Half Moon Bay, CA

Half Moon Bay is a coastal city on the San Mateo coast, where the Coast Range slopes down to a long crescent of sand. Highway 92 drops in from the Peninsula and Highway 1 connects the town to the Midcoast villages to the north and farm country to the south, and the town feels apart from the rest of the Bay Area. The city's neighborhoods sort into three groups. Ocean Colony and Arleta Park hold the south end above the bluffs, one built around two golf courses and the other a 1906 street grid beside protected open space. Alsace Lorraine, Downtown and Highland Park make up the middle, from a mid-century grid near Francis Beach through the old Main Street to hillside avenues with the roomiest lots. Casa del Mar, Frenchmans Creek and Miramar fill the northern flats, from dune-edge beach tracts to a planned loop of French street names and a beachfront neighborhood by the harbor. Homes across the city are mostly detached, from small cottages laid out in the railroad era to two-story tracts from the 1970s and newer golf-course subdivisions. Half Moon Bay State Beach strings four beaches along the coast with a paved trail behind them, the Wavecrest bluffs are protected open space, and Pillar Point Harbor anchors the north end with big-wave Mavericks breaking offshore. Farm fields still ring the edges, and each October the Art and Pumpkin Festival turns the whole town into a destination. Food leans coastal and local. Sam's Chowder House by the harbor serves lobster rolls with an ocean view, Pasta Moon on Main Street holds a Michelin Guide listing, and Cameron's Pub brings an English-style room to the south end. For coffee, locals name Granola's on the highway first, with Half Moon Bay Coffee Company close behind. Most residents drive for daily errands, since Safeway, the New Leaf market and Cunha's on Main Street are spread over a few miles. Main Street is the exception, with shops, a library and a Saturday farmers market in season. Commuters head east on Highway 92. Fog and wind are part of the climate, and the two highways jam on sunny weekends when beach traffic arrives. At the north end the city runs out at Pillar Point Harbor, and at the south end at golf greens and bluffs, so one slow drive on Highway 1 covers all of Half Moon Bay.