Friday night before the BC-Stanford game, the crew that stayed in Moss Beach went out to dinner at local favorite, the Moss Beach Distillery Restaurant.
Meanwhile, in Menlo Park.
Members of the San Diego chapter, as well as some from LA, Orange County, and San Francisco, gathered Friday evening in Menlo Park for pre-gaming.
The 7:30 pm kickoff time for the game meant that tailgating could start after 2:30 pm on game day. So that left some time Saturday morning for a walk around the local area, particularly the seashore.
Most of the others had gone earlier, so I was on my own. The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve is a San Mateo County protected area. The coast there is primarily an inter-tidal area, where the difference between low and high tide creates a distinctive environment for algae, crabs, sponges, seastars, mollusks, and fish.
Throughout our time in Moss Beach, we would see flocks of birds, mostly brown pelicans, flying north and south along the coast line. Soon after entering the marine reserve and standing on a bluff, I was lucky enough to view such a flock flying north below me.
Plant life, most notably trees, was also distinctive in this environment. The local unofficial name for the area is the “enchanted forest.” Here are some views.
And the stairway to Seal Cove Beach. Didn’t take it.
On to the tailgate!