There are towns. There are towns that tourists visit. And, finally, there are touristy towns. I’m happy to report that Bodega and Bodega Bay fall into that middle category.

They are two places that, thanks to quirks of history (and probably a ton of zoning laws), it’s impossible for stores selling only vegan oatmeal cookies to exist in. And yet they provide just about everything visitors want in a memorable day trip: good food, beautiful nature and a few places tobuy meaningful souvenirs. And, most importantly, Bodega and Bodega Bay are towns where locals and tourists mingle without any grumbling on either side.

Let’s go on a trip.

Bodega Burger
Growing up, I lived under the impression that the Casino Bar & Grill was California’s tiniest Indian casino. But, stepping inside for the first time, I discovered there was nary a slot machine nor poker table in sight. Instead, I found rustic décor and what is likely the shortest Sunday lunch menu in the North Bay:

“Burger or hot dog?”

To the grill’s credit, the menu expands considerably later in the day to offer diners BBQ oysters and dishes featuring local ingredients. Chef Mark Malicki creates inspired dinner menus that change daily. But for someone stopping by for a quick lunch, the burger was the perfect pairing with a Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale.

My belly more than satisfied, I spent my change indulging in my favorite childhood pastime: pinball. With everything in the North Bay getting more expensive all the time, getting five balls for a single quarter on the Grill’s Indianapolis 500 pinball machine was a welcome treat.Souvenirs and Stories
Visit Bodega on the weekend, and you’ll find two excellent places to pick up an enduring memory of your trip. Seagull Antiques Gifts & Collectables (17190 Bodega Hwy) sells knickknacks of every shape and size. Visit on the right day, and you might find a prop from The Birds for sale.

At Bodega Landmark Studio Collection (17255 Bodega Hwy), proprietor Lorenzo De Santis offers much more than just lithographs, photography, and ceramics from some of the North Bay’s most talented artists. Upon telling him I was a writer, he mentioned he was writing a book on music in the early 1970s. Then he motioned behind the counter, to one of his photographs of George Harrison performing just a few years after the Beatles’ breakup.

He opened a drawer and showed me additional photographs of Harrison, Steve Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen and Grand Funk Railroad. “Were you a journalist or band photographer?” I asked, noting he’d taken the pictures from either the front row or on stage. A little bit of everything, he said. By this time, a group of visitors had joined us to hear more stories. De Santis pulled out a photo he’d taken of Grand Funk Railroad performing in 1974. He told us it wasn’t until he’d enlarged the image that he discovered a news camera had been pointed right at him at them moment he’d taken the photo. One YouTube search later and—lo and behold—he found himself, 45 years younger, face obscured by a long telephoto lens.

Alfred Hitchcock’s furious fowl may have made Bodega and Bodega Bay famous around the world, but it’s the locals who keep this place special.

Up on The Head
Bodega Head is much more than Sonoma County’s best place to escape the summer heat. Not only are there level walking trails with great views, there are plenty of flat areas where you can unfold your chair, look out over the ocean, and imagine yourself the lord of all creation. If you should visit empty-handed, relax at what is likely the county’s most secluded picnic table. From there you can gaze upon Tomales Bay and the seals perched on Bodega Rock.

Although the weather report had called for fog, clouds, and chilly temps, I was greeted by clear skies, a warm sun and just the slightest breeze. The parking area was nearly full, and families were taking out lawn chairs and coolers. One teenage girl even had a guitar. Photographers sporting the latest DSLR cameras waited for the perfect shot of the crashing waves and birds.

I’ve been to Bodega Head more times than I remember, but each visit brings something new. Sometimes it’s the flowers or butterflies, but on this visit, it was the water. Maybe it was the time of day or year, but the water didn’t look like what you’d associate with Northern California. The bright blue was something reminiscent of Capri or the Amalfi Coast. I’ve never been to either of those places, but at that moment it was easy to imagine Roman ruins along the Sonoma coast.

Bodega Head is big enough that even if the parking lot is full, it never feels crowded. On my walk around the cliff, I heard no fewer than three foreign languages. Yet, there were plenty of locals. That’s the great thing about this place—it brings all kinds of people together.

