Thursday, May 10, 2007

Point Reyes

Point Reyes Station and the Point Reyes National Seashore are part of the spectacular surroundings that make the Mesa Refuge so amazing. In Point Reyes, there are multiple restaurants with empahsis on organic, local foods (unfortunately this also seems to emphasize all the meats), but the good news is that also includes all the dairy products!

I never used to understand people's fasciantion with cheese, but as of late I have caught the cheese bug. I have had sheep ricotta and cow ricotta made at Bellweather Farms, about an hour north of here. I have also had the Cowgirl Creamery's own cottage cheese, panir cheese, fromage blanc, and brie-like "St Pat" wrapped in nettle leaves. I have also compared Point Reyes Farmstead Blue Cheese with Humboldt Fog Blue Cheese, and prefer the Point Reyes (it's saltier and crumblier, while the Humboldt Fog is creamier). I also tried a local organic ice cream, but it wasn't nearly as good as San Diego's Mariposa.

I have also been making an effort to go out into the national and state parks that surround this town at least once a day. I have only missed one day, but on two days I've been twice, so my average is still over one. Here are some of the amazing pictures that can barely capture the beauty.







The other part of the amazement of this place is the smells. Every hike I take has a completely different array of scents. There is spicey pine, fruity earth, perfumey flowers, salty ocean, even grassy manure smells good here!

3 comments:

sciencebird said...

It looks beautiful. Is that a hawk?

Alana Keres said...

Glad to see some images up with your lovely commentary! Your feathered friend on the stump seems very attentive. You weren't wearing eau de mousie were you?

And honey... speaking of gourmet delights... how did you make it through three trips to France without catching the frommage
fever? Scratch that, I *know* - you didn't go south.
But we'll fix that next time.

AlegraMarcel said...

Sciencebird: Yes, it's a hawk. Lots of birds of prey here.

Mysti: I'll tell you the moment that changed everything. When I ate a fresh farmer's cheese straight from the dairy in Mallorca. It is was so fresh; it was unlike anything I'd ever had before.