Glass Beach

Dear Reader, 

I had every intention of writing a glowing review of Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, California.  It’s a place so unique that I actually decided to cover it again after gushing over it once before on Animated Meat.  So, if you’d like to read an uplifting piece about one of California’s coastal wonders, I’d recommend looking at the one on California Through My Lens.  Just skip over my words and take a look at my pictures.  After that, load your kids in the car and head two hours north of San Francisco to take a look at it yourself.  

I’ll see you all over at the Prehistoric Garden entry.

Peace and love to you all, 

Ed

* * *

You’re still there?  You’ve been warned.  What follows is your constant companion venting his spleen, making several heroic leaps in logic, and a little bit of catastrophizing after a very raw year in isolation.  The target of the rant is a variety of the population who has been holding America back for far too long.  Here goes:

Like many of you, we spent the majority of 2020 and the first half of 2021 staying socially distanced and in our own bubbles.  We had drive-through birthdays for the kids.  We checked in with loved ones through Zoom calls.  We wore masks when it was time to leave the silo.  In other words, we made sacrifices.  Why? Despite our faults and flaws it was because we’re raising our kids to be considerate and to think about others.  The best way for us to help the overburdened healthcare workers was to keep ourselves out of the hospital.

As history will evidence, part of the reason why all of us were stuck in one place for so long is because the selfish people of the world didn’t see it the same way.  They couldn’t be inconvenienced by the truth and refused to follow simple guidelines.  As a result, the pandemic wore on as it wore all of us down.

Which brings us to June of 2021.  Freshly vaccinated and ready to ease back into the world, we decided to drive north and take the kids to have some experiences they missed out on for over a year.  That brought us to Fort Bragg and the marvelous Glass Beach.

When I was planning the trip, I envisioned my kids’ delight at seeing the stony shore littered with ground down pieces of colored glass.  I dreamt of them making memories of the tide pools embedded with ceramic spark plugs and glass resistors.   After a long, hard year of isolation, they’d get a chance to witness the tide pools, seeing the anemones, holding just as fast to the rocks as the persistent pieces of a Buick.  

I’m happy to say that it’s something that they got to experience it and I hope other people get a chance to do as well.

The beach is filled with the curious.  They’ve come to see anomalies, maybe to take a picture with a handful of a beach like none other.  They leave what they’ve found for others to enjoy after a few posts on Instagram.  They aren’t the threat.  They have a sense of stewardship about the place and leave it as they found it.

The problem is the collectors.  Despite the signs, despite the countless others doing the right thing, there they are.  They sit on the shore shuffling through the glass.  When they find something that passes their standards, they throw it in a bucket and take it home.  Maybe it gets worked into a piece of jewelry or a mosaic. More than likely, it gets forgotten about and ends up sitting in the garage with all the other forgotten souvenirs.  Seeing them go about their business as brazenly as they do is like a kick to the ribs.  Glass Beach is one step closer to becoming Used to be Covered with Glass Beach with every bucketful.  It’s a selfish act that robs future people.

Are the people who refused to think about others during the pandemic the same ones who go and collect glass?  There is no way to be certain.  However, I can’t help but think that both groups of people approach life with the same level of selfishness.  They don’t care about you or I.  They put themselves and their own interests first and the hell with everyone else.

Glass Beach

Elm Street & Old Haul Road

Fort Bragg, California 95437

Looking for somewhere to eat in Fort Bragg? I can’t say enough wonderful things about Princess Seafood. Looking for other adventures while it town? Head on over to the Skunk Train Railbikes. Interested in other attractions made from junk? When in Riverside, visit Tito’s Tacos.

This post is based on a visit to Glass Beach on June 13, 2021.

