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by Layne Edwards
My wife and I took a drive one Saturday morning and headed towards the coast. We knew we would end up on the beach but didn’t decide which
beach to head towards until we had to. We left Ripon and headed west. Just past Livermore we decided it would be Half Moon Bay since we don’t often go there. Our other choices at the time were Santa Cruz and Stinson Beach. It was nice, we didn’t have any plans for lunch, for dinner, or even if we’d drive back home that evening or find a hotel to stay the night in.
When we made it into Half Moon Bay we first stopped at Main Street to find a place to eat. We weren’t looking for something huge since we had already planned on eating a larger meal later. Right away we found the San Benito House. We both enjoyed great sandwiches and were impressed with their beer selection from various micro-breweries. Some were even local ones.
We were told that we were sitting in one of the city’s oldest buildings. They said it used to be a speakeasy in the 20s during prohibition and the hotel above us used to be a brothel. History is great even if it tells stories of people breaking the law. We took a short walk on Main Street afterwards.
We left Main Street and headed to our favorite beach to sit and relax. It was whale season so we were really looking forward to catching a whale or two. We made our way to Francis beach. We love coming here rain or shine but preferably shine. Today was the perfect day to sit and relax and we weren’t there for 15 minutes and we saw people pointing out into the water. To make a long story short we were fortunate to see seven whales that day.
Later that afternoon we headed to Sam’s Chowder House which is one of our favorites. We both enjoyed their amazing lobster rolls and afterwards, headed back to the San Benito House to stay for the night.
All in all we are lucky to live in the Central Valley. I hope to share with you all of the places I go to help give you an idea of what you can do for a fun filled weekend just hours (or less) away. We have the Sierra Nevada mountains, the coast with several fun places to visit, Napa, and much more.
About the author: Layne Edwards is a retired percussionist. He studied at the University of North Texas College of Music in Denton Texas and has traveled around the country being hired out by various artists. In retirement Layne decided to call Ripon his home along with his wife.
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