An Isolated Island Bed And Breakfast with Spectacular Views of the San Francisco Area

A gracious relic of the past, it is an island unto itself. It is unique among its kind. Originally there were six like it, but only three are sill standing. At one point in time its future had become uncertain. It survived because it is historically intrinsic and loved by many. Now 133 years old, it is a matchless California destination with a spectacular view. It is the East Brother Light Station.

The East Brother Light Station quite literally sits on top of an island in the strait that separates San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. The light station began operation in 1874. The original lens was illuminated by a wick filled with whale oil. Later the means of illumination was replaced by a fifth-order Fresnel lens, powered by a 500-watt bulb. The San Francisco Bay area is one of the foggiest places on the coast, so the island lighthouse was also outfitted with a fog horn. The keepers lived on the island with their families and cared for its operation until it became automated in 1969.

The light station is of a unique design. The tower is attached to a two story Victorian style house. There were five other lighthouses built in this design located at various places on the United States coastline, but aside from East Brother only two are still standing. Not far down the coastline from San Francisco near Los Angeles in the San Pedro Bay is one of them, the Point Fermin Lighthouse. The other is on the east coastline in New Jersey called Hereford Light.

The future of the East Brother Light Station became uncertain. A fire incident destroyed the island's wharf and boathouse. After it was automated, the keepers were no longer needed. The Victorian style house sat neglected and void of life. The government wanted to tear it down. Thanks to local residents who saw value in the past and the necessity to preserve its heritage, an outcry arose protesting its demolition. The Victorian house and other buildings were saved and steps were taken to restore it, not just to its former glory, but into a place where all who want to experience the wonder of a lighthouse with a beautiful vista for a magnificent backdrop can do so.

The East Brother Light Station is now an island bed and breakfast. There are five available rooms. Four of the rooms are in the lighthouse itself and the fifth is in the original Fog Signal Building. The rooms are beautifully appointed and each has its own stunning view of the Bay Area and surrounding landscape or seascape, whichever you prefer.

Two Sisters Room

Walter's Quarters Room

If you would like the warmth and romantic atmosphere a fireplace provides, the Two sisters Room would be your likely choice, if you seek more privacy, the Walter's Quarters in the Fog Signal Building 100 feet from the lighthouse, closest to the water. The Marin Room and San Francisco Room rate is $525 for Thursday through Sunday. The Two Sisters Room, West Brother Room, and Walter's Quarters Room is $475 for Thursday through Sunday. Room rates apply for one or two persons per room. Rates include parking at the harbor, the boat ride to and from the island, hors-d’oeuvres with complimentary champagne, a tour of the lighthouse

Marin Room

San Francisco Room

West Brother Room

A full breakfast is served in the dining room each morning at 9:00am. One of their house specialties is their own Lighthouse French Toast Soufflé. For overnight guests, dinner is served in the dining room at the same hour giving ample time for guests to visit. Menus and accompanying wines change seasonally, but some of our gourmet, multi-course meal favorites include Citrus Glazed Rock Cornish Game Hen or beef and salmon Wellington in a puff pastry served with a dill hollandaise sauce.

The island is a ten minute boat ride from the mainland. It is 30 minutes from downtown San Francisco. Once on the island, you will be treated to spectacular views of the San Francisco skyline, Mount Tamalpais, and the Marin coastline. Your senses will be immersed and soothed by the smell of the bay, the sound of the lapping water on the rocky outcrops, and your imagination can take flight or stay put, its all the same either way, nostalgic and reinvigorating.

East Brother has consistently earned five star ratings from Yelp and TripAdvisor.

East Brother Light Station Bed and Breakfast

1900 Stenmark Dr, Richmond, CA

510-233-2385

Soak In The Antiquity And Amenities At This Spectacular San Francisco Island Gem

It was a beguiling and surreal drive along the water after leaving the 5 1/2 mile long Richmond-San Rafael Bridge for Point San Pablo. Between Point Molate and Point Orient, hidden among the areas indigenous eucalyptus trees and beyond a run of secured fencing was a regiment of boarded-up, abandoned residents reminiscent of barracks. Surviving relics of the Winehaven Winery established in 1906, the grape processing facility employed over 400 people in its heyday. It was the largest winery in the United States until the Volstead Act of 1919 ushered in the Prohibition Era and shut it down. In 1941, the 400 acre site was purchased by the Navy and used as a fuel dump until being decommissioned in 1995.

