Content Coming Soon!

According to a fairly impressive Web site, (www.marintrails.com) “Marin County has the finest urban park systems in the world with over 600 miles of wonderful trails.” While this statement might seem a bit overblown by about one hundred miles since a mere 500 miles of trails are claimed elsewhere in the site, it really doesn’t matter. Clearly, Marin County is a paradise for hikers.

Don and Kay Martin actually sat down long enough to gather specific details and routes of 141 separate hikes within Marin County for their book entitled, “Hiking Marin, 141 Great Hikes in Marin County,” which provides detailed 3D maps for each hike and directions to each trailhead.

It is doubtless true that Marin County is a “hiker’s paradise” with 3 national parks, 6 state parks, 24 county open space lands and 7 other parks and open space areas. Kidding aside, an amazing 42% of these lands are open to the public, which leaves more hiking than most of us could possibly hike in a lifetime.

What is the most important consideration before choosing a specific hiking trail? Experts say that is weather is paramount. Bad weather with fog, drizzle and only 100 feet of visibility can all conspire together to change a great hike into a dismal one. Other important considerations include the distance to be hiked, the change in elevation during the hike, the level of difficulty of the trail and whether shade is provided along the way.

The winter months of December and January aren’t the best hiking weather, but between the raindrops one can hike along the ocean and see whales and elephant seals. While it is extremely wet, the late winter months of February and March are the best time to hike. For those not bothered by allergies, this is when various spring flowers begin to bloom.

Naturally, as the weather gets better and everything is green and flowery, more great hiking may be experienced in the spring months of April and May. As the summer months of June and July bring both heat and dryness, there are still cool and foggy areas that beg to be hiked: “Muir Woods, Steep Ravine and the Marin Headlands” are a few of them.

The best places to hike during the hotter and drier months of August and September are on the coast and the beach areas, as well as north-facing trails.

The early morning is the best time to hike when the sun hasn’t started to burn through the fog. Because of fire hazards, it is best to avoid “Mt. Tamalpais and the hills and ridges of central and north Marin.”

October and November can be gusty with occasional rain, yet many sunny days that are ideal for hiking along the coast, south-facing trails and woodlands in central Marin and around the lakes.

Good hiking boots, water, or other fluids, a first aid kit, a light jacket, extra food and a poncho in winter and sunscreen in the summer are just some of the items that it is essential to take along on a hike. Others include a knife, a hat, book or map, flashlight, binoculars, a compass and a whistle, (to which the writer adds a cellphone with the caveat that it may or may not work in many areas west of San Rafael). Any or all of these things may be extremely handy in case you get lost or turn your ankle.

Farmers Markets in Marin County – Direct from Local Fields to Your Table

For many people in Marin, a trip to the local farmers market is a weekly must on their schedule. With ample opportunities to purchase and eat fresh and often organic produce, grown by local farmers, why not make time to visit your local farmers market?

The largest farmers market in Marin County also operates year-round at the Civic Center in San Rafael each Sunday from 8 am to 1 pm. The third largest farmers market in California, attracts nearly 200 farmers, specialty food purveyors and artisans to sell their goods to local residents. Location: 10 Avenue of the Flags, Marin Civic Center, San Rafael.

The area’s premier chefs come together to shop for their weekend fruit and vegetables at a farmers market, also held at the Civic Center in San Rafael each Thursday from 8 am to 1 pm, year-round, which features 100 local farmers, specialty food purveyors and artisans. Location: 10 Avenue of the Flags, Marin Civic Center, San Rafael.

During the summer season, the Novato Farmers Market is held every Tuesday evening in the renovated part of town called Old Town, where locals shop for fruit and vegetables, treat their children to pony rides, face painting and balloon sculptures. Location: Grant Ave between Machin & Reichert, Novato.

Also a summertime phenomenon, the Fairfax Farmers Market is staged in a beautiful setting every Wednesday from 4 pm to 8 pm. Fairfax has banned single use plastic bags, so don’t forget to take your tote bags! Location: Bolinas Rd & Elsie Lane, Fairfax.

The mission of the Marin Farmers Markets is to promote a viable food system, to educate the public about the benefits of buying fresh and locally grown food, and to bring farmers and communities together.

