Bay Area Garden Cottage in down town BENICIA

Spacious open floor plan cottage in a garden setting. Fresh herbs in the window boxes. Quiet romantic retreat hidden away in the garden behind a 1930's Tudor home, also listed on HomeAway. One block away is downtown first street, pool, tennis, groceries, banking, shops, cafes, bars, library, spas and restaurants... Clean linens every time, comfy bed. Ethan Allen sofa-bed, okay for little ones, but may limit the room in the cottage. Also have lots of extra linens, blankets and pillows. Full large kitchen is equipped with dishes , glasses, utensils, pots and pans and lots of extras.. Internet and cable TV, games, books. BBQ and table seating and lounge in the patio. Additional cafe table outside the french doors. Close to I 80 and 680. 38 miles to San Francisco, 24 miles to Napa Valley, 130 miles to Monterey & Carmel by the Sea California, 12 miles to Concord, Walnut Creek is just beyond Concord, Yosemite 210 miles, Lake Tahoe 174 mile. The Mountains are about 2.5 to 3 hours away great skiing, hiking, bike riding, lake, waterfalls, horse back rentals... The coast is less than an hour away Beautiful scenic drive up and down the coast. Just a note to bring jackets summer and winter the weather in California can range a lot in a few miles. Winter months are our rainy season, but we get periodic fog by the coast in summer. I have taken extra measures for your comfort and paid extra attention to details that will help make your stay a great experience. I have local restaurant menus, maps, local activities... Favorite places to go: Our new favorite thing to do is owl watching at the playground on K after sunset. There are white owls living in the trees there and can also be seen by the house away from the lights. Down Town Benicia is a favorite historic and patriotic town. A Main St Town, has weekend events throughout the year such as music, film and art festivals, classic car shows, parades, peddlers fare, farmers market on Thursday afternoon... Benicia was the second capital of California with the Capital building museum off of First Street, Yacht club, waterfront fishing, shops, salons, spas, gym, cafes, antique shops, restaurants, chapel, play ground... and public pool and tennis next block. All of these are in walking distance. Carmel by the Sea: so quaint, European style town. Charm everywhere. One of California's Missions still in service with Sunday mass there is located in Carmel. A stroll down Ocean Drive will take you by shops, cafes and restaurants and down the street to a sand hill with the Pacific Ocean at the bottom where you can sit and watch dolphins, sea lions and occasional migrating whales. Definite place to spend the entire day. Next door is Monterey, and Pacific Grove, lots of nature all around you, deer are commonly seen at the Pebble Beach golf coarse and in the neighboring streets, A lot of water wade pools to explore by the shore. State of the art aquarium, restaurants. Morning whale and dolphin watching boat tours on the wharf. I recommend The Grotto restaurant at the fishermen's wharf boardwalk, great food, never had a bad experience there. San Francisco: Speaks for it self. One of my favorite city in the world. Napa Valley: Wine country, mineral spas, early morning balloon rides... gorgeous view, wine tasting, restaurants... Near by Sonoma has another mission, 18 century army barracks museum with the history of California, restaurants, deli, old bakery, shops and boutiques... Lake Tahoe: The place where they filmed the TV series Bonanza. The reason for that series was to promote color TV. It's easy to see why. The lake is crystal clear with sandy shoreline and beautiful evergreen mountain. The smell of the pines trees are wonderful. Great skiing and winter sports as well as beaches, and water activities in summer. Bike trails go for miles, horse back rentals at a few locations. It is mostly mountain wilderness, but there are a few casinos on both shore. Lake Tahoe is located on the border of California / Nevada. Yosemtie: This is a jewel that started the National Park preservation. Abraham Lincoln took time in the middle of the civil war to dedicate and preserve this park. Very different from Tahoe. Yosemite Valley has tall water falls, some can be seen from the road, but a few are hidden away between the hills and just a hike away. Camping and house tents are available in Half Dome Village where there is a cafeteria, ice cream and pizza shop and nightly amphitheater. There are free shuttles in the valley as well as tour buses that can show you the sights. Glacier Point is farther up at the south rim of Yosemite, but it's a must see in summer only, winter is closed due to snow. A few miles beyond that are the Sequoias. These huge trees are the oldest living trees in the world and only found in California. Some are over 2000 and 3000 years old. To be among them feels like a cathedral of nature.