Drawing closer to my planned destination, the singular road separated into two, one leading to a gated area and the other marked by a simple directional sign. The surrounding landscape had the appearance of having been surrendered to the elements. Rusty, forsaken structures and weather-beaten, neglected docks bordered the bay's craggy shoreline, now just a haunt for past shadows. From this vantage point, I could see the island and its famous landmark perched atop it--the reason that brought me to this place on the map.

The upward drive was narrow and winding. The enveloping vegetation consisted of scruffy grasses and low growing bushes with the occasional cluster of windswept trees. Upon reaching a summit, a panoramic view presented me a sneak peak of the mist shrouded bay beyond. The downward drive was more of the same, until a final circular turn brought me to sea level where I slowly pulled up to a set of old railroad tracks. Going somewhere, the rails disappeared into the bushy landscape. In front of me, a frozen-in-time sleepy harbor unfolded across the tranquil shoreline waters of San Pablo Bay. Point San Pablo Harbor is the pick-up point for the ferry to the legendary East Brother Light Station.

The East Brother Light Station quite literally sits on top of an island in the strait that separates San Francisco and San Pablo Bay. A gracious servant of the past, it is unique among its kind in history and design. It was designed in the Stick style architecture by Paul J. Pelz. The Stick style was a late 19th-century American architectural style, transitional between the Carpenter Gothic style of the mid-19th century and the Queen Anne style. The lighthouse plans called for a three-story tower attached to a two-story Victorian dwelling having three rooms per floor.

There were five other lighthouses built in this design, each located at various places on the United States coastline, but aside from East Brother, only two are still standing. Not far down the coast from San Francisco near Los Angeles, in the San Pedro Bay, is one of them, the Point Fermin Lighthouse. The other, called Hereford Light, is on the east coast in New Jersey. As to the other three, Mare Island Light, in Carquinez Strait, California, was demolished in the 1930s, Point Hueneme Light in Santa Barbara Channel, California, was replaced in 1940, and Point Adams Light in Washington State was burned down by the Lighthouse Service in 1912.

At one point in time, East Brother Light Station's future had become as foggy as the strait it protected. It survived because it is historically intrinsic and loved by many. Now 134 years old, it is a matchless California destination with a spectacular view.

The East Brother Light Station began operation in 1873. The original lens was illuminated by a wick filled with whale oil. Four years later, a new fourth-order lens was installed and the illuminant was changed to mineral oil. In 1912, the lens was replaced again along with an incandescent oil-vapor lamp. An underwater cable was laid between the island and San Pablo Point in 1934, providing electricity for the first time. The means of illumination was replaced by a fifth-order Fresnel lens powered by a 500-watt bulb. The San Francisco Bay area is one of the foggiest places on the coast, so the island lighthouse was also outfitted with a fog horn and a fog signal building. Overtime, a water tank, storage shed, and a domed cistern surrounded by a large rain catchment basin were eventually built on the island.

Shortly after the island acquired electricity, a series of unfortunate circumstances befell the island light station. The electric cable was disabled by a ship's anchor in 1939. Until repairs could be made, the light was powered by gasoline generators placed in the signal building and drums of gasoline were stored in the boathouse. In 1940, a fire incident caused by a mishandled kerosene lantern igniting a fifty gallon drum of gasoline and explosively spreading to other drums destroyed the island's wharf and boathouse. It is believed if the wind was blowing from the east that morning, the entire light station would have been vanquished.

The Coast Guard assumed responsibility for the nation's lighthouses, and in the late 1960s, announced plans to automate the station. The government wanted to tear it down and replace it with a light on a tower. Thanks to local residents who perceived value in the past and possessed the desire to preserve its heritage, an outcry arose protesting its demolition. In 1971, the station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The light station was saved, but neither the Coast Guard nor other public agencies had funds for maintaining or restoring the buildings. The Victorian style house sat void of life and the neglect started to take its toll as the wood rotted, the paint peeled, and the iron rusted.

East Brother Light Station, Inc., a non-profit group, was formed in 1979. Through government grants, private donations, and countless hours of volunteer labor steps were taken to restore it, not just to its former glory, but into a cherished landmark where all who want to experience the wonder of a lighthouse with a beautiful vista for a magnificent backdrop could do so.

