Top Reasons to Stay at The Weller House Inn

• Built in 1886, The Weller House Inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The adjacent water tower is the tallest structure in Fort Bragg—climb to the top for city views and whale watching.
• You can tango on Tuesdays or swing dance on Fridays in the 900-square-foot ballroom, which is paneled in California redwood.
• The four available guest rooms are each decorated differently with classic furnishings and elegant touches such as hand-painted tiles, stained-glass windows, and clawfoot tubs.
• In the morning, there’s a complimentary breakfast of freshly squeezed orange juice, locally baked breads, organic oatmeal with monukka raisins, organic eggs, jams, and homemade marmalade.
The Weller House Inn is situated in downtown Fort Bragg, one block from the Skunk Train depot. Board trains here for a ride through acres of virgin redwood forest (click here to view the schedule).

Mendocino Coast, California: Small Towns Along Scenic Oceanfront and Redwood Forests

Located about three hours north of San Francisco, Northern California’s Mendocino Coast is a region filled with tiny towns, art colonies, and varied terrain. Within a few minutes of one another are sunlit valleys, fertile vineyards, rocky headlands blanketed by fog, and serene forests of old-growth redwoods. The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens showcase the area’s geographical diversity through its native rhododendrons, prickly succulents, and colorful blooms stretching to the ocean.

Partially because of its scenic land and sea scapes, the coast is popular with painters, who gather in artists' collectives such as the Mendocino Art Center. To see the land that inspires local artwork, head to Russian Gulch, Mendocino Headlands, or any of the region’s coastal state parks. At Mendocino Headlands State Park, waves crash into carving arches, grottos, and stony bluffs, while MacKerricher State Park north of Fort Bragg contains dramatic sand dunes.

Although normally quiet, the region comes alive during a series of whale festivals every March and April, when California gray whales pass by the coast as they migrate from Mexico to Alaska. You'll find one of the best vantage points for whale watching at Point Cabrillo Light Station, a lonely lighthouse first lit in 1909.

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