The Skunk Train Railbikes

To call Fort Bragg a quaint coastal town would be an understatement.  Tucked in the upper left hand of California, the onetime hub of the lumber industry sits at the edge of the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by redwoods.  It’s also home to the Skunk Train, a heritage railway that up to a few years ago was able to take weekend visitors on a forty mile tour through the middle of an old growth forest.  That is, until the spring of 2013 when a series of tunnel collapses along the route left the company with little more than three miles of track.  According to SF Gate, when it was up and running its complete route, the railway was responsible for 50,000 visitors a year.  Clearly, the local economy was depending on a draw now that the train was not able to deliver its normal run.  The innovative solution to the problem was something called a railbike.  

Gathered at the depot and ready to go.

The kids loved that logo.

A railbike is a cleverly-engineered, human-powered affair to get out of town on a set of train tracks.  The two seat bikes are built off of an aluminum frame making them light and easy to pedal.  In case riders haven’t been putting in the miles on the road back at home, they are equipped with an electric assist motor that allows riders to take in the scenery without breaking a sweat .  As light as they are, safety is at the heart of the design.  All railbikes have disc brakes, seat belts, and riders are required to wear helmets.  In addition, they ride on plastic wheels so they run in near silence as riders cut out and get away from it all.  As an added bonus, since the bike rides on rails, there’s no need to steer.  All riders have to do is pedal and take in the experience.

Riding on plastic wheels

Patiently awaiting instructions.

Looking as about as 2021 as a photo gets.

We met up with our guides for an orientation before our departure from the Skunk Train depot.  Doubling as a well appointed gift shop with old time charm, the depot sits next to the Pacific Ocean and is worth a stop even if a trip out on the rails isn’t in the cards.  After crossing a city street and sailing past the town’s graveyard, the route we were on was swallowed up by an ancient forest. Aside from the tracks and several trestles, signs of civilization slipped away as we moved deeper into it. The air was cool and the light was filtered by the canopy.  Even on the hottest days, I can’t imagine anyone getting overly blasted by the sun.  Trees, ferns, and the meandering Puddle Creek served as just the thing we needed as our reintroduction to the world after a year and a bit in Covid isolation.  

Even the moss was overgrown.

Trees, trestles, and fresh air.

Pulling into Glen Blair Junction.

After several miles of meditative bliss on the rails, it was time for a layover in Glen Blair Junction.  While the guides set up the turntable and spun the bikes back around the direction from whence they came, we were left to their own devices.  The options are pretty simple: sit at the picnic tables and listen to the birds tweet, or take in a mild hike. 

That tunnel up ahead was the driving force of the Skunk Train Railbike adventure.

We opted for the hike.  The trail is immaculately well taken care of.  Aside from the trees, plan on seeing plenty of ferns and mushrooms in the understory.  While the trail does have a climb, like all things on the railbikes trip, ease of use is at the heart of it. My five year old was able to make the trek with nary a peep.  It loops and eventually ends with an overhead view of the Glen Blair Junction.  By the time we made it back down the hill, it was time for us to depart and make our return to town. 

Great spot for a photo.

A year in the same zip code is a long time.

The view of Glen Blair Juntion.

The whole trip was about three hours total.  This gave us plenty of time to take in Glass Beach before we got back on the road and headed to parts northward.  For anyone who may be interested in a trip that’s a bit more strenuous and more of a time commitment, there is a new adventure available since we took our outing. If the grove looks at all familiar that may be because woods like these just a few miles away doubled as the forest moon Endor in the filming of The Return of the Jedi.

We were assured those weren’t blaster marks left from the production of The Return of the Jedi.

Skunk Train Railbikes

100 West Laurel Street

Fort Bragg, California 95437

707 964-6371

Looking for somewhere to eat?  Make a trip to Princess Seafood. Interested in other unique rail experiences? In Los Angeles take a look at Angel’s Flight. In Sacramento, make a visit to the California State Railroad Museum.