West Brother Room
$375 (Thur - Sat), $345 Sun

Two Sisters Room
$345 (Thur - Sat), $315 Sun

The East Brother Light Station is now a popular island bed and breakfast. There are five available rooms. Four of the rooms are in the lighthouse itself and the fifth is in the original Fog signal Building. The rooms are beautifully appointed and each has its own stunning view of the Bay area and surrounding landscape or seascape, whichever you prefer. Your stay includes champagne and hors d'oeuvres upon arrival, a multi-course dinner with wine and a full gourmet breakfast the next morning. If you would like the warmth and romantic atmosphere a fireplace provides, the Two Sisters Room would be your likely choice. If you seek more privacy, the Walter's Quarters in the Fog Signal Building 100 feet from the lighthouse is closest to the water.

Marin Room
$425 (Thur - Sat), $395 Sun

San Francisco Room
$425 (Thur - Sat), $395 Sun

Walter's Quarters
$375 (Thur - Sat), $345 Sun

Point San Pablo is 30 minutes from downtown San Francisco and a ten minute boat ride from the serene Point San Pablo Harbor. Once on the island, you will be treated to spectacular views of the San Francisco skyline, Mount Tamalpais, and the Marin coastline. Your senses will be immersed and soothed by the smell of the bay, the sound of the lapping water on the rocky outcrops, and your imagination can take flight or stay put, it’s all the same either way, nostalgic and reinvigorating. Reserve a room and you will discover why San Francisco has been a top rated destination for many years among travelers.

East Brother Light Station's Bed and Breakfast excellent reviews. Reservations 510-233-2385.

Two Famous Ships Will Be Visiting Charleston Starting April 28th--One Of Them Inspired A Unique Restaurant

"In nineteen hundred ten plus two, Bernstein opened San Francisco's Fish Grotto." I admittedly confess this intended poetic verse is not an exact rhyme, but for a rationale about to be revealed, it will suffice. Now, as to the anomalous opening and its relevance, you will shortly comprehend my forgivable attempt to employ a humorous play on the opening words of a very famous poem, but first I will answer the glaring question: Who was Bernstein and what was the Fish Grotto?

Maurice Bernstein was an Oakland fish merchant who ran a number of eateries in the Bay Area and the Fish Grotto at 123 Powell Street was one of them. Called "The Ship That Never Goes To Sea," the restaurant was a popular and unique tourist attraction from 1912 to 1981. Serving dishes found nowhere else in the city, such as abalone steaks, mussels bordelaise and coo-coo clams from Coo-Coo Cove, one could unequivocally argue its menu was what made it unique, but historically, its claim to fame was its one-of-a-kind street entrance.

Intended to be a reproduction of Christopher Columbus' ship Niña, the restaurant was built with a ship's bow jutting out into the sidewalk. Inside, the marine theme continued. Bernstein's had seven dining rooms styled to look like ship's cabins: the Fisherman's Cave, the Pilot Room, the Sun Deck, the Main Salon, the Cabin Nooks, the Upper Deck, and the Porthole Counter. The eatery was also known for a wooden mermaid, which was positioned at its entrance.

Although, I do not recall a mermaid being mentioned in the famous poem written about Columbus' first voyage into the unknown, I do clearly remember its opening words, "In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." Now, that is a better rhyme. The poem continues, "He had three ships and left from Spain; He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain." Niña, the inspiration for Bernstein's restaurant, was one of the three Spanish ships (the other two were Pinta and Santa Maria).

Niña, also called Santa Clara, was a standard caravel-type vessel built in the Ribera de Moguer estuary of the Rio Tinto--a river in southwestern Spain. Commissioned to sail the Mediterranean Sea and originally rigged with triangular sails, she was re-rigged as a caravela redonda at Las Palmas in the Canary Islands with square sails for ocean sailing. Niña and the other two ships left Palos de la Frontera on August 3rd and made landfall in the Bahamas at dawn on October 12 ,1492.

Niña made the entire First Voyage, bringing Columbus safely home from the Bahamas. She accompanied the grand fleet of the Second Voyage to Hispaniola and Columbus selected her out of seventeen ships for his flagship on an exploratory voyage to Cuba, and purchased a half share in her. She was the only vessel of the seventeen in West Indian waters to survive the hurricane of 1495, and then brought back the Admiral and 120 passengers to Spain in 1496.

Niña was then chartered for an unauthorized voyage to Rome, and was captured by a corsair when leaving the port of Cagliari, and brought to an anchor at Cape Pula, Sardinia where she was stripped of her arms and crew. The Captain, Alonso Medel, escaped with a few men, stole a boat, rowed back to Niña, cut her cables and made sail.

Niña returned to Cadiz in time to sail for Hispaniola early in 1498, as advance guard of Columbus' Third Voyage. She was lying in Santo Domingo in 1500, and last heard of making a trading voyage to the Pearl Coast in 1501. No further log of her is found in historic archives. The Niña logged a extraordinary 25,000 miles under Columbus' command.

