Fort Bragg, California

The City of Fort Bragg was founded prior to the Civil War as a military garrison rather than a fortification.  By 1867 the reservation and military outpost had been abandoned. By 1869 small lumber mills were being built at the mouth of every creek.  In 1869, after the fort was abandoned, the land of the reservation was returned to the public and offered for sale at $1.25 per acre to settlers. The city was incorporated in 1889

Our travels today took us from Highway #101 to yet another very windy, very narrow two-lane road (Highway #1 going by the coast!)  Again we saw speed limit signs stating 10, 15, 20, etc.  

Ride the road with us

Ride the road with us

Finally, after I don’t know how many miles, the road was by the ocean; and what a beautiful sight that was!  At an overlook we enjoyed our lunch in the trailer after picking up a dining chair and other items that were on the floor from the many sharp turns.  Luckily nothing was damaged.

Fort Bragg is known for Glass Beach.  It has the highest concentration of sea glass in the world because the rock formations here set up wave patterns that keep everything on the beach.  The glass doesn’t ‘wash up’, it never left!  It comes up through the sand from below.  The town dumps were on these sites years ago!  As the glass sits in the water it is tumbled smooth by the surf.  The pitting in the sea glass is from a process called hydration.  The soda and lime used to make the glass leaches out, leaving small pits in the surface. 

Trip Advisor came through again for us with a recommendation for breakfast!  We drove in to town (about 3 miles away) and found Egg Heads. Mike ordered an omelet with Dungeness Crabmeat, garlic, and other yummy ingredients and Hollandaise Sauce!  Judy ordered the garlic-lovers omelet which included bacon, tomatoes, avocado, and plenty of garlic.  We were not disappointed and we won’t have to worry about vampires any time soon!

Our next stop was sea glass hunting!  We parked on the street in a residential area where the homes faced the ocean, and changed into out beach/water shoes.

It was quite a hike to Glass Beach since they are constructing a path and we weren’t allowed to walk the short way, so we followed the path taking us first to where families with small children were digging in the sand.  No glass there, so we continued over a few hills of sand and rocks and walked by plenty of ice-plant growing wild.

Then we had to find a way to get down to the beach area where we saw many people looking for the same treasure!  Mike took a steep hill to go down and Judy found a gentler one.  Once we folded up our pants we went hunting!  Everyone had said the pieces all were small, and they were telling the truth.  After being there an hour and a half, Judy said she was ready to go back to the truck.  By that time Mike’s pants were wet and his shoes were full of sand (but no glass!)

Walking back again over the rocks, sand and by the ice plants was the exercise we needed to work off the breakfast we enjoyed.  Our loot was small, but we enjoyed the fresh air and being by the ocean.  The glass is for one of our friends who makes jewelry with it.

Geese in formation

A trend-setter looking for sea glass

The reesults of our toils