Destination Unknown: Stinson Beach and Fairfax

I like nothing better than to jump in the car and take a road trip -- destination unknown. Feel like going to the ocean? Okay, let's go ... and off we went. Which beach? Stinson Beach, an old favorite located near Marin and Mt. Tamalpais. The only detractor about Stinson Beach from the San Francisco side are the hairpin twists and turns down the coastline (if you suffer from motion sickness it's almost guaranteed you'll get sick unless you take Dramamine).

After a lazy afternoon in Stinson, our next destination unknown took us along the Sir Francis Drake Road and into the small town of Fairfax. I had no idea a place called Fairfax existed. I found the town to be a curious place. First, the restaurants seemed to take bragging points for foods like an alligator sandwich and boar ravioli, which for all intents and purposes could be an old country favorite I have never heard about or just an odd combination ... you decide.

Next in the "strange" land was this place called Gestalt Haus: Beer, Brats and Bikes. The beer and brats made perfect sense. Bikes? My curiosity sparked I poked my head into the establishment to find a garage-like feel with bikes in upright holders on the side wall. Now I wondered if those bikes really belonged to the patrons who were imbibing and eating at the small tables. No idea, but it was an unlikely combination.

Also notable about Fairfax, the main street sported not one not two not three but five bars in a row. I would suggest you could find more bars on a closer inspection too. This town was a drinking stop. Most of the bars also offered entertainment in the form of rock bands. But the real curiosity was the ice cream shop Fairfax Scoop. Although the rest of the town was relatively quiet, Fairfax Scoop had dozens of patrons milling around out front and licking their frozen treats. A line had formed and was trailing out the front door into the street. Not in the mood for ice cream or to stand in a long line, we marveled and wondered what had attracted so many patrons. We'll assume something about the ice cream ...