Replicas of the three ships were built in 1893 by the Spanish government for the Columbian Naval Review, but the most well-known 4-masted replica of Niña was built by American engineer and maritime historian, John Patrick Sarsfield, beginning 1988 in Valenca, Brazil. And, it will be visiting Charleston, joined by a replica of the Pinta, beginning April 28th.

Considered the most historically correct replica, Sarsfield and a group of master shipbuilders from Bahia, Brazil, who were still using design and construction techniques dating back to the 15th Century, constructed the replica Niña out of naturally-shaped timbers taken from local forests using only adzes, axes, hand saws, and chisels.

In December 1991, the Niña left Brazil and sailed to Costa Rica on a 4000 mile unescorted maiden voyage to take part in the filming of 1492: Conquest of Paradise. Since then, the ship has visited over 300 ports in the U.S. The caravels are operated by the Columbus Foundation of the British Virgin Islands--an educational group.

The Niña and Pinta will be moored at the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina in Mount Pleasant until a morning departure on May 9th. Walk-aboard guided tours will be available 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Fees are $8 adults, $7 senior citizens and $6 for students to age 16. Children under age 4 are free. Pinta is available for private parties and charters.

As you walk Niña's deck, let your imagination take sail. Picture yourself a crew member on that fateful voyage and reflect on what life would have been like with only a compass to guide you, working while others slept, sleeping while others worked, day after day watching for land, dreaming of trees and rocks and sand, and slurping on coo-coo clams from Coo-Coo Cove.

Unfortunately, coo-coo clams is a west coast thing--not on any Charleston menu that I am aware of. After your tour of the Niña, if you want the best clams in Charleston, try The Fig on Meeting Street. Its Razor Clam Ceviche is considered by many to be the best.

California's Point Bonita And Point Reyes Lighthouses--Both Stir The Imagination And Their Unmatched Scenery Stoke Your Inspiration

The vast Pacific Ocean is Earth's largest body of water. Its unrelenting waves are raw, powerful, and explosive. From north to south, they roll onto the shores of the longest stretch of state coastline in the United States. Framed by sheer cliffs, jagged rocks, and wind swept beaches, the intimidating California coast is both awe-inspiring and often deadly.

On recent visits to the Golden State, I have traveled its winding 656 mile Highway 1 from the Big Sur to Point Reyes hiking trails draped by ice plants to cliff-bound sandy beaches where I scaled water-soaked jagged rocks to engulf myself in the coast's natural mystique and document it with the most descriptive photographs, all the time weary of the possibility of being swept away by the Pacific's illusive sneaker wave. A vantage point that was also perfect for viewing the man-made structures built upon these picturesque sea cliffs for the distinct purpose of warning mariners of the hidden dangers characteristic to the California coast, the State's legendary lighthouses.

From St. George Reef to Point Loma, California's 840 mile coast has been lighted by 33 lighthouses. I have visited four thus far, all near the multifaceted and diverse city of San Francisco. Often located on perilous points shrouded in fog, the only access to some of these historical wonders was either walking through a dark tunnel cut into a tall cliff, traversing a suspended bridge high above crashing surf or descending steep, narrow stairs cemented into a jagged rock face. This was true for the lighthouses located at Point Reyes and Point Bonita. For Pigeon Point and Point Montara, it was just a matter of pulling off Highway 1 and walking to the lighthouses.

Both north of San Francisco Bay, Point Bonita and Point Reyes lighthouses are very similar in both design and placement, but each have features and a history unique to itself. Both lighthouses stir your imagination and their unmatched scenery stoke your inspiration.

The Golden Gate's rebellious currents, dangerous shoals, and persistent clinging fog had impeded the journey of many a vessel. 300 boats ran aground near the Golden Gate during the gold rush years. In the 1850's, mariners cried for a light to mark the entrance to the Golden Gate and the 300-foot Point Bonita was selected for a lighthouse site. A fifty-six-foot, conical brick tower with a second-order Fresnel lens went into operation on May 2, 1855. A one-and-a-half-story brick and stone cottage was built near the tower for the keeper of the light. When the light was cloaked in fog, an eight-foot long cannon was fired as a fog signal. In 1874, the first steam siren was installed.

