Welcome to The Andiron | Seaside Inn & Cabins!

Until October, 2009, we were called Pacific Mist Inn - if that's what you were looking for, you've found it! We are 11 one and two room cabins perfectly situated on five acres of meadow and woods on Highway 1 in Little River, California.

Minutes away from everything - beaches, wineries, diving, hikes, Mendocino, breweries, good food - but quiet, relaxing, and fun, our housekeeping cabins and rooms are each entirely unique and reflect our love of everything vintage, salvaged, rehabbed, and recycled.

You'll find fifties fabrics, old Viewmasters, your favorite childhood games and puzzles, badminton, croquet, funky lamps, and so much more. Add super-comfy beds, a sweet hot tub, and weekend happy hours, and you've got a mighty fine getaway. Plus, we think your pets are swell, so bring 'em along!

Specials and events!

• Bring your jacket (it's summer after all) and comfortable shoes for the world's best 4th of July parade in Mendocino! We're booked already, but stay elsewhere and come anyway! It's a big kooky hippie Americana eco funny shindig and you'll be glad you came, promise.
  
  
• Do you like walking and talking in nature? If not, what? What? Really? Huh. If you do, then join a Big River Interpretive Walk on the first and third Saturdays in July for free. We don't know what an interpretive walk is but we've been promised that it's way better than interpretive dance. Check 'em out here.



• The Mendocino Music Festival is around the corner - July 10-24. A great big concert tent on the headlands, various events in lots of small venues and all kinds of music. Tuxes and strings to jeans and, well, also strings. A delicious beverage, some fabulous music, and YOU. This is what summer is all about!



• Four-ish perfect days ... our guide to the perfect summer getaway at The Andiron.
  
  Start by cutting out of work early on Thursday - about 3 should do it. Throw the duffel in the back of the zip car, and hop on 101, way ahead of the weekend traffic.
  
  Before you know it, you'll be turning on to the sweetest road in the world, the amazing Highway 128. Take it slow! The curves are fierce and there are LOTS of critters in the road - deer, wild boar, turkeys and the like. Plenty of critters off the road, too, hanging out at the family farms everywhere you look. Plus, they're always having babies so you'll be sure to see a baby goat hop hop hopping along or a little lamb looking for her mama.
  
  Don't dawdle too much, though. Stop quick for fresh-pressed cider at Gowan's Oak Tree just past Philo. You'll reach the heart of the redwood forest just as the sun starts to set, and the waning light through the trees will rock your world. You'll exit the forest and hit Highway 1 and boy oh boy oh boy the world just opens up wide and happy for you. You might want to pull over onto a bluff for that giant slice of amazing, btw. Hug your sweetie, and breathe! You're really AWAY now.
  
  A couple more miles and you'll be in Albion. Pull up at the Ledford House and take a seat at the bar where Ayana will make sure you enjoy a glass of something and maybe some oysters with their fantastic tomato horseradish sorbet, a little pasta, pate with lavender jelly, whatever floats your boat for a light but lovely supper.
  
  After the last sizzle of sun into the ocean, climb back in the car and before you know it, you'll be at The Andiron. Scott will probably be there to say hello, but if not, we've left the light on for you. Settle in to your cabin, where it's cozy and warm and the campy 40s music puts you in just the right mood. Hit the hot tub, and finish the night off gazing at the crazy crazy stars.
  
  Sleep good, cuz Friday is gonna bust out. Start early and head north to Fort Bragg and visit Eggheads for breakfast right there on the main drag. Get yourself to the Skunk Train for the 10am steam train to nowhere - it'll take you deep into the forest with snacks and entertainment and then back again by 2.
  
  Spend the afternoon strolling among the curious little shops of Fort Bragg, and then choose: beer drinking or breath taking? If the former, take the beer tour at North Coast Brewing Company and if the latter, visit the Mendocino Botanical Garden. Then head on back to The Andiron. Nap. Join us in the Lodge for happy hour at 5 with tasty snacks and cold local beer and wine. Yum. Pick up a game (Mille Bornes, Scrabble, Ticket to Ride) and a movie for later (you should probably watch a locally filmed flick. We're partial to Same Time Next Year. It will make you cry in the good way..."Helloooo, my friend, helllooooo....").
  
