Bodega Bay Vacation Rentals

The Annual Petaluma Lighted Boat Parade was another year of fun sponsored by the Petaluma Yacht Club at the Petaluma River downtown.

A flotilla of holiday decorated boats filled the turning basin downtown to celebrate the holidays and to welcome Santa. It’s always been one of Petaluma’s featured and spectacular holiday traditions.

The history of this parade is quite interesting….it was actually started a quarter century ago by club members who sailed up the river from Gilardi’s Landing to the Turning Basin until it dawned on them that few could actually see the boats until they neared the downtown area. Now the parade is from the Petaluma Marina to the Turning Basin.

The first Lighted Boat Parade featured three boats. That number has grown to more than 35 boats in addition to an assortment of canoes and kayaks. Hundreds of people from not only Petaluma, but from all over the Bay Area line the Turning Basin to watch the spectacle. Depending on the tides, boats gather at the marina around 5:30 p.m. The parade starts at 6 and reaches the Turning Basin around 6:30.

Petaluma is just 25 minutes from “At The Bay’s Edge” and offers many wonderful restaurants and activities as well.

It’s crab season, and the beauty of staying “At the Bay’s Edge” is that you can buy crab off of the boats, and cook it here, or eat out. It’s a “win” “win” event for all!

Enjoy!

Bodega Bay is so well known for its seafood….as it should be! However, this small town does have something for everyone….and we have an incredible burger joint off the beaten path that overlooks the water. It’s called “The Dog House”….and you can enjoy fabulous burgers, dogs, fries & ice cream while you watch the wildlife or the windsurfers and kite surfers that launch from that beach almost every afternoon.

The Dog House is next to the Post Office at 537 S Highway 1…..you’ll see Coldwell Banker and it’s behind that building down on a side road overlooking the water. (707) 875-2441. The “Dog House” is just a mile from “At the Bay’s Edge“.

Enjoy!

ARTrails is a big event here….A program of the Arts Council of Sonoma County, ARTrails is an annual fall tradition and Sonoma County’s largest and most visible arts event. Celebrating its 22nd year and voted “Sonoma County’s Best Outdoor Art Event”, ARTrails provides a rare opportunity for the public to meet local artists in their studios and learn about their diverse creative processes and techniques. Through hands-on demonstrations as well as intimate conversations, ARTrails artists will take you into their world where colors, shapes, materials, and textures merge into unique and collectible works of art.

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The white pelicans usually fish in groups and dunk from the surface – unlike the brown pelicans, who dive for their food. They are often right in front of “At the Bay’s Edge” and are just beautiful to watch.

What a nice surprise….The Terrapin Creek Cafe just opened and I really enjoyed everything about this place! The food is incredible, the owners are really nice and very involved in every detail, and the environment is both relaxing and beautiful.

Here’s Terrapin Creek’s current menu. It changes weekly, always fresh and organic. Make sure and stop by….they also have coffee and pastries / desserts to go!

We have a lot of Farmer’s Markets here in Sonoma County, and all are good. The latest addition to the Friday night market in Occidental is Kashaya’s Brick Oven Pizza. She has a brick oven trailer that she fires up at the market, and makes the most incredible pizzas. Tonight’s menu included spinach, garlic and ricotta (yum!), potato, rosemary, and mushroom, and apricot, strawberry, and slivered mushrooms.

We took home two pizzas, one for tonight and one to freeze. Delicious!

The famous Armstrong Redwoods are located just 30 minutes from “At the Bay’s Edge”.

Here are just some of the highlights of this incredible grove of redwoods:

The Tallest Tree
The Parson Jones Tree is the tallest tree in the grove, measuring more than 310 feet in height. This is longer than the length of a football field!

The Oldest Tree
The Colonel Armstrong Tree is the oldest tree in the grove, estimated to be over 1400 years old.

The Icicle Tree
This tree shows the unusual burl formations often found on redwood trees. Burls can weigh many tons and grow hundreds of feet above the forest floor. Why these growths occur remains a mystery.

It’s an incredible experience to be surrounded by these trees.

Our guests have the best seat in the area for the annual fireworks show in Bodega Bay…..the display is right across the water from “At the Bay’s Edge”!

Happy Independence Day to all!