I really need to check on comments more often. I didn’t realize that back in 2008, someone had asked me to post something on what to do when it rains.

Well, if you can tear yourself away from our huge DVD collection (by huge, I mean almost 600!), our enormous fireplace in the Great Room, and the pastries our chef has out during the day, there are some other things you can do in the Mendocino area on a rainy day.

You can go for a hike on one of the nearby forest trails. Unless it is a heavy downpour, the tree canopy provides a fairly good shield (plus in each room, we have a two-person umbrella hanging in the closet).

As strange as it may sound, I love the Triangle Tatoo Museum in Fort Bragg (and so do many guests that have been). Mr. G and Madame Chinchilla are absolutely fascinating. Admission is free and the experience is priceless.

Estates Gallery Books (covered in a previous blog post) is a great place to visit on a rainy day. A warren of rooms and cubbies stacked floor-to-ceiling with current and ancient books, it is a book-lovers paradise.

The Kelley House Museum in Mendocino provides a great window into Mendocino’s past. The docents give edge-of-your-seat descriptions of life during the heyday of logging on the North Coast.

The Anderson Valley has more than 25 wineries producing world-class Pinots and Alsatian varietals located in and around this valley just 35 minutes from the inn. Small, intimate tasting rooms and the absence, in most cases, of tasting fees, make this an ideal rainy day place to visit.

Ask any innkeeper in the area for more ideas, we are usually well-versed as this is a question we get a lot in the winter:)

Last fall, a friend of mine invited a few of us to travel down to San Francisco and go aboard the Maltese Falcon. At 289′, the Falcon is the largest privately owned sailboat in the world. Its construction called for the biggest private purchase of carbon fiber ever made. The sails can be unfurled and the ship steered from a touchscreen at the helm. It was an amazing experience.