A Brown Wolff and a Red Dog: Stinson Beach

Dave and I love to spend time in West Marin. (Well, so do a lot of people in the Bay Area, but this is about our family!) In the past our weekends away have always been in the area near the Point Reyes National Seashore. Usually we rent a cabin or cottage in Inverness or Point Reyes Station. Last week we found ourselves with a child to engage more than usual (Maisy's school was on Spring Break), vacation time to use (some of Dave's accrued vacation time will expire if not used by July 1), and a canine to include (unless we're flying we always try to bring Buster). Of course we decided to go to Point Reyes! But when our favorite cabin in Inverness was unavailable, we decided to try something new and stay in Stinson Beach.

Stinson Beach is a popular beach town, just about 40 minutes (without traffic) from San Francisco on scenic Highway 1. We had each only been to Stinson Beach a handful of times over our 15+ years in the Bay Area, and had never stayed there before. So, we didn't really know what to expect but figured the beach would make both Maisy and Buster happy. What did we have to lose?

Wow. We loved Stinson Beach. We found a terrific beach house to rent: comfortable rooms for all, a sunny deck, a huge outdoor play area with swings and a playhouse, and all of this a short stroll down a private gravel road to the beach, another short stroll on the beach to town. This alone would've set us up for a fantastic getaway, but we were also blessed by fantastic weather and by visits from friends (it's nice to be so close to San Francisco!). I think Stinson Beach is going to become one of our favorite destinations.

Maisy and Buster explored while the tide was out.

Dave and Maisy went for a walk while Buster and I rested.

The beach was covered with ladybugs.
"I made little walls with the sand so the ladybug would hold still so you could take a picture." -Maisy

The only time we drove was to visit the nearby tidepools at Agate Beach in Bolinas.

I think I mentioned in a previous post that Maisy has discovered chocolate. Indeed.

Liam and family, and Finn and family, visited us on Saturday. Through a fun "small world" coincidence we also ran into Haia and family, friends from swimming lessons. Here, Liam, Haia, Maisy, and Finn enjoyed being buried in the sand. (photo by Grace)