Battle of the Oysters
It would be an injustice to write about Bodega Bay and not discuss the seafood. In the winter, crab is the star, but since the crab pots are still tied up for a few more months at Spud Point Marina (1818 Westshore Rd.), I had to turn to the Bay’s year-round favorite: oysters.

“Come Shell or High Water” greets visitors when they step inside Bodega Bay Oyster Company (12830 Valley Ford Rd.), a local institution that, despite its name, is actually in Petaluma. I ordered the sampler ($12)—two extra-small, two small, and two Kumamoto oysters—and took a seat outside. Valley Ford Road may get a bit congested on the weekends, but you can’t beat the view. A little trash can in the bottom right-hand corner of my vision would have made the Windows XP background experience complete.

Having traveled to the Pacific Northwest the week before to sample the region’s oyster offerings, I needed to reacquaint my palate with our beloved bivalves. The sampler arrived, and I dug in. In my completely biased opinion, I’m happy to report that Washington state oysters don’t hold a candle to ours. And, if you should make Bodega Bay Oyster Company a stop during your summer travels along the coast, the Kumamotos are definitely worth the splurge. Yes, each oyster may have no more than a grape-sized amount of meat inside, but the buttery, briny flavor sure packs a punch.

Branching Out…or Not
From Bodega or Bodega Bay, it’s possible to drive to so many places in less than an hour: Sebastopol, Dillon Beach, Jenner, Occidental, Marshall, Point Reyes Station, etc. By all means, take some side trips this summer if you’re so inclined. But if you’d instead relax than wander, there’s no better place to end a lazy summer day than watching the sunset from Bodega Head.

I’ll see you there.

It was only going to be a one-time show,” says Jake Ward, founder, co-producer and master of ceremonies for the North Bay Cabaret. “Like many people, I never planned on being here.”

For Ward, “here” is the five-year anniversary of the North Bay Cabaret, which is celebrating half a decade of entertaining Sonoma County audiences by putting on a blowout variety show spectacular on Friday, June 28, at the Cabaret’s longtime home, the Whiskey Tip in Santa Rosa.

Five years ago, Ward was booking punk concerts at venues like the Arlene Francis Center, until he had an epiphany while attending a performance in Oakland.

“I’ve always been explicit that North Bay Cabaret was entirely inspired by another show, Tourettes Without Regrets,” says Ward. “Once I saw my first variety show, I knew this was all I wanted to do.”

The variety show format that Ward fell in love with can include anything and everything within the live-show setting; burlesque dancing, belly dancing, standup comedy, circus sideshows, aerial acrobatics, spoken word, SLAM poetry, and live music.

“When I met Jake, he was blown away by how we were combining these different types of acts,” says Tourettes Without Regrets founder Jamie DeWolf. “How we blurred the boundaries, making no real distinction between high-brow and low-brow.”

Ward pieced together that first North Bay Cabaret lineup with people he knew, including DeWolf, musician Josh Windmiller and a goth comedian named Oliver Graves.

“The things that are inspiring to me about the variety show format are the diversity of art, the diversity of voices,” says Ward. “One moment you’re watching a dancer, the next there’s a hard-hitting poem, the next there’s a comedian. You go on this emotional roller coaster throughout the night.”

After that first successful show, DeWolf took Ward aside and gave him an order; make the North Bay Cabaret a monthly show.
“He told me, ‘If this is ever going to become a scene and develop within the community, you need to do it consistently,” says Ward.

For the first year, it was a month-by-month thing, with ticket sales often covering most, but not all of the costs of paying the performers and crew. Many months, Ward dipped into his own pocket to make the event happen.

Obviously, Ward could not do it alone, and the North Bay Cabaret has become a labor of love for many people, including co-producer and technician Susy Dugan, who’s worked with Ward on events going back to 2012.

“He’s always had really unique and interesting taste,” says Dugan of Ward. “Whatever he was doing I wanted to support it.”
Over the years, Dugan and Ward have grown to advise and counsel each other in various projects, sharing concepts and developing new ideas. Other locals who’ve helped the North Bay Cabaret along the years include Tina Adair, Bella Dukessa, Amber Kernohan, Dusty Oertel, Mouse, Shelley Smith, Calamity, Wilder, Sonya Warry, Afina Flint, Dante Carlozzi, Barrie Sterling, Tyler McCourtney, Justin Walters and Alex Shapiro.

