Mendocino sees the light
Visitors to Mendocino can now play lightkeeper for a night (or more) at the Point Cabrillo Light Station, just north of town, where the restored head keeper's house has become the Lighthouse Inn.
Four bedrooms in the house and two garden cottages, each with private bath and sitting areas, are furnished with early 1900s antiques. Room rates ($177-$272) include a nighttime lighthouse tour and a gourmet breakfast. Call (707) 937-6124 or visit www.pointcabrillo.org for more details.
Point Cabrillo has only the third lighthouse inn on the West Coast, joining Point Arena in southern Mendocino County and East Brother in San Pablo Bay. (Montara and Pigeon Point lighthouses on the San Mateo County Coast have hostels.)