This post is based on a visit made on June 12, 2021

The California State Railroad Museum

The California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento has something to appeal to all of its visitors.  Any train enthusiast will be dazzled by the collection. Opened in 1981, they have amassed nineteen steam locomotives that are kept in immaculate condition.  With polished brass and stained wood, they look as sharp as the day they were first wheel out of the factory. For kids, it offers lots of hands-on opportunities and plenty of walk through exhibits as well as a collection of model trains upstairs.  For really little kids, there is a room full of Thomas the Tank Engine wooden trains they are allowed to play with. Any surly teenagers who have been dragged along on a family outing should be able to appreciate that the collection is indoors and climate controlled allowing for a comfortable place to wander despite the worst that Sacramento weather can deal out.  As striking as the collection is however, it really is a place that gets beyond just the celebration of machinery. The museum’s displays are well thought out and weave in a very human story among its exhibits. It’s a place that will leave anyone who loves trains satisfied, but it uses the trains to tell the stories of people that could have been lost in time.

The first exhibit in the hall tells the story of the First Intercontinental Railway and culminates with the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah.  While the obvious choice would have been to focus on Leland Stanford, the museum carefully includes the story of the Chinese who made his vision a reality. Depending on who is telling the story, Leland Stanford was either a captain of industry and a robber baron.  In his lifetime, he built a vertically integrated empire that involved the railroads, banking, insurance, as well as an international steamship operation. He would eventually command enough political capital to serve as the governor of California for two years. On paper, he is the type of person a free market capitalists would celebrate.  While he may be credited with being one of the masterminds behind the First Transcontinental Railroad, the reality is that his efforts would have gone nowhere without exploiting workers. During his time as governor, he spoke out publicly against the influx of Chinese into the United States of America. At the same time, he knowingly imported Chinese laborers and used them to complete the crowning achievement of his empire.  The museum makes sure that their story is not left out.

At the entry of the exhibit, a life sized diorama features the locomotive The Gov Stanford, a Central Pacific locomotive used in the construction of the Intercontinental Railroad. It looks dazzling as it sits poised on the tracks, waiting to pass through a mountain tunnel that appears to still be under construction.  Nearby are three nameless Chinese laborers, hanging off the side of a mountain as they carve through stone in order to make Leland Stanford’s dream of connecting the United States of America a reality. The end of that exhibit features a painting by Thomas Hill called The Last Spike. Completed in 1881, Hill included two Chinese laborers at the center of the painting.  Both men lean on shovels and look at the powerful men congratulating themselves while standing on the backs of others.

Chinese workers are not the only people who the museum celebrates.  In the back of the roundhouse, the museum displays two walk through Pullman Coaches.  Finely appointed, visitors can get a feel for the level of opulence travelers once experienced.  The sleeper car actually rocks to provide the sensation of riding down the rails. In the dining car, tables are set with fine china where passengers dined as the countryside slipped by.  Quite honestly, travel in a Pullman car seems like it would be a wonderful way to cross the country.

However, that level of elegance came at a very human cost.  One person was commissioned to look after the passengers’ needs.  He was required to be constantly available and permanently invisible.  Those in his care would refer to him as George, the same name as his employer, George Pullman.  Much like Leland Stanford, George Pullman built an empire on cheap labor. Seeking a way to market luxury train travel to the middle class, he sought out former slaves to provide travelers with a sense of opulence by railroad providing them with a devoted servant for the duration of the trip. Porters were required to work long days and sacrifice their own identities in order for the middle class to feel some of the creature comforts. The workers relied on tips because the wages paid their employer were low.

The two cars are remarkably well preserved and could easily cause a visitor to get nostalgic for the good old days.  However, the museum makes sure to include African American mannequins integrated into the exhibit in order serve as a reminder of the army of men who worked long hours for low pay on the trains.  

The California Railroad Museum would be a great outing just based on the strength of its collection.  However, the fact that it does not attempt to sweeten the past is really what really makes it a museum instead of just a display of archaic machinery.  

This article is based on a visit to the California State Railroad Museum on March 4, 2019.

California State Railroad Museum

125 I Street

Sacramento, CA 95814

916 445-7387

Interested in seeing trains? When in Southern California, make sure to visit Angel’s Flight and The Great Train Show when it touches down at that Fairplex in Pomona.