Bay Marine Insurance

The children and I had planned to skip a day right before the Christmas holidays. Just before the East Coast contingent arrived. We knew we were going to do our fair share of tourism characteristics - which is always a pleasure. Shopping in Union Square, a trip to Napa to see the last Coppola excesses occur at the old Inglenook winery, and good food and drinks galore. But today, it was the destination Marino. The only question has been the case.

In the 26 years I lived in Marin County, I took hundreds of day trips around the county with my husband and kids. With all due respect to the Philadelphia suburbs I come, I could collect some of them in all the years I lived there. We can only make Valley Forge many times and although the Amish country and scenic New Hope was stale after twenty travel again - and this meant a trip outside of my county. County does not mean much there.

In Marin, that's all. It is the bond that unites this incredibly diverse group of municipalities and unincorporated areas together. It is a very tangible feeling of membership in an extraordinary piece of land bounded by the ocean and the bay and infused with hundreds of miles of meandering open space is of paramount importance for all its residents .

Today, we opt for an excursion to Mount Tamalpais, the imposing mountains, which hosts hundreds of trails, lakes, waterfalls and wildlife. It is cold and clear as I turn left at the "2 AM" Club in Mill Valley at the head of climb. This is the only way I know to get there, and I do not know how I know this, but it is always there me. We're treated to a free ascent - in warm weather the narrow road has traffic and cyclists competing. We plan to lunch at the Mountain Home Inn, a mainstay for food and fantastic views year all year. We refuse to be frightened when my son locked the keys in the car, so we eat slowly, waiting for AAA to come. oversized burgers and mesquite-grilled chicken sandwiches are delicious extras such as tomato soup, I'm still trying to reproduce. We agree that we always do, that we should spend the night here some time and ask the hostess about the rooms. It gives us some clues and we explore some of the one-of-a-kind comfortable until it rings as we drive our savior is here. The hostel and the rooms are as friendly as it is. We agree on the room # 1 for a later date.

Back in business, we drive to the parking lot at the top and up our way to the top in record time. He gets up on me that Marin County is the best place in the world if you love to eat great food and hope to work outside. I remember doing the same thing in the Austrian Alps - after a trip to one of the many magical cities like Kitzbuhel and St. Anton, we head back up the mountain to our box, make a stop in mid way for a beer and a tasty sausage sandwich. A simple snack before dinner. I lost about 5 pounds after a two week trip. My kind of regime. My kind of holiday. Very Marino, too.

From the top of Mt. Tam you can truly understand the amazing topography of Marin County - a ribbon of green hills and valleys between majestic body of water. We choose the smaller, sister Tam's, Mount Burdell in Novato, about 15 miles or more away and our hometown, and then look better known sites, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, the Transamerica Tower in city and the rolling Marin Headlands. Westward we look down on Stinson Beach and we decided that our next destination.

It's a quick, drive the breathtaking down the mountain that we landed on a larger strip of beach in southern Marin California-like. It is a culmination of the summer, but today there are just a few tens Beachcombers. We run a mile into the clear air, in pursuit of seagulls. We run past a billboard "Shakespeare on the beach" and we intend to attend a perfor.