Fruits and Vegetables Likely to be Found at Marin County Farmers Markets:

Apples, Apricots, Artichokes, Asparagus, Avocados, Bananas, Beans, Beets, Blackberries, Blueberries, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Cherries, Chicory, Coconuts, Collard Greens, Corn,

Crabapples, Cranberries, Cucumbers, Dates, Eggplants, Elderberries, Figs,

Gooseberries, Gourds, Grapefruit, Grapes, Jerusalem Artichokes, Kale, Kiwi Fruit, Kohlrabi, Kumquats, Leeks, Lemons, Lettuce, Limes, Lychee Nuts, Mandarin Oranges, Mangoes, Melons, Mushrooms, Nectarines, Okra,

Olives, Onions, Oranges, Papayas, Parsnips, Passion Fruit, Peaches, 

Pears, Peas, Peppers, Pineapples, Plums, Pomegranate, Potatoes, Pumpkins,

Radicchio, Radishes, Raspberries, Rhubarb, Rutabaga, Shallots, Spinach, Squash, Strawberries, Sweet potatoes, Tangerines, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watercress, Watermelon, Yams.

This list doesn’t include the many types of nuts for sale at the Farmers Markets or the many kinds of lettuce, peppers, onions or olives, all sold direct from local farmers.

It’s interesting to note that there are certain fruits that enjoy particular favor among the foodie community. Fruits in greater favor nowadays include Pomegranate and Heirloom Tomatoes. Pomegranate is cultivated in California mainly for its juice and is rich in Vitamins C and B5, as well as antioxidants. Heirloom Tomatoes are treasured each summer for their multiple colors, shapes and sizes and their unique and delicate flavors.

Popular seasonal vegetables and fruit that are commonly eaten in California include Artichokes and Avocados. Artichokes are a spiny vegetable that grows in California’s Central Valley area and Avocados are a pear-shaped fruit, also known as Alligator Pears, that are mainly cultivated in countries with tropical climates. Many avocados, mainly the Hass type, are also grown in Southern California.

A Foolproof Homebuyer’s Checklist

When looking for a homebuyer’s checklist online, it’s important to be aware that there are different types of checklists. There’s the type of checklist that provides you with every detail of information that you should get when searching for just the right home. This kind of list won’t allow you to overlook a single thing or make a mistake in this important process.

For example, it guides you to determine whether a house has a practical floor plan and adequate storage space. These lists are similar to those utilized by an appraiser, who goes through a property with a fine tooth comb and determines its condition and compares it to others in the same market at comparable values.

Here are the important steps to guide you through the process of buying a house.

1. Become Informed

In becoming familiar with the individual steps involved in the actual process of purchasing a home, the first step is to become informed about buying a house. In this marketplace, that means to become well informed about the steps involved, but also to become informed about who the reputable professionals are, how the market is performing, the prices in your desired market and much more.

2. Hire Reputable Professionals

Of course, you must do some serious homework before buying a house because you don’t want to leave anything to chance. This means you should hire the best real estate professionals you can find to protect your interests. So, item two on your checklist should be to find a sophisticated real estate person, who knows your market and has listings of properties in your price range. That person will hold your hand and guide you through the process step by step.

3. Become Pre-Approved for Financing

Obviously, you don’t want to begin shopping and find just the house and learn that you cannot make an offer because you aren’t pre-approved. If you have a financial statement of your assets and liabilities that helps too.

4. Determine What Type of Property You are Going to Buy and for How Much

Once you know what kind of property you want, tell your real estate professional all about it so he or she won’t waste your time showing you the wrong properties in the wrong price range.

5. Make an Offer

Once your real estate pro has educated you on the art of the deal, you will find a property and make an offer. This also requires that you sign a contract to buy. When or if you offer is accepted, you may need to put down a deposit. If your offer is not accepted, you might want to negotiate the sale (with the help of your real estate professional).

6. Make an Application for a Mortgage

Often your real estate pro will direct you to a reputable mortgage company that he likes to use. Be prepared to fill out applications and much more.

7. Make Arrangements for Home Inspection

Your real estate pro will help with this step too.

8. Check for Existing Warranties

If the seller offers warranties on appliances or air conditioning systems and the like, you should determine why. Is the air conditioning system on its last legs? If so, what will it cost to replace? And what is covered by the warranty; is it just labor?

9. Arrange for Homeowners’ Insurance

Get the best deal you can because this item is for the long haul.

10. Prepare for the closing

Make arrangements to hire a closing agent or attorney. Make all final preparations for closing with the help of your real estate professional.

11. Make Moving Arrangements

Make comparisons of prices and services and make reservations.

