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Toronto Star (28/Oct/1995) - California town has 'horrific' ties Hitchcock thriller gave Bodega Bay notoriety

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California town has 'horrific' ties Hitchcock thriller gave Bodega Bay notoriety

Touting your town as the place where a woman got her eyeballs pecked out by psychotic waterfowl doesn't seem like a nifty plan to lure tourists.

But for the idyllic Sonoma Coast town of Bodega Bay, the bloody attacks of possessed sea gulls filmed there for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds have gained the tiny town international notoriety.

"It's a cult film all over the world — the first thing usually people ask about when they come to town," said Patriciat Terrell, who works at the information desk for the local chamber of commerce. "We get French people, German people, English people who come up from San Francisco just to see the places in the movie."

Bodega Bay today is a popular weekend getaway from San Francisco. It's a spot to cuddle up and stroll on a windswept beach or bundle up and read a long novel on the porch of one of the beachfront deluxe motels.

"Bodega Bay is a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the sunset, but if you are looking for nightlife or pretty much anything else you are out of luck," resident Richard Hertz said.

There are actually two towns — Bodega and Bodega Bay — but for the visitor the difference is inconsequential.

Most visitors make the trek around the twin towns to find the sights remaining from The Birds.

There's the Tides Inn, where bar patrons in the movie watched an early gull attack and the gas station blow up. The original inn burned down but was reconstructed. After a dinner of fresh crab, head for the bar that was rebuilt as a replica of the one in the film. You can check the authenticity against a large still photo from the movie that graces the inn's entry hall.

Horror buffs remember Tippi Hedren and Suzanne Pleshette leading screaming schoolchildren from the birds, which presaged their attack by alighting menacingly on the jungle gym at The Goddard Schools.

The creepy schoolhouse fell into disuse for many years, then was resurrected as a "Birds"-themed bed and breakfast. The old schoolroom with its blackboards was arranged to look just as it did in the movie, and a videocassette recorder in the lounge played Hitchcock's film non-stop.

The inn is now a private residence, but visitors can come by and take pictures as long as they don't bother the people living in the house. It's at 17110 Bodega Lane.

Visitors can attend services or just stroll around St. Theresa's Church, the small clapboard chapel that had a starring role as a sanctuary for villagers fleeing the feathered fiends.

What really remains is what first attracted Hitchcock: a quiet, quaint seaside area isolated from much of the world — a rocky, windswept coastline and beautiful forests nearby.

The pleasures of Bodega Bay are decidedly leisurely. It is a place to put on a cable-knit sweater and stroll seashell-strewn beaches.

The area is at its best when the sun is shining — an iffy proposition along the Northern California coast. On clear days, kites dot the skies over Doran Beach and picnickers head for Westside Regional Park. April brings whales migrating north past Bodega Head State Park.

The lack of large buildings or big towns belies that Bodega Bay has served as a port for 220 years. Spanish explorer Francisco Bodega y Cuadra discovered the bay in 1775, the same year colonists in the East were firing the "shot heard 'round the world" at Lexington, the beginning of the American Revolution.

First Mexicans, then Russians, set up communities on the bay's shores, hauling crabs and fishing for salmon and hiding from storms in the protected port. The harbor was Americanized in 1850 when California entered the union.

Fishing remains a mainstay of the community today, and the half-dozen restaurants along Highway 1 offer inexpensive delicacies from the sea.

Rain or shine, a great way to spend the day around Bodega Bay is to drive what locals call "the loop."

From Bodega Bay, drive north on California 1, along the string of sandy beaches. Windswept Wright's Beach is a great spot for a stroll or a late breakfast. Continue north to Jenner, a pretty village nestled on the hills where the Russian River meets the sea. On nearby Goat Rock Beach, you can often see sea lions lounging just offshore.

Backtrack slightly and take California 116 east. You'll pass through Duncan Mills, a shopping village with a 19th-century theme. There's a small railroad museum and several popular curio shops and general stores.

After driving along the Russian River, turn south at Monte Rio for a curving ride down the Bohemian Highway. Tall pines serve as a canopy as you drive through a rustic back country of cabins and farms.

Halfway down the highway is Occidental, a one-time logging and railroad town now best known for its fierce but friendly Italian Restaurant War.

On a Friday night, the parking lot is packed in front of the Union Hotel, which isn't a hotel at all. It's a family-style Italian restaurant serving big plates of spaghetti and meatballs. Across the street is the equally crowded Negri's, a cavernous dining room serving almost exactly the same pasta dishes as the Union Hotel.

"There's always been two big Italian restaurants here — we call it Calorie Canyon," said Rule Miller, who works at Negri's. "There used to be three, but we bought out Fiori's and turned it into a Mexican place."

Miller said the competition is friendly.

Continuing south, you reach Freestone, an old hippie hangout of general stores and new age shops. It's the area's first historic district, with many buildings more than a century old.

From Freestone, head west again on Bodega Highway, which eventually rejoins California 1 just before it enters Bodega Bay.

The drive can be done leisurely in about three hours, including a break for a stroll on the beach and lunch in Occidental.

Bodega Bay is on California 1, about two hours north of San Francisco. The most beautiful way to get to Bodega Bay from San Francisco is to take California 1 north through Marin County. A quicker way is to take U.S. 101 north, then exit at East Washington St. in Petaluma and follow the signs west.

WHEN TO GO: Any time but some restaurants and hotels close in winter and rain can leave you pinned indoors. Spring is a great for snorkelers and anglers, with the openings of the abalone season April 1 and the salmon season May 1. Summer offers warm days and crisp nights, arts festivals, and a 10K race in August. It gets cold in autumn, but it's great snuggling weather.