Locating the lighthouse on top of the 300-foot Point Bonita proved to be a mistake. California fog is characteristically high, leaving lower areas clear. A site on the tip of Point Bonita 180-feet lower was selected for the new lighthouse. To reach the site, tunneling through a rock-cliff was required. The 118-foot hand-hewed tunnel and trail proved to be challenging due to the unstable rock. A new 3-room brick structure was built to support the upper half of the original lighthouse that was moved to the new site in 1877, including the Fresnel lens. The new lighthouse went into operation on February 1, 1877.

In time, part of the trail eroded and collapsed into the surf 124-feet below. A wooden causeway was built. Later, it was replaced by a suspension bridge, which appropriately mirrored the style of the Golden Gate Bridge. Again, in 2010, the lighthouse was closed to the public due to the rusting and unsafe condition of the bridge. It too was replaced and the lighthouse reopened in 2011.

Point Bonita is part of the Marin Headlands. From the parking area, it is a 0.5 mile walk on a trail with a stirring coastal view surrounded by grey rock cliffs. It is open for tours Saturday to Monday from 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm.

Looking down from the top of Lookout Point northward, the panoramic view on a fog-free day is breathtaking. Stretching for 11 miles are the brown sands and green-capped cliffs of South Beach and North Beach. Looking seaward, the vast ocean waters are a soulful deep blue and its waves thunderous.

The Point Reyes Headlands jut 10 miles out to sea making it a threat to each ship entering or leaving San Francisco Bay. Before the construction of the Point Reyes Lighthouse in 1870, over three-quarters of a million dollars in ships and cargoes were lost on the rocks. To date, the Point has taken more than fifty ships and the lives of numerous sailors and passengers. Rising 600-feet above the tumultuous surf of the Pacific Ocean, Point Reyes' jagged cliffs were the ideal location for a lighthouse, despite being the second foggiest place on the North American continent. Like Point Bonita, due to the characteristically high fog, an area 300-feet below the top of the cliff was blasted with dynamite to clear a level spot for its construction.

The lens and mechanism for the lighthouse were constructed in France in 1867. The clockwork mechanism, glass prisms and housing for the lighthouse were shipped on a steamer around Cape Horn of South America to San Francisco. The parts from France and the parts for the cast iron tower were transferred to a second ship, which then sailed to a landing on Drakes Bay. The parts were loaded onto ox-drawn carts and hauled three miles over the headlands to near the 600-foot high tip of Point Reyes where they were lowered to the leveled area. It took six months for the lighthouse and fog signal building to be completed. The Point Reyes Light first shone on December 1, 1870.

On April 18, 1906 the famous earthquake of San Francisco occurred, during which the Point Reyes Peninsula and the lighthouse moved 18 feet in less than one minute to the north. The lighthouse did not suffer any significant damage and was off-line only thirteen minutes. A testimony to the dedication and commitment of its hearty lighthouse keepers.

Point Reyes is the windiest place on the Pacific Coast. The highest wind speed recorded at Point Reyes was 133 mph, and 60 mph winds are common. At the end of each shift, the keeper trudged back up the long wooden staircase 300-feet to the keeper's quarters. Sometimes the winds were so strong that he had to crawl on his hands and knees to keep from being knocked down. The hard work, wind, fog, and isolation at Point Reyes made this an undesirable post. The lighthouse keeper at Point Reyes once wrote: "Better to dwell in the midst of alarms than reign in this horrible place."

 

The lighthouse was retired from service in 1975. It is now owned by the National Park Service and part of the Point Reyes National Seashore. It is open to the public on Friday through Monday. Tuesday to Thursday it can only be viewed from an observation deck. To reach the lighthouse, you will need to drive to the lighthouse parking lot, walk a scenic short 0.4 mile trail to the Visitor Center and then descend 308 stairs--map of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Visiting and photographing lighthouses has been a passion of mine. They conjure up a now extinct era when man dared to peer into the unknown with the hope of making peace with the natural order of the sea equipped with nothing more than his wits and raw fortitude. Sometimes he succeeded and sometimes he did not. The lighthouse remains a symbol of that era. Visiting the lighthouses close to San Francisco was fascinating and enriching. I will follow up this article with the lighthouses at Pigeon Point and Point Montara.

Bodega Bay--The Place Where The Birds Rule And The Gateway To The Sonoma Coast

"It's the end of the world," said the man sitting at the end of the bar with a capricious smile and a drink in his hand. The place was Tides Restaurant and Bar located in Bodega Bay, CA. It was a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock classic thriller "The Birds."

