Alicia and I went for a day trip to Point Reyes today. Point Reyes is located North of San Francisco in Marin County. Marin County is very beautiful and home to the Point Reyes National Seashore, a great park with never ending empty beaches.

We arrived a bit late so we could not go for a long hike. We still went for a 3 mile roundtrip to the beach. Pretty nice.

Before that, there was a local mushroom presentation at the Bear Valley Visitor Center. I would have loved to go on the Ranger guided mushroom hunt yesterday but sadly, we could not make it then. Another time :). The presentation was on the small size. They had collected some nice specimens though. I thought we had taken some pictures but I don’t have them… maybe Alicia does.

After the hike, we went on a hunt for local food around Point Reyes Station. I had read about two places I wanted to try and Alicia was more than happy to indulge :).

The first one is the Cowgirl Creamery. They make local European style cheeses. The shop in Point Reyes Station reminded me of the little creameries my Mom used to go when I was a kid in France. Their cheeses are very tasty. Our favorite is definitely the Red Hawk. This is a tasty washed-rind rendition of one of my all time favorite: Epoisses.

The second place is the Marin Sun Farms butcher shop. It is not a very nice looking shop. I mean, butcher shops in France are way nicer than that with good lighting and welcoming presentation. The shop is nothing like that. Still, the meat was just looking gorgeous. We bought a nice steak that we just ate later on. Yummy!

It is pretty rare to find a creamery or a butcher shop in the Bay Area, or any artisan shops for that matter. You best bet to find tasty cheeses and meat are the big specialty stores. It was very refreshing to go to those stores. Of course, I would not go everyday because those good things are not inexpensive. They are completely worth the price. But then, it is so much better when they are enjoyed for a special occasion.

Anyway, today was a great day. A hike, yummy food, and most import of all, great company!