This was an interesting outing. The visit is very much a process and it makes sense for them to do it
this way because there really isn't much to do once you get on the island.
The way it works is, you park
your car at the Richmond Marina
(which is kinda dumpy and an oddity in our high tech and expensive
Bay Area) then
you get ferried to the lighthouse (which is on East Brothers Island - hence
the name)
by boat. When
you arrive,
you
drop your stuff off in your room and look around the island
for a little while.
Then everyone meets
for a pre-dinner parlor chat over appetizers. The food is quite delightful. There is another
short
adjournment... then it's dinner time. Dinner is endless and lavish. The food is delightful and the
wine,
free flowing. After dinner it's more or less bedtime. In the morning, there's coffee followed by breakfast.
Then after breakfast, it's time to leave. You are again ferried back to your car by boat and it's over.
The boat ride out is fun. And when you arrive, you don't know really what to expect. We dropped our stuff
off in our room then went on to explore. Donna and I watched the sunset from the widows walk next to the
actual light on the lighthouse. This is not a very big light. But it's all that's necessary. We then were called
to the parlor where we sat with the other guests over these delightful appetizers. I could have stopped right
there I think. To hell with dinner. The conversation was less enjoyable. But then what can you expect
with five couples who have never met each other before couped up in a little room with a bunch of food?
We mostly interrogated the lighthouse keeper over his various nautical adventures. There were plenty of
ohhhs and ahhhs. After awhile, we were mercifully called to dinner. That was better. The food was
over the top and now the guests had all been introduced to each other and we were all more at ease.
As I said earlier, the dinner was endless and lavish. And fortunately the wine was also delightful and
abundant. Of course as we had more and more wine,
the dinner conversation became more animated
and fun
as the evening wore on.
Finally, we moved on from dinner and since it was late, we all went to bed.
The accomodations are primitive which makes sense since this is really a lighthouse and not
a hotel. We were in the San Francisco room which had a marvelous but distant view of the city
at night. The morning sunshine was also a delight however the night would have been miserable had
I not heeded the advice of the B&B keepers to bring (and use) earplugs to block out the sound of
the ever present (and essential) automated foghorn. It is an aid to navigation and as I said before
this is a functioning lighthouse so the islands service as a B&B was completely secondary. Anyway
the San Francisco room is plush in that it has a private bathroom (no shower), but it's also the room
that's closest
to the foghorn so make sure you don't forget the earplugs if you're considering a visit to
this B&B.
A word about the rooms in general. As was everything in lighthouse, they were restored to their
original state. The antiques were definitely in period. The whole place felt like a museum. This
of course included the rooms. The linens, the bathroom fixtures, the furniture, the rugs... everything
was consistent with the theme. Our baggage and neon colored outdoorwear seemed completely
out of place here.
The next day we got up for coffee and took it outside to sit in the sun. The deck furniture was
located on the catch basin for the cistern. Rainwater is the primary source of the water for the facility.
I guess this is one of the reasons that showers are not encouraged (or even possible since there
aren't any showers except in the Marin room and only allowed there if you're staying for more
than one
night). That catch basin is where the rain water is caught and then it's channeled to the cistern
where it is
stored. I thought this was facinating.
After coffee was breakfast. Another delight but considerably more low key than dinner. I think that
some of the other couples (one couple in particular) were feeling a little contrite about their wine
lubricated behavior the previous night. So the conversation was more subdued. After breakfast, we
all prepared for our return to the real world i.e. we packed up our stuff to go. Kinda troubling cuz it
seemed like we had just arrived and were just beginning to adapt to the pace of lighthouse island life.
But that's the way these things are. This was just a brief interlude in our normal life. If we were to do
this again someday, I think the way we'd do it would be to stay for two days. That way we could actually
spend some time relaxing. I could very easily see myself sitting in the sun out in the catch basin, perhaps
reading, looking up from time to time to watch passing ships or whatever. There are about six hours
from the time when the previous night's guests leave to when the next night's guests arrive that you
can spend just enjoying being there. Of course this is CONSIDERABLY more expensive. But it's
definitely the way to do it.
The guests are taken from the island in two groups. We were fortunate enough to be in the second group
so we got to spend some time with the lighthouse keepers wife. She gave us a tour of the kitchen and we
got to chat a little.
She was the dynamo who put everything
together. She did the cooking and entertaining.
I don't know how she did it all. She was a miracle who also seemed be quite genuine and a
wonderful person.
She gave us both what I felt was a heartfelt hug as we left. This was amazing to me as she has 10 guests,
four nights a week. It's easy to get jaded with that many people.
On our boat ride back to the yacht basin and our car, the lighthouse keeper took the boat around the island
so we could look at it
from the water. It's strange because when you're on the island, it seems like the whole
world. But once you
get away from it, it quickly recedes into the tiny dot on the bay that it really is.
The lighthouse keepers have changed now. And I don't know if it run the same way as it was when we visited.
However,
I am
sure that it is still a wonderful experience and we totally recommend it to Bay Area residents who
want
to get away from it all for a short time without actually leaving. I hope we can do it again sometime.
For our trip home, we took a leisurely drive down the East Bay to the Oakland Bay Bridge. We crossed over to
San Francisco there but stopped at Yuerba Buena Island to see another lighthouse (this one run by the Coast
Guard). We took some pictures (below). There was also a dry dock that had broken loose in a Fall storm that
had become stranded on Yuerba Buena Island. Of course I took pictures of that too. From there, we hooked
up with the coast highway, stopping at a couple beaches as we drove South. It was a delightful little weekend
get away.
I hope we get to do it again someday.
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