Three For The Road: Until We Meet Again, Bay Area...

As is typical, our Bay Area travels covered a number of random delectable destinations around the region, and we'll be closing this extended series with three of those places, covering the worlds of craft beer, coffee and ice cream.

Barebottle Brewing Company - San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood is a little bit off the radar for most visitors to the area, but the area holds some fairly respectable culinary charms.  Barebottle Brewing Company's arrival to the area in June 2016 (courtesy of Michael Seitz and Lester Koga, whose success in homebrewing competitions encouraged them to go professional) added a craft beer element to the area.

Blue Heron Lands and Klezmer Bands: Cullinan Ranch Wetlands/Saul's Delicatessen

A panoramic view of the Cullinan Ranch Wetlands, an under-the-radar treasure of the Bay Area

Way back in the days when the native peoples roamed the lands of what would become the state of California, the Bay Area unsurprisingly housed acres and acres of natural wetlands. These spaces, vital ports for migratory birds of all types, remained relatively untouched until 40 years California achieved its statehood, when officials thought these "useless" wetlands would be better used to supplement the state's burgeoning agricultural industry.

Cullinan Ranch, a 1500-acre parcel of former tidal marsh, like many of its surrounding wetlands, was diked off for those purposes. Later, a proposed marina community development in the 1980s and threatened any chance of full restoration, but the proposal was ultimately defeated and led to the land's sale back to the US Fish and Wildlife Service for that very purpose.

Tomales Bay and Tasty Ways: Pt. Reyes National Seashore/M.H. Bread and Butter

One thing I will always love about California is the weather, in that it generally is much less an impediment to exploring Mother Nature's wonders than elsewhere.  With solidly fair weather in place throughout our California stay, we figured a couple of day trips to do some exploring were in order.

Tomales Bay in Point Reyes National Seashore, underneath which the San Andres
Fault runs (photo credit to Brewbooks under Wikimedia Commons license)

Geographically, the casual observer might think at first glance that the Point Reyes peninsula looks as if it were being cut in half by the Pacific Ocean. That notion is more correct than they might suspect, as the San Andreas Fault runs right along where Tomales Bay lies. Essentially, anything east of the bay is going south toward Los Angeles, while anything west is creeping north toward Alaska. What this unique clash of land masses creates is a bevy of interesting sights for the visitor.

Wine Country in Recovery: Through The Valley of the Moon

We admit, it was hard to keep our eyes on the roadway ahead of us as we made our way out of Santa Rosa down California's Highway 12, the scenic "Valley of the Moon" highway that cuts through some of the prettiest parts of Sonoma and Napa counties. The charred hillsides in the distance proved to be a consistent backdrop to be chaotic, erratic nature of the wildfires on either side of the road.

Relatively lengthy stretches of normal were interrupted by seared foliage and grasslands, or worse, a vineyard or a business blackened almost beyond recognition. Perhaps the most jarring to me of the sights I saw this day was the rubble that had been historic, century-old Stornetta Dairy complex where Napa Road and Highway 12 intersect.

Wine Country in Recovery: When You Can Beat 'Em, Cooperate 'Em to Death (Pt. 2)

Charlie Brown dons the hockey gear near Santa Rosa's
Redwood Empire Ice Arena. Creator of Charlie Brown, Charles Schulz,
grew up in Minnesota and became a huge hockey fan.

Before continuing with our travels with Santa Rosa, I did want to mention perhaps the number one attraction in Santa Rosa. The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center (which thankfully escape the wildfire's wrath) wasn't in the cards for a visit this time, as my spouse and I have visited here several times. However, if you're at all a fan of comics and especially a fan of the Peanuts gang, this museum is pretty much a must see if you're in the area.