Two hours north of the San Francisco Bay area lies the Mendocino Coast in Mendocino County. Although there are splendid coastal views further south in Sonoma and Marin Counties, the truly memorable scenic drive that stretches from Gualala to Rockport offers unsurpassed views of the blue Pacific Ocean as it meets the rocky shoreline and cliffs of the California Coast. 

Along the way are many state parks, beaches and reserves, picturesque communities like Mendocino, Point Arena, Manchester, Little River, Fort Bragg and Westport. Two historic lighthouses can be visited at Point Arena and Point Cabrillo, which is a State Historical Park with free entry. Wildflowers seem to grow everywhere, including at the formal floral displays of lovely Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. 

Architecture in such towns as Little River, Mendocino and Fort Bragg reflects that of Coastal New England, which was the origin of many of the area’s early settlers. In Fort Bragg, the Guest House Museum boasts an impressive Victorian mansion, built in 1892 by a lumber king who became the city’s first mayor.

In addition to numerous inns and interesting shops all along the coast, first-class lodging is readily available at group-friendly properties convenient to the “Skunk Train” depot in Fort Bragg, as well as in Ukiah for those preferring to make a day trip “loop” from inland. Regardless of how the trip is planned, however, I’d suggest at least a three-night stay in order to take advantage of the major attractions that Mendocino County has to offer. With the addition of two or three nights in the San Francisco Bay area, group leaders can construct a wonderfully varied trip that their travelers are certain to recall fondly for many years to come.

Bob Hoelscher, CTC, CTP, MCC, CTIE, is a longtime travel industry executive who has sold his tour company, bought a motorhome and is traveling the highways and byways of America.  He is a former chairman of NTA, and was a founding member of Travel Alliance Partners (TAP).

Well-known in the industry as both a baseball and symphony aficionado, Bob is also one of the country’s biggest fans of our national parks, both large and small.  He has already visited more than 325 NPS sites and has several dozen yet to see.  He is currently traveling the country to visit as many of those parks as possible.  His blog, “Travels with Bob,” appears periodically on The Group Travel Leader’s blogsite, “Are We There Yet”.  

Bob is available for contractual work in the industry and may be reached at bobho52@aol.com or by calling (435) 590-1553.

Village of Mendocino

Wildflowers and Rocky Coastline

The Pounding Pacific Surf

I looked and looked, but the view at McWay Cove in Julia Pfeiffer State Park did not feel real. The impossible beauty I beheld had to be part of some highly imaginative dream. Or I had been suddenly whisked up to heaven. Since neither of those seemed true, I had to accept the most likely scenario: I had fallen into a screen saver picture.

The little cove’s rocky cliffs, hills blanked with colorful flowers and 80-foot waterfall that flows into bright turquoise waters is unbelievably gorgeous. I knew I had found my new mental happy place. This breathtaking view stood out among numerous other immaculate vistas along the Big Sur route that goes up the coastal Highway One from Morro Bay to Monterey.

The elephant seals agree that this coast is pretty close to paradise. For April and May, the Piedras Blancas beach is covered with hundreds of female and juvenile elephant seals.

For a second, I entertained the horrifying idea that the elephant seals laying along the beach may all be dead from their absolute lack of movement. However, I soon learned that these seals were only very, very tired. Apparently months of hunting and giving birth in the ocean really tires you out. They hardly budged except to nestle further in the sand and the occasional sparring (play fighting). Some seals seeking an ocean swim would move a couple of feet toward the water before having to stop and take a short nap before moving again.

Along with elephant seals, I spotted harbor seals, sea lions, incredibly cute sea otters and two humpback whales on a whale watching trip in Monterey. The whales became an immediate trip highlight for me, since I had always wanted to see a whale in the wild after watching hours of National Geographic shows on these giant creatures. Watching them play next to the boat and occasionally look at us with curiosity was more than I ever hoped for.

Saying goodbye to the coast was difficult, but I took with me the ability to close my eyes and picture McWay Cove any time of day.

All photos by Jeremiah Myers

Seafood lovers are used to seeing shrimp, crab, fish and oysters on their dinner plates, but to see them alive in their own habitat is something else altogether. Today I encountered many of these creatures up-close with an Alabama Gulf Coast company called Sailaway Charters.

I joined Sailaway's owner Capt. Skip, as well as a handful of other visitors, on a nature cruise of the bays and bayous near Orange Beach, Alabama. During our hour-and-a-half cruise, Capt. Skip demonstrated many of the techniques used by commercial fisherman to harvest shrimp, crab, oysters and other fish in the area. We began by trawling for shrimp with a net cast behind our pontoon boat. After a few minutes, Capt. Skip hoisted the net on board, and emptied out its contents to show us all of the different creatures that had come up.

