Over the weekend my friend Faith and I made our annual horse trip to Pt. Reyes . We stay at this wonderful B&B that has a stable and everyone gets a nice little vacation. Unfortunately Friday when we left is was raining and raining and raining. We had planned to ride that day but decided we were not that dedicated to ride in the rain. We got to the Inn a little early so the owner was a little put out.. but we've known him long enough to pitch in and help out. Since it had been raining all day the stalls had not gotten cleaned so we pitched in and cleaned the stalls that our horses were going to be in... no problem. Our rooms were ready so we settled in after getting the horses settled. There are 5 rooms at the Inn ,2 down stairs and 3 upstairs plus a cozy common area with a fireplace. The rooms have 4 poster queen beds and antique furnishings. They all have their own bathroom which is nice plus all the little amenities like a hair dryer, shampoo, lotion etc. My room (for that night) was upstairs with a little balcony with 2 chairs and a little table, that looked out toward the barn. This is a beautiful time of year and there are lots of flowers in bloom.It was so nice and peaceful that we decided a little nap was in order.The rooms above the barn are two suites complete with a kitchenette, a bunk rooom with two sets of bunk beds. Two full bathrooms across the hall for both the suites and the bunk rooms. There is also a large common area with comfy couch and books and a dining area with sink, coffee pot, microwave, sink. Everything is decorated in antique furnishings, it is very Shabby Chic.
Later that evening we headed into town for dinner at The Station House Cafe. We had made reservations earlier which was a good thing because the place was packed. It looked like all the restaurants in town are certified Marin Organic. When we were seated they bring out a basket of pop overs and butter. The pop overs are light and airy and hot.. so good! The shell fish is good here especially the local Hog Island oysters and the mussels. I started with the roasted yellow beet salad with candied walnuts and a Pt. Reyes Blue Cheese dressing on a bed of organic mixed greens. Their salads are always so fresh. I had the Braised short ribs with Autumn root vegetables. It was very good, the meat was tender and flavorful, the only thing missing was mashed potatoes polenta to soak up the gravy. Faith had the roasted chicken which was a disappointment only because everything came out cold. Since we hadn't eaten all day she said she was too hungry to send it back, besides she said it tasted good, just cold. We were good and didn't have desert.. just headed back to the Inn to feed the horses and go to bed.
In the morning Tom fixes the best breakfasts. At 8 there is coffee and hot water for tea, 9:00 is breakfast. After feeding the horses around 7, I showered and came down to get a cup of coffee and took it back up to the room and went out onto the balcony to enjoy the sunshine and watch the fog burn off. Breakfast that morning was a fritata with green chilies and cheese with a fruit garnish. Tom had sour cream and salsa on the table to accompany the fritata. It was good and filling and was a great start to the day. Breakfast is served in the common room and in the summer months out on the deck. After breakfast we turned the horses out to run off any excess energy while we headed into town to find something to pack for lunch. As we were pulling out of the drive we hear someone yelling, here comes Tom running after the truck. There seemed to have been a mix up in booking rooms and a group was coming in a day earlier than he had planned. Would I mind rooming with Faith..get the night comped. OK no problem, it wouldn't be the first time Faith and I had shared a bed. Once in town I went to the Tomales Bay Foods which houses the Cowgirl Creamery. It also has a small green market and deli ( I got some duck pate) a clothing boutique and throughout the "barn" odds and ends of olive oils, mustards, jams, pasta, almost anything you can think of. The only thing they didn't have was a small loaf of french bread.. just for me I didn't need a whole baguette.
After getting our lunch we headed back to load up the horses, change rooms and hit the trial.
