Bodega Bay

The fog sits low over the harbor most mornings, and the smell of salt and diesel from the fishing boats hits you before you even get out of the car. Bodega Bay is a small working harbor town on Highway 1, and it earns its stop. Most travelers who pass through make time for Spud Point Crab Company — it's a window counter right on the marina where you order a cup of crab cioppino and eat it at a picnic table while the boats come and go. From there, the drive north takes you to Goat Rock Beach in Jenner, where the Russian River meets the ocean and harbor seals haul out on the sand bar. It's worth pulling over and watching for a while. Travelers who stay the night tend to camp at Doran Regional Park, which puts you right on the water, or grab a simple room at Bodega Harbor Inn if they'd rather sleep in a bed. If you're mapping out a stretch of the Northern California coast and wondering whether Bodega Bay deserves more than a quick pass-through, the answer is yes — and the roads on either side of it only get better.