Back in the Saddle

And we're back from our whirlwind weekend at the coast. It's always too short, but part of the fun is getting the most out of the time. Fort Bragg, like most of the coastal Mendocino towns, has people who take food seriously enough to have fun with it, and plenty of cool local restaurants. If you happen to be driving up the coast that far, always a spectacular drive, here's some places to check out:

• Breakfast. I've been here a few times over the years, and it's always great. This time around it was an omelet with lots of fresh crab and garlic, with champagne hollandaise sauce. Amazing.



• Beer and fish-and-chips. Sitting astride the main drag at the north end of town, the brewery/gift shop (on the ocean side of the highway) and the pub/restaurant (on the inland side) complement each other very well. We go here at least once every time, and the food and beer are always excellent.



• Ice cream. Another place we always hit (this time twice), Cowlick's is the bomb. No, I did not try the mushroom ice cream; two rules I have about food is that I don't do rabbit food (which is probably 75% of vegetables) and I don't do fungus. However, the coconut and the blackberry (there are blackberry bushes along many beach trails, ripening in a few weeks) ice creams are highly recommended.



• Pizza. This was a new place for us, and I wish we had known about it on previous visits. Piaci's is a great little place tucked right off the highway in the middle of town, cool atmosphere, excellent microbrews on tap, outstanding pizza.

Topped with a scenic drive back down the coast to Navarro and inland along 128 through the redwoods and Anderson Valley, and you got yourself a pretty reasonable weekend getaway. Of course, now we're back in the smoke zone with temperatures expected to be in triple digits all week, but even a short break is good.