Migrating Baby Whales Plus Fabulous Value Make Mendocino a Must-Visit Destination This Spring

02-24-2009

MENDOCINO COUNTY, CA -- (February 24, 2009) -- The breathtaking natural beauty of Mendocino County is the perfect way to refresh your mind, and what better way to put things in perspective than communing with the gentle giants of the Pacific? Beginning this March, the Eastern Pacific Gray Whales will return to their ancestral feeding grounds in the cold waters of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. The migrating whales – numbering over 20,000 - will pass so close to the shore that you can practically reach out and touch them. And this year more than ever before, fantastic values are on offer at the charming inns, resorts, B&Bs, rental properties and hotels of Mendocino County during whale watching season and in conjunction with our three major whale festivals.

 

See below for a few of the deals that can be had, followed by a taste of some of the fun activities that are planned. *

 

The venerable Mendocino Hotel, overlooking the beautiful headlands in Mendocino Village, offers a Whale Watching Package for the month of March 2009. $270.00 gets you one night in a Deluxe Garden Room with a fireplace, where a bottle of Navarro Chardonnay awaits you. Also includes a whale watching excursion out of Noyo Harbor for two.

 

Mendocino Hotel and Garden Suites, 707-937-0511 or 800-548-0513 for reservations, www.mendocinohotel.com.

 

Watch whales from the top of the newly renovated Point Arena Lighthouse! The observation deck has a 360 degree view, offering panoramic views of the Pacific and any whale within miles of the dramatic coastline.

 

Admission Fees to the tower are $7.50/per adult and $1.00/per child under 15 years old. The Lighthouse Tower, Museum & Gift shop have their grand opening on March 7^th, 2009.

 

Why not stay awhile? Point Arena Light Station has Rental Cottages available that make the perfect Whale Watching home away from home. Just $225/per night, these pet-friendly 3-bedroom homes have fully equipped kitchens, wood burning stoves, linens and free Wi-Fi.

 

Point Arena Lighthouse, 877-725-4448 or 707-882-2777 for reservations or www.PointArenaLightHouse.com.

 

The Whale Watching Package at the Country Inn B&B in Fort Bragg includes a whale watching excursion, dinner at the fabulous Mendo Bistro, tickets to the Mendocino Botanical Gardens, and two nights’ accommodations – all for just $345 for rooms without fireplaces or $415 for rooms with fireplaces.

 

Country Inn B&B, 800- 831-5327 for reservations or www.beourguests.com.

 

The three-acre Brewery Gulch Inn, set on a bluff above Smuggler's Cove, was built with 150-year-old redwood timbers eco-salvaged from the Big River. It has 10 rooms with ocean views, gas-lit fireplaces, Jacuzzi tubs, and private decks. Stay one night and you can add a two-hour whale-watching cruise for $35 per person. Rates start at $210 per room per night, with full breakfast included. Each evening, chef Rick Anderson preps organic regional products for a complimentary food and wine hour in the soaring Great Room. Good through the end of April 2009.

 

Brewery Gulch Inn, 800-578-4454, www.brewerygulchinn.com.

 

* All prices quoted are double occupancy, exclusive of taxes and gratuities, and are subject to availability. Ocean conditions are variable and in the case that an included whale watching cruise must be cancelled, money may be refunded back.

 

While you’re there:

 

Mendocino Village’s annual whale festival takes place March 7 and 8, 2009. The celebration includes wine tasting, chowder tasting, an art fair, whale watching walks and a free trolley to Point Cabrillo Lighthouse where additional activities are planned all weekend. Please call (707) 961-6300 or go to www.mendowhale.com for further information.

 

Fort Bragg’s annual whale festival is March 21 & 22, 2009. The fun includes a tasting of regional microbreweries, chowder tasting and guided whale walks at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Please call (707) 961-6300 or visit www.mendowhale.com for further information.

 

The Gualala Arts Center on Mendocino County’s wonderfully quiet South Coast, hosts their Seventh Annual Redwood Coast Whale & Jazz Festival this April 2 - 18, 2009.  Food, wine, jazz, educational lectures and art exhibits mark this year’s annual Gray Whale Migration.  Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or go to http://gualalaarts.org/Festivals/2009WhaleJazz.html for more on the Redwood Coast festival.

 

Visitors to MacKerricher State Park in Fort Bragg can experience a rare, reconstructed gray whale skeleton (on permanent display near the visitor center) as well as enjoy numerous educational seminars & events, such as “Close Encounters of the Marine Mammal Kind” and a whale scavenger hunt. For more information, visit http://mendoparks.org/html/mackerricher.html or call 707-964-8898.

 

Mendocino County has been an important artists’ colony since the late
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