, tree branches, and seaweeds that were blocking the beach access. From the entrance, we saw all the huge round or oval-shaped rocks from the distance.

We were lucky that it was a low tide that made all the large round-shaped rocks visible that resemble bowling balls. There were seaweeds and slippery rocks that we saw as we navigated through the beach. We took a lot of beautiful pictures of the unique large oval rocks with the ocean and the mountain as our background. There were also a few tidepools and nice rock formations at the beach.

Overall, we enjoyed, loved our experience and it was a short hike to the beach but a challenge navigating through the big logs and branches. Before our trip, we checked on the tide chart for the low tide times. We found out that the northern trail is sometimes closed due to erosion where it descends the bluff. Always be careful while descending through the wooden stairs and keep an eye on the ocean waves for safety.

Tips: We saw a small waterfall on the southern trail that led us to the Schooner Gulch State Beach. Fyi, Schooner State Beach is located before a small bridge and you have to park your car facing south. There is no public restroom or porta-potty in the area and wear comfortable walking or hiking shoes.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about Bowling Ball Beach after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Point Arena Lighthouse

Address: 45500 Lighthouse Road, Point Arena, Ca. 95468

Point Arena lighthouse is a 115-foot tall historic lighthouse constructed in 1870 located in Mendocino County and 2 miles north of Point Arena. There is also a small gift shop and a museum within the property. The lighthouse was struck by a strong earthquake and was badly damaged that it had to be destroyed. It was rapidly rebuilt in 1908 and became a place for fishermen, foresters, and ranch hands.

It took us about 3 hours and 30 minutes from San Francisco to Point Arena Lighthouse through US-101 North, CA-128, and CA-1. It took us approximately 2 hours on CA-128 which was a very winding road with sharp turns, a scenic route with beautiful wineries, and small shops along the way. We also passed through an area called Navarro which had a lot of redwood trees along the highway and was good for a photo opportunity.

We passed through a few meadows with farm animals and a gorgeous view of the ocean on our way to the lighthouse through CA-1. It was a very relaxing and scenic drive en route to the lighthouse. We stopped at the lighthouse Point Resort with smaller cabins for rent and the Rollerville Café to use the restroom and checked out the Café’s menu. From the café, we drove through the lighthouse Road which is a 2-way narrow road for about 15 minutes that led us to the entrance of the Point Arena Lighthouse. The lighthouse was closed to the public on the day we visited due to the Covid-19 restrictions but was only available for people who stayed and rented the cabins for the night inside the Point Arena Lighthouse. We parked our car at a small Vista Point parking area with a view of the Point Arena Lighthouse and the ocean. There were a lot of people taking pictures with the Lighthouse as their background. There was also a porta-potty available along the Lighthouse Road before the Point Arena Lighthouse entrance.

Overall, it was a great place to take pictures, have a picnic while enjoying the ocean with the view of the lighthouse in the background. Point Arena Lighthouse even has a cabin/house available for rentals.

Tip: There is a great beach near the Point Arena Lighthouse area called Bowling Ball Beach. The beach is part of the Schooners gulch and you have to park safely alongside highway 1. The beach is about a 15 minutes drive and 8 miles away from Point Arena.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about Point Arena Lighthouse after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.