  You won't want to leave the fire nor your new friends, but you gotta go grab some dinner. Try the bar at the Little River Inn for perfect made-to-order clam chowder, huge burgers and local gossip with world-famous bartender Sue and the amazing Pastor. Oh, and yeah, the sunset from the bar is divine! Back at The Andiron, finish off a bottle of wine on your deck, neck craned for some serious stargazing. Then, big fluffy towel in tow, it's time for another soak in the hot tub in the woods before pulling on your jams and settling in for that aforementioned movie or game until you drift off to sleep.
  
  Sleep in on Saturday, and then enjoy a cup or two of the local/organic/fair trade coffee in your cabin. Stop in at the Lodge for the toast bar(!) and try our homemade apple butter on Fort Bragg Bakery's seed bread before heading north on Highway 1. Your job today is simple: STOP OFTEN. Especially if the sun is out! First stop at the Secret Beach. Then the blow hole behind the Little River cemetery. Then Van Damme beach. Then Salt Spring headlands. Then road 500B for THAT VIEW of Mendocino, the one on all the postcards. If you do it right, you should be in Mendocino by around lunch time. Try Cafe Beaujolais for lunch. Two words: Crab Cakes!
  
  After lunch, meander Mendocino's charming streets and shops. Important: sneak many peeks at the great big ocean everywhere you look. It's the law. Visit the Visitor Center. No really! It's a really really good visitor center! Go to Mendoza's Harvest Market, and pick up a picnic for dinner. Something to grill, some fresh vegetables, a salad, a six pack of local beer. You're set.
  
  By the time you get back to The Andiron, you have just enough time for a game of badminton or croquet, and then it's happy hour in the Lodge - again! Fondue or Shrimp Newberg or some other updated retro snack this time. When you get tired of us, relax on your deck watching the quail race across the meadow and the bunnies munch on the grass until the sun is gone. Cook up that dinner on your barbecue. Linger over your meal. Light a fire. Think about going in the hot tub but find yourself unable to move. Curl up with a book. Sleep.
  
  Sunday! STILL on vacation, how about that? Make your way to the Lodge for that delicious toast one more time. Ooh, la! The Sunday New York Times is here, as is the Sunday Chronicle. This could take a while - but don't worry, we keep the toast toasting and the coffee coffee-ing until you're done. Fully caffeinated and gloriously informed, you're ready to face the day! And it's a good one: kayak up Big River! Connect with one of the many kayak outfits around and before you know it, you'll be spotting birds and hearing...ummm...practically nothing but nature. Don't race. You have nothing but time on your lazy Sunday afternoon on the river. A couple hours oughta do - your arms will let ya know when you've had enough.
  
  Enjoy dinner with the locals at Frankie's - yummy organic pizza, and don't forget the candy cap mushroom ice cream! After dinner, stop by the Caspar Inn just north of Mendocino for live music in a seriously cool spot. Back at your cabin, you're sleepy...but squeeze in one last visit to the hot tub before crashing.
  
  Monday morning, you're headed home. Sleep in just enough to remind yourself that YOU are on vacation while everyone else is working. Suckers! Check out - we hate it too - and head south on 1 to Elk for a must-have-breakfast at Queenie's Roadhouse. There'll be a wait, but HEY you're in ELK where the views are stunning. After brunch you have a choice. Head back on 128 (stopping along the way for wine and walks) or stay on 1 for a harrowing (if you're me) or delightful (if you're my husband) curvy, beautiful drive. Stop in Pt Reyes for fresh oysters before re-entering reality. And the freeway, blech.
  
  And there you are...a perfect summer vacation. Come up soon. We're the getaway you've been waiting for!
  
  

Interested in booking the whole place for your retreat, party, or family gathering? Contact Scott at Scott@TheAndiron.com or (707) 937-1543.