October 19, 2026
Sea Ranch Lodge · Sonoma Coast, California
Sandy Hook · May 12, 2026
Bayside of Sandy Hook, South Island. Wind off the water. He had been planning it for months. On a Tuesday in May, he asked.
The Venue
Perched on the windswept bluffs of Sonoma County, Sea Ranch Lodge sits at the edge of the continent — where the Pacific meets headland meadow, and the only sound is wind through the pines and water on the rocks below.
Sea Ranch Lodge occupies a dramatic stretch of the Northern California coast in Sonoma County — weathered cedar shingles, meadows running to the bluff edge, and an architectural philosophy of disappearing into the landscape. Every room faces the ocean. There is nowhere like it.
Wood, stone, and fog. The kind of quiet that costs something to find. Days that start with cold air off the water and end around a fire with people you love. The property was made for exactly this — a weekend that feels private, intentional, and entirely your own.
We've taken over the lodge for a full weekend — October 18 through 20. Rooms, hiking, a ceremony on the bluff, dinner under the pines. More details on lodging, the schedule, and everything else arriving soon.
Getting There
Fly into SFO. Cross the Golden Gate. Point the car north on Highway 1. What follows is one of the great American coastal drives — 110 miles of cliff road, fishing villages, redwood river canyons, and open Sonoma meadow before the gates of Sea Ranch appear on your left.
Allow three hours minimum. More if you stop at Goat Rock. You should stop at Goat Rock.
The Route
Cross the Golden Gate heading north. Take US-101 to Mill Valley, then cut west on Highway 1 at Stinson Beach. The ocean appears around the first bend. This is where the drive begins in earnest.
The last proper town before the coast narrows. Spud Point Crab Company has been selling chowder out of a window since 1983. Get a bowl. Gas up. The road ahead has nothing until Jenner.
Where the Russian River empties into the Pacific. Seals haul out on the sandbar year-round. You can walk down to the river mouth and watch them sleep. The light here in the afternoon is worth the stop alone.
Twelve buildings on a bluff above the river mouth. The road climbs sharply out of town — the view looking back south over the Russian River is one of the best on the coast. If you need a rest, the Jenner Inn has a deck.
A Russian colonial outpost, built in 1812 on a headland above the Pacific. The stockade and chapel still stand. It looks impossible — Russians farming this cliff edge, shipping sea otter pelts to Alaska. Worth ten minutes.
Rocky headlands, honeycomb sandstone, kelp forests offshore. Abalone divers work the cove at Gerstle. The road hugs the bluff here — pull over and you can hear the water below. You're close now.
The gates appear on your left. Turn in. A meadow of sheep, a row of cedar-shake cabins, the Pacific opening wide. Check in. Look at the water. The weekend has begun.
Where to Stay
Both sit just south of Sea Ranch on Highway 1 in Gualala — five minutes from the lodge, with the Pacific out every window. Book early. The coast fills up in October.
Six individually named cabins on a quiet acre above the Mendonoma coast. Private decks, fireplaces in every room, breakfast delivered to your door each morning. The kind of place that makes you extend your stay by a day.
Perched at the Gualala river mouth where it meets the Pacific. Oceanfront suites with soaking tubs, fireplaces, and the kind of view that ends conversations. Vue Coastal Kitchen downstairs for dinner after the rehearsal.
Sea Ranch Lodge is the wedding venue and we have a reserved room block — please reach out to Eric and Mary to get the details.
The Wedding Party
"Two dogs walk into a wedding on the Sonoma Coast. One brings the martinis. The other keeps an eye on things. It's exactly the ceremony we planned."