Mendocino Botanical Gardens –
The only botanical gardens in America looking over the ocean.
Glass Beach, Fort Bragg –
We heard about this famed Glass Beach in Fort Bragg. Supposedly, years ago, residents used to throw their bottles and glassware into the ocean. Mother Nature fought back and spit the glass back onto the beach, but the glass was now chiseled like stones.
We went out searching for this beach, visualizing sparkling glass stones covering a large area. But we could not find it anywhere. We couldn’t find any signs pointing us in the right direction. Finally, we found a sunken area between two hills that had some glass piece strewn around.
“Is this it?” I asked.
“It must be,” said Sophia. “It’s not very impressive.”
We bent down and examined the historic glass pieces.
“Well I guess it is sort of interesting. Maybe collectors took the rest of the glass.”
Then we noticed that there were a group of tourists in the distance combing over another area of the beach. We were not on “Glass Beach.” We were simply admiring the broken pieces of glass of a Budweiser bottle that some drunken idiot must have broken last night.
Frankly, the real Glass Beach wasn’t any better.
Here are some of the “real” glass stones, and the nice view.
Boat Junk Yard, Fort Bragg –
So ugly it was beautiful.
“Avenue of the Giants” –
We took tons of the typical touristy shots.
Sophia’s idea for a photo, not mine –
And thank you again for all your birthday greetings!
That last one looks like the mighty green penis. Oh the stories it could tell if it could talk like your penis can.
we have a beach similar to that one, but i never think of it as a glass beach, to me it looks more like shiny sludge.
greats pics!
and HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEIL!!!
Your road trip has been lots of fun to follow. Thanks for sharing with us. Hope it’s a great birthday!!
Happy Birthday! (You haven’t even gotten the ‘real’ redwoods yet…)
Happy Birthday! Your trip looks amazing and really makes me miss CA.
Loved the pics of the boat graveyard! Bittersweet.
Happy Birthday Neil!
Many happy returns Neil! I’ve dreamt of seeing those trees all my life, your pictures are the next best thing… Thanks for the escapism.
Happy Birthday Neil!!! Are you growing a stache? looks very grown up
You’ve picked some wonderful, pictaresque spots to visit. Thanks for sharing.
Happy Birthday to you today. Hope you have a great one!
Nice photos! Looks like you guys are having a great time!
Happy Birthday!!
Happy birthday! Here from Finn’s.
Happy Birthday Neil!
Happy Birthday! I couldn’t do the carnival thingy because my computer was dead until just the other day, but I wanted to.
I love the boat graveyard.
Happy birthday! I wanna do your road trip next time I am on the West Coast.
Happy Happy Birthday, Neil! Cool people have March birthdays. You, Steve McQueen, Harry Houdini…and me (3/24). Have a great day and…I hope you get some.
Two of my favorite bloggers have the same birthday- how awesome is that!? Happy Birthday!
Those pictures are awesome- I am particularly fond of the boat graveyard one.
Happpy Birthday to Yooooou. They’re all good, but there’s having one in motion and on the road makes it so much more adventure-ish. Dashing, you know? So. Dash away. (Somehow, a birthday and Christmas got mixed up. Oh. No. That’s Dasher. Never mind.) Happy birthday.
Happy Birthday Neil. I just discovered you through my good friend Tara’s blog. I’m loving what I’m seeing. Excuse me while I happily go off to explore your blog.
it looks like you guys are having fun! FYI, that is basically the same trip Tim and I took on our honeymoon, we even stayed at a dodgy hotel!
Happy Birthday, Neilochka. xxoo
That’s a big flippin’ tree. And I’m a huge fan of sea glass. Shame that’s just a bottle that’s been recently broken or I’d be jealous.
Happy birthday, Neilochka. Enjoy the yoga stuff.
Happy Birthday!
Are you growing a mustache or is that just a shadow?
Happy Birthday, Neil.
Purple’s your color.
xx
Annie
Yes, Happy Birthday Alissa too!
Hippity Happy Birthday Neil!
happy Birthday, Neil! Enjoy the rest of your trip.
I love your photos of the Boat Junk Yard. Eerily evocative.
While in the woods, did you see any of the famed yellow “banana slugs”? They’re awesome–like something out of sci-fi.
Happy Birthday Neil!! I love the photo of Sophia peeking thru the azaleas and I think the last photo is perfect and made me laugh.
Happy Birthday!
I cannot think of a better way to spend it than touring the coast!
Glass Beach was a dump in the early 1900′s they citizens of Fort Bragg recently cleaned up the beach due to the amount of rusting metal pieces burried in the sand. Several thousand tons of glass and metal and car parts were trucked away. I know I live nearby.
Oh my God, a giant redwood fell on Sophia!