staycation in half moon bay/pacifica

On a whim, we decided to pack up a few necessities, and head for Half Moon Bay, CA. It's only an hour from where we live, and it's one of our favorite haunts, so I thought I'd share some of the best parts of the area.
This was such a spontaneous trip that my husband was calling for a reservation on his cell phone while I drove. Our first choice was booked up on such short notice, but it's a place that I'd like to tell about. It's the Cypress Inn, one of the Inns-by-the-Sea group, We always feel pampered at any of these inns, but this one is unique in that it's on the Pacific Coast Trail, right on the shore. One day last year we even rented a bicycle at Bikeworks in Half Moon Bay, and rode them kind of shakily (I admit) down to the trail and then to the Cypress Inn. .....  That Place! Most rooms have nice views, a fireplace, and everyone comes down to the common area for hot hors d'oeurves and wine at 5:00 or so, and then the innkeeper makes a fancy cobbler or other dessert to have at 7:00 pm. Then...in the morning you can sit in your little white robes and be served breakfast on a cute little cart that's wheeled into your room.  This is all included for the price of the room, which is lower in the fall/winter time period.
Anyway, since that wasn't available, we stopped sooner, at Rockaway Beach. We found the BestWestern, which had just taken over and started to remodel a hotel right on the shore. It was Saturday night, so the price wasn't as low as we'd like, but they lowered it 50 bucks for the second night. Most of the rooms have views of the sea, and ours reminded us of Bodega Head, with the cliffs and beach in our sight. 
The old restaurant, Nick's, is across the street, and we headed over there on Saturday night. There was a lively atmosphere with people dancing to a band, and  we sat at the bar to have a drink. The dining room is old-style with booths, and we really enjoyed the coquilles st jacque, something I've always wanted to try, a dish with scallops, mushrooms, and garlic sauteed in wine and then baked with mashed potatoes and cheese. Yum!
The next night was Sunday, and when we went in to Nick's, it was kind of dark, except for a banquet that was going on. We ventured in to the quiet, empty bar and found out that the band only plays on Friday and Saturday nights, and it was a lot less busy. We ended up just sharing a crab sandwich at the bar and visiting with the bartender. He's worked for this Greek family for years, and Nick was the son of the original Greek immigrant. What luck he had in getting this beautiful place on the California shoreline!
Back to the trip. If you're a bargain hunter, a good reason to come to Half Moon Bay, is to check out Twice As Nice, a booming seconds business that has 3 stores in the strip mall at the corner of Hiway 92 and Main St. They receive seconds from Costco and other stores and I'm sure lots of people make it a point to check out their bargains every week.
The next place to look at is Tokenz, on Main St., a fun shop that we make sure we at least go to once a year. I always seem to end up with some nice earrings or a ring, or handcrafted hair clip, but mostly we know we can get hand-dipped candles for our advent wreath. It's harder that you would think to find 3 purple and one pink candle in December. Catholics need them for their Advent wreaths and none of the candle manufacturers have figured it out. Even the owner of Tokenz just happens to have all the colors of the rainbow all the time. Now she knows that she should stock up on purple and pink in the fall.
Lunch is found next door, at McCoffee, where we shared a tasty turkey sandwich on a rosemary roll, and a nice strong cup of coffee, which we lacked at our breakfast at the hotel.
Across the street, you can round off the afternoon with a frozen yogurt at Nano's Yogurt Shack.
On the way out of town, a must stop for thrift shop fans is the Senior Coastsiders Thriftshop. We can almost always find something great there.
Depending on what time of year you go to Half Moon Bay, you can pick up a pumpkin or a Christmas tree or stop at one of the nurseries on the way out of town on Hiway 92. All this, and it's only an hour away from the Bay Area.