How many people can say “I stayed at a lighthouse” ?? Well now I can!!
As the third in a series of posts on my epic family vacation, I want to tell you about an amazing and beautiful place we stayed while traveling California Highway 1: Point Arena Lighthouse in Mendocino County.
I discovered this opportunity – to stay on lighthouse property – when I was looking for a 2nd overnight stop between Ashland, Oregon and San Francisco after experiencing the majestic Redwoods.
When we arrived on lighthouse property after it had closed to the public for the day, it was completely deserted, and they had left the key for us. I have never experienced such a desolate and beautiful place. Usually somewhere this beautiful and serene (and has a lighthouse!!) would be a bit crowded. But nope, we felt like the only people in the world here.
We happily moved ourselves into the huge Assistant Keepers’s House Number 2 (view out the kitchen window below). The cottage furnishings were not what I would call modern but it was charming and cozy. It had a log-burning fireplace which we used, a full kitchen, three bedrooms with four beds total, two bathrooms, and a beautiful view.
The view out of the cottage’s kitchen window.
After a long day of traveling down Highway 1 we were hungry and thirsty so we headed into town and found a great seafood dinner at The Pier Chowder House and Tap Room, and again we basically had this place to ourselves. (This was during the week in mid-June.)
After a restful night, we made coffee and breakfast the next morning before hiking around the property…I did see one other couple at this point, but it still felt like our own private residence.
At 10 a.m. the lighthouse opens to the public and we were able to climb to the top of it and get an even better view of the area. They gave a short historical tour, and afterwards the kids got buttons that said, “I survived the climb” of 145 steps to the top.
Ideally I would have stayed here multiple nights because the accommodations are so roomy (they really are the old assistant lightkeepers houses) and you have to pay a cleaning fee regardless of how many nights you stay, so over a couple or few days your nightly rate would be more reasonable. From November through May you will have a good chance of seeing whales migrating here.
I highly recommend this as a getaway for a writers retreat, honeymoon, family vacation, or whatever excuse you can find. The nearby town is cute and inviting, and I know there were other activities we could have explored had we more time. But as it was, we had to continue on, so we stopped in Point Arena the next morning to stock up on drinks and food for our trip to San Francisco and ordered some really delicious sandwiches to go at the cute General Store.
General store in Point Arena.
As a fun fact, the Mel Gibson movie Forever Young (1992)
Here’s the official website for Point Arena Lighthouse, which is a is a local non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the historic Point Arena Light Station and keeping it open to the public. Staying here helps preserve this piece of history for all!