Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay (HMB) is becoming one of my favorite coastal towns in Northern California. There are many reasons why I like HMB. One of the reasons is because it has great beaches. My favorite walking beach is at HMB State Park. This is a long stretch of beach with hills/mountains as a backdrop. Did you know that HMB is a famous surfing spot? If only I could surf, then I could at least be in that cold water!

HMB is one of the few towns that has a big enough downtown full of cute shops, restaurants, wine bars, etc, which makes it a great shopping area and people-watching place. Last Saturday, Main Street in the downtown area was full of people walking their dogs. I counted at least 3 golden retrievers!

I had a great lunch at Half Moon Bay Inn last Saturday: http://halfmoonbayinn.com/ The best Chicken Ceasar Salad and Halibut tacos I have ever had. The restaurant is under an inn that seems to have very cute rooms. This inn made the Travel+Leisure magazine! Speaking of inns, there is a Bed and Breakfast in HMB on Hwy 1 that is a British restaurant and a B&B. They even have a double-decker bus in front of the place. It's a fun restaurant with great beer but the food was kind of bad. So I am not sure if the lodging is up-to-snuff after having their food. But again, it's a fun beer joint! If you want to stay in luxuries, then the HMB Ritz Carlton is the place to stay. It's right on the beach and it has a great golf course over-looking the beach.

Another reason why I like HMB is because of the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Reserve - one of the best hiking spot in the Bay area. This place has the best redwood trees and creeks to look at. This open space reserve has a diversed micro-climate system within the park itself - the redwood forest part is nice and breezy because of the nearby ocean and the open reserve part is hot and sunny.

Finally, the best reason for visiting HMB is the drive there. Along the way, there are tons of fruit stands where you can buy lots of fruits. There are also tons of nurseries that sell plants and roses (1 dozen for $5). When you get on Hwy 1, several beaches south of HMG, there is also a pie shop with great pies. I think the ollieberry pie might have been the best. Hmm, yum, yum!

So if you are ever going to be in the Bay Area, you will need to first drive up and down Hwy 1 and see the gizzillion beaches that are along Hwy 1. One of the beach has pebbles instead of sand. Then once you are tired and need a place to hang out, you might want to stop by HMB.