Bodega Harbor was the place where Melanie Daniels(Tippi Hedren) was unexplainably attacked by a lone seagull while heading towards a dock in an outboard motor boat where her love interest, Mitch Brenner(Rod Taylor), awaited her arrival. The Tides Restaurant and Bar was where Mitch took Melanie to care for her bleeding head. Later, at the same restaurant, a debate ensued between some of the patrons as to the strange behavior of the birds. "Not likely," said a bird lover and amateur ornithologist concerning the likelihood of a bird exhibiting violent tendencies towards humans.

Birds have been known to swoop down on cats and even people, if they consider them a threat to their nests. I have been a witness to such curious behavior. There have been times when I have observed a little bird menacing another bigger bird for some reason unknown to me, but to attack a human without provocation, that would be out of character in the world of birds. On one occasion, I was dive bombed by some seagulls while eating at Disney's Magic Kingdom in Orlando, but the birds were more interested in the food I was holding than taking out some anonymous vendetta against me. The family owned parakeets when I was just a toddler. I don't particularly recall any malevolent behavior on their part. Although, when it sat on my shoulder, it would peck my ear. It was somewhat bossy at times. Always told me to take out the garbage. Should I have been concerned?

As the movie progressed, the attacks from our fine feathered friends became more frequent and vicious. If you dare to watch the movie at some point in time you may want to close your eyes when Mitch's mother visits a neighbor friend. It isn't a pretty sight. Then, there was the scene after the crows attacked the children as they left the schoolhouse. Mitch finds the school teacher(played by Suzanne Pleshette) laying on the ground outside her home. Let's just say the birds have a thing about eyes.

They seemed to defy the idea that birds of a feather flock together only. These were no mere random acts or isolated incidents. Their maneuvers gave the appearance of being coordinated with one prime objective--punish man. The movie doesn't come right out and say that. Hitchcock leaves that up to us to figure out. At the climax of the movie, when Mitch and his family along with Melanie are forced to leave their battered home, one of the birds takes a parting shot with a peck to Mitch's hand as if to say, "It isn't over. It's only the beginning."

This was the premise of Hitchcock's first horror/fantasy film that scared audiences back in the early sixties. Bodega Bay was the setting he chose. It is a real place 1 1/2 hours north of San Francisco at the southern end of the rugged and beautiful Sonoma Coast. Hitchcock chose it because of its foggy weather and mystical landscape, which at that time was subdued and open. It has been over sixty years since the movies release and the Visitor Center in Bodega Bay receives thousands of Hitchcock fans every year. When you mention the movie to the receptionist, she will give you a sheet of paper listing all the points of interest and locations.

 

Although the original Tides Restaurant and Bar was destroyed by a fire in February of 1968, you can visit the newer Tides, which was built in its place--a complex with a snack bar, gift shop, seafood store, an elegant restaurant with a spectacular view of the harbor, and an inn. The old pier where Melanie was first attacked is still there. The farm house and the dock across the bay where Mitch lived all burned down in the late 60's. The old Potter School is the only original building used in the movie that stands to this day, and you won't find it in Bodega Bay. It is located some six miles inland in the town of Bodega. The schoolhouse was an abandoned building when it was first discovered by Hitchcock and rebuilt for the movie. Years later, it became a bed and breakfast, but now is a private residence. You can take pictures of it, but no longer able to tour it. You could politely ask the present owner, but the response may not be polite one--I read that in a review. The school teacher's house next to the schoolhouse was only a facade built for the movie.

I was just a young man entering my teens in 1963 when "The Birds" made its debut. The movie has since been a favorite. Hitchcock's spellbinding masterpiece has had an effect on my psyche. Whenever I see birds massing together I wonder, "Could this be it." There is a passage from the book of Revelation in the Bible that speaks of the birds being called to a great evening meal of God where they will eat the flesh of men. I wonder if Alfred had this text in mind when he was first inspired to write the script and storyboards?

Surrounded by tall hills and tall trees, the drive into Bodega Bay from the south is picturesque and narrow with many twists and turns. Once you reach the misty, tranquil waters of the harbor and begin to navigate its shoreline, you will sense the lingering remnants of nostalgia left by the movie. It saturates the old surviving salty structures of yesteryear as well as the contemporary. Bodega Bay is also the gateway to the rugged and scenic Sonoma Coast all the way to Goat Rock near Jenner.


Sonoma Coast Lodging

Inn at the Tides in Bodega Bay

One last parting thought. The ending we have become accustomed to seeing in the movie was not part the original script. The ending that was supposed to be was scraped due to costs. Picture in your mind the great Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco covered with birds. "It's the end of the world."