By my count, we saw at least 16 types of fish, mollusks, shrimp and other creatures. For each one, the captain would hold up a specimen and point out its distinguishing characteristics, such as the markings on the underside of a blue crab that indicate its sex. Then, he would toss all of the "by-catch" back out into the gulf, where dozesn of gulls and a pair of dolphins followed behind our boat to catch an easy meal.

The excursion also included looks at crab traps and oyster harvesting. I left with a deeper appreciation of the beauty of these sea animals, as well as the hard work that commercial fishermen go through to bring them to our tables.

A tiny white shrimp

Capt. Skip and a blue crab

A pair of stingrays got caught up in the shirmp net.

Freshly pulled from the Gulf, oysters are unattractive creatures.

Lemurs love cameras. And I don't mean that they enjoy being photographed -- these energetic, curious animals love to nibble on, lick and play with cameras and other expensive electronic equipment.

Today I visited the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, a small zoo where the staff encourages interactive experiences with wildlife. One of their most popular programs is Lemur Encounter, in which particpents sit in an enclosed tent with a quartet of juvenille lemurs. These exotic animals are members of the primate family, although they don't particularly look like monkies, and are native only to the island nation of Madagascar.

So I went into the tent, along with a handful of other visitors. When zoo director Patti Hall brought the four lemurs into the tent with us, they lept into a frenzie, playing a fast-paced game of follow-the-leader in circles around the tent. After a few minutes, though, they became curious about us, and began to jump into our laps, paw at our faces, and grab our cameras, sunglasses and anything else they could find to play with. By the end of the session, they had made friends with their visitors, snuggleing into our arms and letting us rub their bellies.

The lemur encounter is one of several programs like it at the zoo.  For next year, Hall hopes to have four such programs, including a playtime with young tiger cubs and an interactive reptile exhibit where guests can hold a baby alligator and albino python. If what I experienced today was any indication, the program is on its way to being a smash hit.

Many thousands of tourists come to Alabama's Gulf Coast every year, most to take advantage of its fine weather and beautiful beaches. But there is so much to see and do beyond the beach, and today I visited one of the area's most fascinating attractions, Alligator Alley.

Wesley Moore founded Alligator Alley in 2004, restoring sveral acres of natural cypress swampland that he owned back to its original purpose. Alligators have always been at home in this kind of habitat, and Moore decided to augment the gator population on his land with rescued alligators from other parts of the Southeast. Today there are some 170 gators at the farm, many of whom were brought to the sanctuary after being declared nuissances in populated areas.

I lost track of the number of gators I saw during my visit, which included a walk around the elevated boardwalk that Moore and friends built through the swamp. many of the are hidden just below the surface of the water, but I saw dozens sitting lazily on the higher ground as well. One gator at the site is particularly notorious: Nicknamed "Captain Crunch," this 13.5-foot, 900-pound reptile has the most forceful bite on record of any animal on earth. When his jaws snap down on a bit of prey or other piece of food, they exgert 2,982 pounds of force. (It takes 400-500 pounds of force to break a human's leg.)

But the highlight of a visit to Alligator Alley is feeding time -- three times a day, employees come out to do demonstration feedings with the alligators. My guide Evan crossed the safety fence and approached a riverbead full of hungry gators, armed with a long stick and cooler full of pork bits. To watch him feed these massive predators was both terrifying and amazing, as they would lunge out of the water with open jaws when he raised his arm with a fistfull of food. My favorite part was the satisfying "plunk" sound that the gator jaws made as the snapped shut around the hunks of meat.

Feeding time

"Captain Crunch"

Your correspondant wrestles a baby gator.

A gator ruminating in the cypress swamp.

If you work in the tourism business, chances are that from time to time, you enjoy some perks on the job.  If you work as a travel journalist, those times tend to come more frequently. This week on Alabama's Gulf Coast, I'm enjoying the perks in spades.

I arrived today at my accomodations for the weekend.  I'm being hosted by the Alabama Gulf Coast CVB and partners at Turquoise Place, a beautiful high-rise condo development right on the beach. This building was complteed just last year, and features modern decor and luxurious appointments.

I was shocked when, after checking in at the front desk, I walked into my "room" -- turns out I'm spending the next four days in a 2,300-square-foot, three-bedroom condominium, outfitted with a full kitchen, three and a half baths, and a beautiful balcony looking out over the sugary sands and emerald waters of the Gulf Coast. This is the smallest unit in the development, but it's bigger than my house, and around every turn, there's a surprise -- the gas range and massive side-by-side refrigerator in the kitchen, the multi-jet shower in the master bathroom, and the gas grill and full-sized hot tub on the balcony overlooking the ocean.

It's feels somehow shameful that I'll be enjoying such a big place all by myself this weekend -- a condo like this would be a perfect place for a big family or group of friends to enjoy some quality time together. But the feeling will pass. The appointments and decorations are luxurious, and I plan to take advantage of as many as I can.  All that stands in the way is the list of things I'm slated to do and see during my stay here.