Pura Vida Brings The Afro-Carribean Beat To The Coast

Again, everyone has a second job up here in Mendocino. Margi, a long-time innkeeper here at Brewery Gulch, has a band with her husband, Jorge. Pura Vida is extremely popular in Mendocino county. Their pan-latin repertoire includes rumba, mambo, chachacha, samba and cumba. Pura Vida was recently featured at the Anderson Valley Pinot Festival. You can listen to clips from their latest CD here.

Friends Helping Friends

The Ritz, an old squatters cabin perched above the Big River in Comptche

The view of the Big River from the cabin

Unloading the wall that Barry built

As handy as I get

Moving the wall into place

Bolted down and ready for action

Barry is a very handy guy. He has a little cabin in the woods that he has gradually rebuilt from it's very run down state when he aquired it. His latest project was to create a mudroom. He built the new exterior wall at his house out here on the coast and recruited a few friends to help him with the wall raising (and of course, subsequent barbecue).

Time and the Maiden

Construction on the Mendocino Masonic Temple was begun in 1866 and took 7 years to complete. Along with the Presbyterian Church on Main Street, this building is one of Mendocino' iconic landmarks.

What makes this building instantly recognizable to anyone that has visited Mendocino is the visually arresting statue situated on top of the building's cupola. Entitled Time and the Maiden, this beautiful sculpture was carved by Mason and local lumber mill employee, Erick Jensen, from a single block of redwood.

In his beach shack on the Big River, Erick labored over this piece in his spare time. The statue depicts Father Time, the Hourglass of Transience, the Weeping Maiden, the Anointment of Her Hair, the Acacia Branch and the Sacred Urn, the Sundered Column and the Book of Light -- all symbols within the Masonic Order.

The Savings Bank of Mendocino purchased this building, deeding retention of the meeting hall and kitchen to the Masons, and has preserved and maintained it ever since.

Everyone Has At Least Two Jobs In Mendocino...

We have many people that come to Mendocino to get married. Some have large, elaborate weddings. Some just elope. Maybe they will bring family, or a friend or two; many times, it is just the couple.

Owning an inn that provides fuel for these romantic fires in a setting as beautiful as Mendocino, I thought it might be a good idea to become a licensed minister. I asked my wife's uncle (who married us in 2010) if he could point me in the right direction. Thanks to his guidance, I am now a minister in the Universal Life Church.

So far this year, I have married five couples and I have three more ceremonies to perform between now and June. I really enjoy creating a ceremony for each couple. So...if you are thinking of running away together...:)

A Fast Five Years

Well, it has been almost 5 years since I bought the inn, moved from San Diego to Mendocino, and began a new chapter in my life. Those 5 years have not been boring.

2007 closed out with the best year in BGI's history. Then came 2008 and the drop into recession. There's nothing better for one's self confidence than buying an existing business and over the next few years, watching its value plummet. But we were not alone. While the nation slid into recession, I watched a microcosm of its impact here in Mendocino as stores closed, friends lost their retirement savings and numerous inns fell into foreclosure. I was fortunate to have bought an inn with an experienced manager. I relied heavily on Jo Ann's guidance and support and together, we weathered the bad economy until things began improving in 2011. If the first quarter of 2012 is any indication, the worst should be behind us..

I have found Mendocino to be an extremely welcoming and warm community. Maybe because of it's isolation, maybe because there are people here from all over who have chosen to be here. Whatever the reason, I have made so many new friendships and have had so many experiences I would never have had if I hadn't taken the chance to change my life. One of the first people I met when I moved here introduced me to Sarah, who, in 2010, became my wife. We now have a new addition to the family on the way.

Although a native San Diegan, I have fallen in love with Mendocino and Northern California. From the rugged beauty of the North Coast, to the many small towns, each with its own character and charm, life in this part of the country has been a journey of discovery.

And inn keeping...people ask me every day if it is what I expected. I tell them that I had high expectations and it has exceeded every one. I have met so many guests from all walks of life and every corner of the globe. I have loved learning about the area and enthusiastically sharing this new knowledge with people passing through the inn. After 5 years, it is great to recognize people as they return each year (sometimes several times a year) to a place they feel is their escape from the world.

I was excited when, several weeks ago, a new cell tower went up just a couple miles east of the inn and we began to have limited service here at BGI. I posted this on Facebook and so many guests commented that they would not pass this information on to their friends and family when they come up because the absence of cell service was one of the things they found refreshing.

That is the magic of Mendocino...removed from the world. And that magic is infectious. As an innkeeper, I find myself facing the same conflict most of our guests face. It is such a special place, you want to keep it all to yourself. But it is such a special place, you also want to share it with everyone you know...

The Calm After The Storms

1 week and 10 inches of rain later, the Mendocino Coast shakes off the bluster and reveals the heart-stopping beauty of the North Coast.

Just How Many People Live in Mendocino?

It really depends if you are heading north on Highway 1 or south. It appears the town loses about 99 people somewhere in between.

Life in Mendocino...

I thought I'd start a blog to keep our guests up to date on what's happening at the inn and in Mendocino; and to share my experiences as a first-time innkeeper with others that are thinking about choosing this career. I'm sure that as time goes by, what's posted on this blog may expand beyond this initial concept, but that's it for starters.

I started my search for an inn in 2006. Over a little more than a year, I looked at 29 different properties from the northeastern-most part of the U.S., all the way down to the southwestern corner. After 12 months, I had started to think I was pretty pathetic because I couldn't find one that felt right. But then I found Brewery Gulch up here in Mendocino and I realized that finding the right inn was like choosing a college. A number of places met the criteria I had listed, but none felt right. When I walked in the door at Brewery Gulch, I knew this was the place I had been searching for. I liked the location (on a bluff, surrounded by pine and fir, overlooking the ocean); I liked the architecture (a clean arts and crafts style lodge fashioned from eco-salvaged, old growth redwood); I liked the staff (an amazing general manager, a great chef, a dedicated maintenance guy, a great group of front desk staff and the nicest housekeepers); and I loved the community of Mendocino.

Moving from a city of 2,000,000 people to a town of 1,000 wasn't as challenging as I had imagined. Sure, the nearest Home Depot or Target is more than 2 hours away; but the ocean and the redwoods are just a stone's throw from my front door. I don't have to worry anymore if I need to run to the store at 5:00 that there will be gridlock traffic, or that a parking space in town will be hard to find. And it's nice to run into people you know every day everywhere you go. I guess the experience that best sums up what life in Mendocino is like took place at the DMV. I had applied for some new license plates for my car (ones with the name of the inn on them) and when they arrived, the DMV took the time to call me on my cell phone to tell me they had come in. I went in to pick them up and there was no line. Not only was there no line, but the clerk had me pull up a chair and chat for a while. I can't remember ever having an experience like that in any DMV office before.

Every morning, I wake up and realize how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful part of the country and to be working in such a rewarding field. I hope that through this blog, I can share some of my experiences with you.