We decided to go to the Ranger Stations, it has lots of riding trails leading off from there. We got saddled up and headed out.. Now Riff is a youngster.. he's only been out twice before. Mine is a broke old guy of 19. Riff was scared but was doing well, we started off across the parking lot and stopped off by the watering tank to see if they wanted a drink, then headed out onto the trail. The plan was to go up the Rift Zone trail a wide open trail through fields and pastures.. nice and easy for a young horse. Riff was doing great, he was in the lead going down the trail when all of sudden he realized he was out there in front.. no Pokey in sight. He kind of gave a bolt, stopped and whirled around to be able to see Pokey who was behind him. In whirling around off went Faith. I'm sitting there trying to decide who I should go to Faith, who was laying on the ground or Riff who was just walking around grazing. I decided I'd better get Riff in case he should spook and run out onto the parking lot (yes, we were still near there). As dismounted to get Riff one of the hikers went to help Faith and another girl caught Riff up for me. Faith slowly got up and came hobbling over for her horse.. we walked them back to the trailer and let Faith catch her breath. Even though she was hurting she had to get back on so that the horse wouldn't learn that by dumping someone he could get away with it. We both remounted and just rode around the parking lot, back and forth until both Riff and Faith calmed down (it's a little unnerving to get back on a horse after a fall) we walked up and down and to the water tank and up the trail just a little ways and back and back and forth for a good half hour. After that I got on Riff and did a little more of that always being sure not to let Pokey get out of his sight. He did well so we ended it on a good note. Loaded the horses back up and headed back to the Inn much to Tom's surprise. After getting the horses settled again we headed back to clean up.
Since we were now crammed into one room with both our stuff spread all over (neither of us are very neat) it was kind of a mess. Faith was hurting so she took some Motrin and was going to lay down. I headed back into town since I had to find a birthday gift anyway. I went back to Tomales Bay foods and they happened to be making cheese. There is a big picture window from which you can watch the cheese makers. That day they were making Mt. Tam and Red Hawk.
I found a box of The Barefoot Contessa brownie mix for the gift and went into the little boutique to look around. I found the cutest little scarf that I thought would make a nice gift.. just a woven plaid with a red ruffle..very stylish.. the price? $115.00!! cough cough.. uh.. not that cute. Everything in the boutique is hand woven or hand made or designer. They had some of the most stylish purses but I didn't even look at the price since I didn't want to spend that much money. After that I walked through town (one main street) they have galleries, eclectic little shops, garden boutiques, a grocery store and a few other businesses. The oddest had to be the Chinese Chuck Wagon. It was parked next to the Western Saloon. It was a canteen truck which sold Chinese food. Tom said it wasn't too bad...hmmm.
Since we were now crammed into one room with both our stuff spread all over (neither of us are very neat) it was kind of a mess. Faith was hurting so she took some Motrin and was going to lay down. I headed back into town since I had to find a birthday gift anyway. I went back to Tomales Bay foods and they happened to be making cheese. There is a big picture window from which you can watch the cheese makers. That day they were making Mt. Tam and Red Hawk.
I found a box of The Barefoot Contessa brownie mix for the gift and went into the little boutique to look around. I found the cutest little scarf that I thought would make a nice gift.. just a woven plaid with a red ruffle..very stylish.. the price? $115.00!! cough cough.. uh.. not that cute. Everything in the boutique is hand woven or hand made or designer. They had some of the most stylish purses but I didn't even look at the price since I didn't want to spend that much money. After that I walked through town (one main street) they have galleries, eclectic little shops, garden boutiques, a grocery store and a few other businesses. The oddest had to be the Chinese Chuck Wagon. It was parked next to the Western Saloon. It was a canteen truck which sold Chinese food. Tom said it wasn't too bad...hmmm.Later that night we went into the little town of Olema and had dinner at the Farmhouse. Again, it was a good thing we had reservations since The Station House was closed for a wedding party. Even with reservations we had to wait about half an hour.. poor Faith. One of the guys behind the bar was playing bartender, receptionist, busboy, waiter and anything else that needed doing. He was running crazy. After we were seated I started with the warm Cowgirl Creamery Triple Cream Cheese,portobella mushrooms, dried cranberries on a bed of mixed greens.. yum! Faith had the Buttermilk onion strings, thin onion rings with buttermilk coating .. really good. I had the Pt. Reyes blue burger.. It was delicious, medium rare crisp french fries..Ahh comfort food. Faith had the make your own pasta with fettuchini noodles, veggies, chicken and pesto sauce. She was in heaven also
Yes, we had desert.. I had the Amaretto float. It tasted like a root beer float.. maybe a little more creamy. It was good. Faith had the lava cake..she loves chocolate. It was a very good dinner in a cute little restaurant. It serves really good breakfasts too.
The next morning we were served a oven pancake.. blueberry with chicken apple sausage and fruit. It was so good.
Packed, loaded the horses and headed home. Even though we had a few mishaps the weekend was fun. We made reservations for next year already. It's a great place whether you have horses or not. It would be a nice romantic place just for a couples get away.
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