Bolinas, CA

Bolinas sits on a small peninsula in west Marin, where the lagoon meets the Pacific and Point Reyes National Seashore begins a few miles north. The Golden Gate Bridge is about 23 miles away, and the last leg leaves Highway 1 on Olema-Bolinas Road. The turn has no sign, a local habit that has turned into part of the town's reputation. Three Houseberry neighborhoods divide the town. The village is the compact center, with old wooden storefronts, the museum and the beach. Little Mesa is the small rise against it, close enough to walk down. Big Mesa is the broad gridded flat to the west, where streets run out toward the cliffs and the reef and many lots are still empty. Homes across the area are mostly small, weathered and individual. Older cottages, long-ago additions and the occasional rebuild stand side by side, and rarely do two lots in a row match. On the mesas the gaps between houses are as noticeable as the houses. Outdoor time starts at the door. The surf break fronts the village, Agate Beach County Park opens onto the tide pools of Duxbury Reef at low tide, and the lagoon draws harbor seals and wading birds. The Palomarin trailhead, about five miles northwest, starts the Coast Trail, which leads out to Bass Lake and Alamere Falls. Smiley's Schooner Saloon is the long-running bar, with a music stage and rooms upstairs, and Coast Cafe is the daytime standby. The Gospel Flat Farm roadside stand sells vegetables and eggs on the honor system, and Bolinas People's Store is the small grocery. Little here is quick. The small markets cover basics, but a full supermarket run means a drive to Point Reyes Station or toward Mill Valley on winding, narrow roads that fill up on weekends. Distance from everywhere else is the defining fact of the place, and the quiet that comes with it is something you hear most clearly on a weekday morning.