Home Away From Home

We made it to Pt Arena in Mendocino County just before noon Tuesday. We got our first glimpse of our vacation retreat from a distance - and it's even more impressive close up. This is our back yard - and this is the front yard - We spent the first night in the Lighthouse Keepers Room (blue arrow), moving to the Keepers Apartment (white arrow) for the remaining two nights. Both are newly remodeled and very nice.
We took advantage of our resident's access to explore the museum and lighthouse on our first day. Originally built in 1870, the lighthouse was destroyed by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and rebuilt 2 years later. The original solid steel staircase was reinstalled and that is what we climbed - all 145 steps - to get to the top. Was it worth the effort? Oh yeah. It was windy, cold and spectacular. Wouldn't have missed it for anything.