Eventually, community interest sustained the show, and for three years, the North Bay Cabaret kept up as a monthly event that adopted a new theme each time and took risks with artists creating acts specifically for that show.

“We started down the road of pun-based themes,” says Ward. “For me, the name came first, then the theme that that implied.”
Themes included “Furbruary” with animal-inspired acts, and “Shocktober” which aimed to include shock value in the performances.

With artists embracing the challenge of creating an act to fit each theme, North Bay Cabaret became a catalyst for new art in the area.

”It starts to feel like this is not only an entertaining spectacle of different stuff, you’re getting these pockets of your local culture that you may not interact with day-to-day,” says Ward. “It becomes a community-builder.”

“Jake has made a place that encourages people to express themselves, and let their true selves out,” says Dugan. “It’s very supportive of the performers, it’s a safe environment and everyone looks out for each other. It allows people to feel a sense of belonging who would otherwise be on the outskirts of social norms and find people like them who aren’t afraid of being a little strange.”

That sentiment is echoed by several of the performers involved in the North Bay Cabaret, like longtime bellydancer Pauline Persichilli.

“What I love about it, is that it’s a platform of free space,” says Persichilli. “There’s not really any rules, no judgment, just time to express yourself. And there’s been some crazy acts.”

From turkey-stuffing dance routines for a Thanksgiving show, to Jabba the Hutt stripteases for a Stars Wars-themed cabaret, the stage at the Whisky Tip has seen some of the North Bay’s wildest side.

“It’s fun to do a diverse show like this, that’s very inclusive of all different types of people,” says Whisky Tip owner Joshua Porter. “North Bay Cabaret crowds are our best crowds.”

In October of 2017, the North Bay wildfires changed everything. Not only did the cabaret briefly suspend operations, mainly due to the fact that performances take place in the outdoor area of the Whiskey Tip, they took the time to re-examine the monthly format and ultimately decided to experiment with crafting fewer, but bigger shows each year. In addition, North Bay Cabaret has started exploring new venues and performance options, recently taking the stage at the Santa Rosa OutThere Exposition in April.

“That was cool for us, to have the hometown saying, ‘you’re part of what’s going on and we’ll put you on stage,’” says Ward. The North Bay Cabaret also recently collaborated with Lagunitas Brewing Company to supply the talent for the breweries’ first Pride event in June. This week’s anniversary show promises to be one of the Cabaret’s biggest showcases ever.

“I think the beautiful thing about creating variety shows is that you have different artists and performers in the same room who don’t run into each other in their artistic tracks,” says DeWolf. “When they combine, new partnerships happen, people start creating new acts, and what you’re going to see at the five-year anniversary show is all those talents converging. The lineup is insane.”

Performers at the upcoming show include San Francisco songwriter Rachel Lark, who sings about controversial subjects with the voice of an angel, Oakland burlesque performer Jet Noir, Sonoma County improv troupe the Natural Disasters-formerly known as the Gentlemen Bastards, sideshow acts from Afina Flint and standup from Graves, who’s dark one-liner brand of comedy landed him on television competition series “America’s Got Talent” last year and has made him a viral sensation across the internet.

“When I booked him (five years ago), I thought he was unique and weird and somewhat unsettling, and I thought that was fantastic,” says Ward of Graves, whose tenure in the local scene largely began with North Bay Cabaret.

“This show has the experience, the punch of being in the moment with everyone watching it live,” says Graves. “The audiences are the ones that have made this event. It wouldn’t have gone on for five years if was struggling, the audience that keeps coming to these things keeps it going. That’s who I do it for.”

For the anniversary show, Graves is giving the audience something new, taking his disjointed one-line jokes and incorporating it into a full story, “but it’s going to be the way I would do it,” he adds.

“I think that reaching five years is a testament to there being a desire in the community for something to go see,” says Ward. “When we put on a show, we’re not in competition with other events in the area; we’re in competition with Netflix. The North Bay Cabaret is advocating for live entertainment and the audiences that come out are the impetus to make live entertainment sustainable.”