This week, Andrea surprised me with a weekend stay in Inverness at the Manka's Inverness Lodge. After a long week of tedious projects at work and uncharacteristically cold and wet weather, it was the perfect way to end the week on. Andrea had made all the arrangements and kept the destination hidden from me all week. As Friday neared, I got more and more curious as to where Andrea was taking me. I peeked online at our credit card statement to see if there were any recent reservation charges from a hotel. Nothing there. I flipped through our stash of California travel books, looking for any dog-eared pages. Strike two. I started to name-off nearby random weekend locales… Monterey? Santa Cruz? Napa? No, No and No. It seems Andrea has become quite the poker player.
Andrea and Kodi picked me up from work about 2 hours later than we had hoped for on Friday. The cold weather had brought with it a mix of rain and hail which had blanketed the roads causing a lot of accidents and jams. So when Andrea finally arrived at my work, she was in shambles and in need of many adult beverages. Fast forward three hours of crawling traffic, 6 hail storms, and 2 close encounters with road-happy elks, we finally arrived at Manka's Lodge, our emotions at the brink of blowing up. As we entered the lodge, we were greeted by a blazing fire, in a room filled with Old Hickory rockers, vintage fishing gear and old game boards and by the warm smile of the manager at the reception desk. Before long, Andrea, Kodi and I were tucked away in our room and actually began to enjoy our weekend getaway. The Lodge (and by extension our room), followed a simple formula: great beds; blazing fire wherever possible; deep reading chairs; a long wine list and a short simple menu reflective of what is best, local and often wild (Manka's Lodge used to be a hunting lodge); indulgent baths; quiet nights; windows with a view - of the water or the woods. We spent the first rainy night by a cozy fire, reading, drinking a bottle of red wine and listening to Yo-Yo Ma. This is how all weekends should start!
Settling in quite nicely. Kodi is liking the bear skin rug... tastes just like beef jerky!
We (actually I) slept in a little Saturday and woke up to a rainy morning.
After breakfast, the weather cleared up and we headed to Kehoe Beach for a hike. On the way there, we stopped by Johnson's Oyster Farm where Kodi and I enjoyed a dozen raw oysters freshly picked from the water. Andrea had gum.
Kodi had a great time. We never let him freely dig away at home so he was loving the beach. Kodi also made friends with these happy California cows.
The Lodge's sign at the road reads: "Honest Beds, Phenomenal Food." We had an opportunity to experience the "Phenomenal Food" dinner at its restaurant Saturday night. The dinner was a fixed seven course meal served promptly at 7 PM. The large majority of what is served is grown and raised and caught for them within fifteen minutes of the Lodge. Manka's duck egg man lives within fifteen minutes of their organic cheese woman, who is a neighbor of their crabman, who is friends with their organic farmers. The dinner was excellent... one of the best dining experiences I've had so far. It was also a good learning experience for me. I really appreciated how simple dishes prepared with the best ingredients produced wonderful food where you can actually taste and enjoy all of the individual flavors with each bite.
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