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Get to know Bodega Bay

Located on a craggy inlet of the Pacific roughly 40 miles up Highway 1 from San Francisco, Bodega Bay is a picturesque coastal community that remains high on Northern California’s must-see list. Beachcombing, whale watching and kayaking are just some of the everyday pastimes enjoyed in this quaint hideaway, best known in popular culture as the setting for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 classic The Birds. It’s home to just over 1,000 residents and an abundance of artisan shops, restaurants and B&Bs. Crab shacks and oyster kiosks flourish in season, and of course, plentiful wine and cheese-tasting venues are nearby. The entirety of Bodega Bay's shoreline lies within the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, home to some 36 species of marine mammals and one of the diverse aquatic ecosystems in the world.

Living in Wine Country

At the 1976 Judgment of Paris, Napa Valley wines won out their French counterparts in every single category, catapulting the region’s wine to global celebrity. But that pivotal blind tasting merely marked a moment 150 years in fermentation. Early settlers were quick to uncork the growing potential of the area’s fair-weathered Provençal landscape, with the earliest vines planted by fur traders at Fort Ross in 1817. Commercial winemaking here took hold by the Gold Rush, and today you’ll find hundreds of vineyards from the Silverado Trail to the rugged, redwood-fringed Pacific coast. Together, Napa and Sonoma counties comprise the largest viticulture region in the United States and the epicenter of all things culinary. You’ll find a series of small towns blending Nantucket-level charm with a maverick, wild west edge, filled to the rim with quaint boutiques, artisanal mercantiles, cheesemongers, and Michelin-starred restaurants. When you’re not swishing your glass, there’s world-class recreation, hot air balloons and plenty else.