Mary Charlebois

PUBLISHED 08/14/17 - SHORT WEEKS-LONG WEEKENDS
Mt. Hood peaks between the hills from time-to-time. Along two-lane backroads, you’re occasionally slowed by a tractor. Barns, livestock, orchards, farms, and vineyards dress the rolling hills. U-pick fields, farm stands, tasting rooms and cyclist pop-up along the way. You’ll easily forget a busy city is a few miles away.
Less than an hour from Oregon’s coast, and 30-minutes from the west side of Portland...

PUBLISHED 08/11/17 - WHERE MARY GOS
White sand dunes and sea oats, sea turtle nest and gentle surf, afternoon clouds swelling across the Atlantic horizon. All are standard on NE Florida's coast. The uncrowded beaches here are just a bit quieter, especially in summer.
I was fortunate to stay in a secret beach house, located on a beach trail head, in a small oceanfront neighborhood, I lived like a...

PUBLISHED 08/01/17 - FORT BRAGG-MENDOCINO COAST PACKET
Stanford Inn’s Catch A Canoe and Bicycles Too, have rented and sold wind-powered, people-powered and solar-powered transportation options since 1972. The most popular rental boats are redwood, outrigger kayaks. Outriggers can’t be tipped. They’re great for any level of paddler, but ideal for novices. Sizes for solo paddlers or groups of eight can be rented. Some can even take along Fido...

PUBLISHED 07/14/17 - INDEPENDENT COAST OBSERVER
Now you see them, now you don’t. Some are tall and stately, others are short and round. All are charmingly temporary. I’m referring to driftwood structures beach goers build on our beaches. Walk a Mendocino Coast beach and you’ll spot a sculpture, shelter or maybe a bench-log used near a fire ring. People have utilized what washes up on the shore to shelter and warm herself for a very long time. Anyone can do it, no art or architectural training required. All you need is driftwood and a beach.

PUBLISHED 06/19/17 -
IN SEARCH OF
Welcoming towns, small businesses, local food, and a flourishing art and music scene, are the way of life. Open vistas of wild, pristine, nature and Mediterranean temps are captivating. The Mendocino Coast is ideal for a thrifty traveler to soak-up nature, history and good eats. Fort Bragg has plenty of...

PUBLISHED 07/21/17 - INDEPENDENT COAST OBSERVER
“We’re bread people that make pizza”, says Rob and Jill Hunter, co-owners of Arena Cove’s newest eatery.

PUBLISHED 07/01/17 -
FORT BRAGG-MENDOCINO COAST PACKET
In the days before roads and trucks could do the job, the Redwood Route was king. The 131-year old Skunk Train made it possible to move gigantic redwoods from remote mountain forest, to lumber mills in coastal and inland towns.
Today the train is classified as historic. Excursions vary from...

PUBLISHED 06/23/17 - INDEPENDENT COAST OBSERVER
There’s more here than whale watching, a lighthouse, waves and rocks. More than world-renown photo ops. This is raw, always changing, eternally evolving, Nature. You can watch it happening, big and bold. It’s an area so dynamic, yet so fragile, it’s become a national monument, protected for perpetuity.
From Point Arena to Manchester State Park, ten miles of coast line, headlands, meadows, woodlands and Garcia River wetlands are protected public lands...

PUBLISHED 06/15/17 -
SHORT WEEKS-LONG WEEKENDS
The clean crisp air makes you lightheaded. The Pacific coast is stunning. Your digs are perfectly located for a no-drive weekend. Your bags are unpacked, your car is parked. Take off your watch and turn off that phone. Slow down, you’re on Mendo time...

PUBLISHED 05/19/17 - INDEPENDENT COAST OBSERVER
From around the globe, people came to make their fortunes, start a new life, or just disappear into the hubbub of a boom town. Some came for mill or timber work. Others came to farm. Competent sailors and dock hands were in high demand. Craftsmen of all descriptions were needed. Merchants prospered. Many came to provide services to the men working on land and sea. Timbermen and seamen alike needed to eat, sleep, get laundry done, buy new boots and have some fun after days at sea, weeks in the woods or long hours in the mill..

PUBLISHED BY MaryGo - 07/04/17
April and May were filled with my Great Oregon Road Trip. I spent five weeks immersing myself in Oregon, its people, food, history and nature. It will take months to write about it all. Here is one little bit I just had to share…

PUBLISHED 05/01/17 - GoNOMAD
Sail at sunset, or greet the bay at sunrise. Explore an urban temple, or stroll a secret beach. An organ powered by waves performs at hightide. Have a long, lazy lunch at a sidewalk café, or picnic by the yacht harbor. Savor dinner in a laidback bistro, or roam Fillmore at Greenwich for the buzzy nightlife zone. Tour-bus free Marina is an overlooked, hidden gem with an authentic San Francisco vibe...

PUBLISHED 04/18/14 - INDEPENDENT COAST OBSERVER
Everyone is invited to celebrate spring and bid farewell to State Park Interpreter, Robin Joy Wellman.

PUBLISHED 04/28/17 - EAT YOUR WORLD
Ethereal tonkotsu, silky ramen. Tangy, crisp pickles. Sushi, sashimi, spicy sweet ginger and sake. Sweet, light, yummy mochi. Soak it all up with 36-hours in San Francisco’s Japantown.
Six square blocks embody Japanese food, history and culture. Traditional and modern ideals thrive side-by-side. Kimonos and coz play, silk paintings and anime, antique bowls and $-store plastic. Japanese language signs describing produce at the corner market. Noodle shops and hibachis, tea and sake. A pagoda made of cement. Lattes and matchas served at the same counter. Youngsters and elders walk together from school. Victorian mansions cozy-up to glass front cubes. It’s a neighborhood of contrasts...

PUBLISHED 05/23/17 - IMMERSION TRAVEL MAGAZINE
In a human-powered whale boat, on a glorious Saturday afternoon, eleven of us set out from Dolphin Isle Marina and began navigating the Noyo River. Our trip would take us through the harbor, under a 90-foot bridge and into open water. Commercial fishing boats passed our craft. Seals lounged on bell buoys and paid us little mind. We were a small bobbing dot in the great Pacific Ocean...