Fort Bragg Sea Glass Festival - Part One

On May 26, a Wednesday night, we started our Fort Bragg adventure. We were going to a festival as vendors and we were going to find sea glas on the glass beach at Fort Bragg. At least, I hoped we'd find sea glass. Living in Palm Springs and hours from Fort Bragg, we decided to drive first to Los Angeles and leave our standard Poodle Dylan Thomas with Steve's parents and stay over night to get an early start Thursday morning.


Dylan Thomas was not happy the next morning when we got up at 4:30 and started packing up. He could tell he wasn't going when his food bag wasn't carried out to the car. He knows our routines - who says poodles aren't smart? I told him we'd be back, but he refused to look at me and curled up in the back bedroom to pout. I felt horrible as I do whenever we can't take him, but I knew there would be no place to keep him at the show.



Feeling like a guilty parent going off on a vacation, we headed north out of Los Angeles on I-5. My sister Julia and her husband Gary, who would be meeting us in Fort Bragg had given my husband Steve copious notes on how to get to Fort Bragg - something like take I-5 then cut over and go to San Francisco and then up the 101 highway to highway 20 which ends in Fort Bragg. I suggested to Steve that he study the route on Google maps, but he said he had it down. Yeah, right, how many women have heard that before. We moved right along. Not much traffic as the Memorial Day rush out of town hadn't started yet. I was excited to see my sister Julia and also my sister Shirley, my jewelry business partner, as she and her husband would be coming down from Medford, Oregon. A family reunion, sea glass hunting, and selling our sea glass jewelry at a Seaglass Festival what could be more fun?

Sea Glass Eye Glass Holder

Six hours of driving and we reach San Francisco - now here is where we needed a map. Instead of going straight, I think this is where the mistake was made, we veered to the right and suddenly we were in downtown San Francisco - 6th street, 8th street, Geary Street all whizzed by. Steve was grousing that driving in the city was his worst nightmare. It got tense in the car. I suggested we stop and ask someone. No, couldn't do that. Finally, at a red light, I got the attention of a cabbie and he pointed to the right and said something unintelligible and we were off again - still lost. Suddenly we were on Van Ness, then Lombard Street near the top where the zig zag street is located. Steve's jaw was clenched and he was muttering. I yelled head for the water. At Fisherman's wharf we found a sign pointing the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. As we crossed the bridge I tried pointing out Alcatraz and other sights, but Steve wasn't really into sight seeing at this point. Later, I'd joke that our detour had given him a quick tour of the city. We'd laugh later but at that moment, Steve had lost his sense of humor. Needless to say, I didn't mention the fact that we didn't bring a map.

Steve thought Fort Bragg was maybe an hour out of San Francisco. It isn't. We had four more hours to go. Beautiful scenery, especially when you turn onto highway 20 and drive 33 miles of curvy roads through the giant Redwood forest. We were both tired and cranky when Hwy 20 deadended in Fort Bragg. Oh, did I mention that I was fighting a sinus infection and chest cold?

We drive to the Travel Lodge where we have reservations. Julia and Gary come out to meet us. Julia is a little upset that the motel doesn't have a view. I tell her that it doesn't have a view because it is cheap and that's why I picked it. Like I said I was a bit cranky.

We settle in and head off for the famous glass beach. Yeah, I'm tired and sick, but, hey, I'm in Fort Bragg, California, home of the famous Glass Beach. Also, there is a negative tide happening and I'm sure we'll find better glass in the tide pools. Little did I know that there is sea glass everywhere. I'm not sure where Glass Beach is so I call Captain Cass who owns the Sea Glass museum in Fort Bragg. He isn't in, but my sister tells me that she knows where it is as she asked around before we got there. Also, the desk man at the motel gives us a MAP.



Our motel is situated right on Highway 1 that goes through the town. Two blocks north down on Elm Street is a Denny's restaurant. You make a left on Elm past Denny's, then head toward the water and come to stretch of grass and a path. Park where you can and take the path, which is what we did. We follow the path, carrying out bags, and it is really pretty. A short walk and we come to a fork in the road. Now what? Do we go right or go straight. The map doesn't show the fork in the road. We go right, but is it the way to Glass beach? Did we find the Glass beach? Find out in part two of our adventure.