Our home town of Half Moon Bay (HMB), population 10,600, is the oldest city in San Mateo County.  It was first called San Benito, then renamed Spanishtown after the influx of Spaniards in the 1860s, and was finally dubbed Half Moon Bay after the crescent-shaped bay just north of town. 

Here's a shot of Main Street and our local Feed and Fuel -
location of Josh's Neil Young encounter... Unfortunately, since then, there have been no more Neil sightings.

Half Moon Bay also has its own winery, Obester - this IS California, after all!  What we like most about Obester are their BYOB days - when they offer wine at extra-low prices to those who 'bring their own bottles' to be filled, corked and labelled by friendly and efficient winery staff, while you get to sample the fares!  Yum, yum!  

Here are a couple of beach shots from our favourite beaches in the area.

Pictured below are some shots from the Coastside Trail, a 4.2-mile paved bikeway which stretches along the ocean from HMB to Miramar, where people can walk, run, bike, rollerblade, and horseback ride.

   
While Josh and Chuck trained for Chuck's Boston Marathon 2000, I tagged along on bike.

And of course, no coast would be complete without whales... March and April are  when you are apt to spot gray whales off the coast as they make their migratory trek/swim from the warm waters of Baja California - their winter calving and  breeding grounds - to their summer feeding destination in the Arctic.  On Easter weekend, a before-dinner walk along the beach was met by the sad sight of one of these majestic beasts who never made it to its summer home... 

Here we are in our local Redwoods grove, Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve - a great spot for hikes... (or weddings!) complete with banana slugs - can you say ugh?

         The coast is also famous for its lighthouses.  This is the famous Pigeon Point lighthouse located just south of Half Moon Bay. This frequently photographed 115-foot lighthouse is one of the tallest on the West Coast and also functions as a 40-bed hostel.  It was constructed in 1872 after several ships crashed into the rocks at Pigeon Point.

Heading 40 miles north up the coast, you hit San Francisco and the mighty Golden Gate Bridge.  This photo was taken from the northern side in the Marin County Headlands. 
 Nice shot, Jay! 

 Just a little farther north, you find Mount Tamalpais State Park - another wonderful hiking spot with spectacular views of the ocean and one of Josh's favourite spots, Stinson Beach.

In August 2000, Josh and I moved from our condo in downtown HMB to a wonderful house in the woods, just 5 miles south of town.  Below are some photos of our new-found piece of heaven complete with ocean view.

In August 2004, painfully aware that we had outgrown our peaceful 'treehouse' we moved back into civilization to a larger home about 10 miles north in El Granada. Situated across from the harbor, we still have an ocean view and are now only a few blocks from the beach.

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