We left before 7am. That's the only way to do Bodega Bay from the Bay Area. The drive takes about two and a half hours, and the coast is always better early, before the weekend crowds and before the fog burns off the headlands. Cody was in the back seat, upright and attentive from the moment we hit the highway. He knew something was happening. He always knows.
Bodega Bay sits on the Sonoma Coast about 65 miles north of San Francisco. Close enough for a day trip, far enough that it feels properly remote. The town itself is small: a harbor, a handful of seafood spots, a few shops. The real draw is what surrounds it: rugged headland cliffs, long sandy beaches, and the kind of Pacific Ocean view that makes you stop walking just to look at it for a while.
First Stop: Bodega Head
Bodega Head is where we started. It's a short drive around the harbor and then a walk out to clifftops that drop straight into the ocean. The trail around the head is about 1.5 miles, easy terrain, open to dogs on leash. On a clear morning you can see the coastline curve away in both directions and the ocean goes on forever.
Cody's reaction to the ocean smell was immediate and physical. His nose went up, his entire body shifted direction, and he just stopped walking and started processing. It's one of the things I love most about taking him to new places. He engages with the world so completely. Whatever he was cataloguing up there on that clifftop, he was fully committed to it.
The Beaches: Salmon Creek & Beyond
After Bodega Head we drove a short distance up the coast to Salmon Creek Beach, a wide, long stretch of sand that's part of Sonoma Coast State Park. Dogs are allowed on leash and the beach is big enough that it never feels crowded even when there are other people around.
Cody on a beach is a different creature. All that open space, the wind, the sound of the surf. He covered twice the distance I did, pulling toward the water (not allowed off-leash), investigating every piece of driftwood, and periodically stopping to roll in something he found extremely interesting and that I found extremely not interesting.
We also stopped briefly at Schoolhouse Beach, which is quieter and good for photos. The rock formations and the light were excellent in the late morning.
Lunch: Spud Point Crab Company
Spud Point Crab Company is the seafood stop at Bodega Bay. It's a small counter-service spot right on the harbor. Nothing fancy, no indoor seating, just picnic tables outside and some of the best clam chowder I've had in California. We got the chowder in a bread bowl and a crab sandwich and ate outside while Cody sat between us and attempted to make eye contact with my chowder.
The harbor setting makes it work. Boats coming in, seagulls doing their seagull thing, the smell of the ocean right there. Cody was patient and well-behaved. That earned him a piece of sourdough he's probably still thinking about.
"You haven't really appreciated a bowl of clam chowder until you've eaten it on a harbor dock with a Labrador staring at it like it's the most important thing that has ever existed."
The Hitchcock Detour
A short drive inland takes you to Bodega Village, where Alfred Hitchcock filmed The Birds in 1963. The church and the old schoolhouse are still there, looking much as they did in the film. It's a quick stop — twenty minutes at most, and worth it to poke around a quiet inland California town that time seems to have largely left alone.
Cody was unconcerned about the cinematic history. There were interesting smells near the church. That was enough.
The Drive Home
We took the scenic route back along a stretch of Highway 1 before cutting inland toward Petaluma. Late afternoon on the Sonoma Coast is something else. The light goes golden, the cliffs throw long shadows across the sand. We stopped at two pull-offs just to stand there for a few minutes. Cody investigated both pull-offs thoroughly and approved of them.
He was asleep within fifteen minutes of getting back in the car. A full day of ocean air, beach sand, and sensory overload does that to a Lab. One of his better days, I think. One of mine too.
