Gram and I like sweet beginnings, so we started Sunday at the pastry counter of Mendocino Bakery & Cafe. We ordered coffee and pastries, and I had to rein Gram in again, but we got out of there for only $6.

We spent the morning shopping in Mendocino: Gram was thrilled by the cute boutiques. We sampled pistachio butter and loganberry jam at the Mendocino Jams & Preserves shop and tried on boots and on-sale sandals at Rainsong Shoes. We also popped into the Kelley House Museum to check out historic photos and imagine what Mendocino looked like 100 years before my Gram was born.

Over a lunch of organic sandwiches at the Mendocino Café, we were wistful that our weekend was coming to an end. Before we left, we wandered down to the fine-sand beach at the town's edge, part of Mendocino Headlands State Park. The waves were crashing against the bluffs across the way. We saw a spray appear offshore, a bolt of white against the cerulean blue. It might have been a rock, or an osprey's splash, but my Gram and I decided to believe it was a whale — a final vision of Mendocino.

DAY 3

Mendocino Bakery & Cafe
Pastries and coffee
$6

Mendocino boutiques
Browsing cute shops
Free

Kelley House Museum
Learning local history
$4 donation

Mendocino Café
Sandwiches
$21.13

Mendocino Headlands State Park
Whale spying
Free

TOTAL: $395.09