Well worth the 10-mile detour west of US-101, the historic town of Ferndale (pop. 1,382) is an odd fish along the woodsy Northern California coast, a century-old dairy town that would look more at home in middle America. The three-block-long, franchise-free Main Street includes a fully stocked general store (the Golden Gait/Gate Mercantile), and whitewashed farmhouses dot the pastoral valleys nearby. Ferndale’s diverse history is well-documented inside the Ferndale Cultural Center (hours vary; 707/786-4466), off Main Street at Shaw and 3rd Streets, where some of the wacky racers that take part in the annual Kinetic Sculpture Race are displayed.
Ambling along Main Street is the best way to get a feel for Ferndale, and if you build up an appetite, there are many good places to eat. One of the oldest cafés in the West, Poppa Joe’s (707/786-4180), is housed in a Victorian storefront at 409 Main Street, while the self-proclaimed “Oldest Hotel” is now a family-friendly Italian restaurant, Ivanhoe (707/786-9000), open for dinner only at 315 Main Street.
Ferndale is equally well-supplied with places to stay. Right off the heart of Main Street is the clean and tidy Fern Motel ($75; 707/786-5000) at 332 Ocean Avenue, while for the full Victorian experience, the place to stay (or at least to see) in Ferndale is the lushly landscaped Gingerbread Mansion (707/786-4000) at 400 Berding Street, with deluxe rooms in a fabulously ornate home starting around $120 a night. Also nice is the Shaw House (707/786-9958), an 1854 American Gothic masterpiece with B&B rooms and bikes for rent at 703 Main Street.
Pick up free walking-tour maps and other visitor information inside the Cultural Center, or contact the volunteer-run chamber of commerce (707/786-4477).