12. Secure final loan approval from lending institution.

13. Hold final walk-through of the home.

14. Hold final closing and settlement.

Biking is Thriving Where Mountain Biking Began

Whether you’re into BMX, Mountain or Road bicycling, Marin is a great place to do it. Established biking trails, paved bike pathways and the terrain popular with BMXers are all found throughout the County. It also happens that Marin County was the birthplace of Mountain biking. But, perhaps the most popular form of biking nowadays is Road bicycling.

Let’s begin with some history. BMX, as a category, isn’t as common in Marin as the other types of biking, but it’s interesting to know that well-known BMX biker Billy Savage lived and biked in Marin from 1976 to 1983.

Designed for stunts, tricks, and racing on hilly dirt BMX tracks, BMX bicycles have a have a single gear ratio with a freewheel and are built with smaller frames and wheels with wider, treaded tires. They have to be extremely sturdy machines because they take a beating during some extreme sporting events!

It was clear that BMX had finally arrived when BMX events were part of the Summer Olympics in China in 2008 in four different venues, which was a first for the sport. U.S. cyclists took half of the first six medals in BMX racing ever awarded in the history of the Olympics.

The Web site www.klunkerz.com provides complete information about each of the individuals who participated in mountain biking in Marin during the 1970s to make it the world-class sport that it is today. Mountain biking is rough and tough going and a good day isn’t complete without getting at least some mud in your teeth.

Mountain biking pioneers did a lot of their biking on downhill trails they carved out around Mount Tamalpais in the 1970s. This was when Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher and others converted cruisers and balloon-tire bicycles into machines that could weather any type of road conditions.

Billy Savage recently directed a film about the early days of mountain biking in Marin called “Klunkerz.” In the process of making his film, what he found “fascinating is that all the pioneers are very committed to the bicycle as transportation, and to the ecological and physical benefits of cycling to this day. They gave those old Klunkerz a new life, rescuing them out of trashcans and junkyards. They were reducing, reusing, and recycling long before it was hip to be green. They all continue to live this way in all aspects of their lives.”

Road bicycling has become very popular in recent years as the county establishes more bike paths where serious road cyclists can do some serious biking.  The Marin County Bicycling Coalition (www.marinbike.org) “promotes safe bicycling for everyday transportation and recreation.” Marin County is one of only four counties nationwide that are engaged in a federal Non-motorized Transportation Pilot Program that promotes road bicycling, particularly commuting. The goal of The Marin County Bicycle Coalition is for 20% of trips in Marin County to be made by walking or bicycling.

The MCBC Web site offers all the latest about this and other initiatives underway under the umbrella of this ambitious organization. One of their Web pages has links to a wonderful array of informative pages, including the following:

• (More than) 50 Good Reasons to Bicycle
• Benefits of Bicycle Commuting
• The Marin Bicycle Map (free upon joining the Marin County Bicycling Coalition)
• Riding directions via the North-South Greenway from San Francisco to Petaluma
• Riding directions via Highway 1 to the Golden Gate Bridge
• Basic Cycling Essentials
• Cycling for Fun
• Bicycle Etiquette

A Plethora of Choices for Worship:

The affluent contiguous California municipalities of Belvedere and Tiburon are rich in more than per capita income. With a total of nearly 16 square miles between them and seven churches and one synagogue, they have one house of worship for every two square miles!

The synagogue is Conservative and the churches cover most major Christian sects, including Catholic and a range of Protestant churches, as well as a Christian Science Church. There is certainly no shortage of places to go to worship each week and participate in many additional activities in addition to worship.

The following is a list of places of worship located specifically in Belvedere and Tiburon:

 Community Congregational Church is a United Church of Christ (ccctiburon.org) located at 145 Rock Hill Drive, Tel: (415) 435-9108. There are two services each Sunday; 7:30 am Contemplative Service, 10:00 am Celebratory Service.

The Congregation Kol Shofar (kolshofar.org) is a Conservative Jewish Synagogue that is in the process of renovations. Call (415) 388-1818 for information regarding locations of its offices, activities and worship. Rabbi: Lavey Derby, Senior Rabbi. Friday Shabbat at 6:15 pm and Saturday Shabbat at 9:15 am at the Westminster Presbyterian Church at 240 Tiburon Boulevard in Tiburon.

The Christian Science Church (tfccs.org) is located at 501 San Rafael Avenue, Tel: (415) 435-0248. Call for service times. The nearest Christian Science Reading Room is at 1649 Polk St. in San Francisco, Tel: (415) 673-0532.‎ The Reading Room schedule is Monday through Friday 3 pm to 6 pm; Saturday 1 pm to 6 pm; and Sunday 1 pm to 4 pm.

St. Hilary’s Church is a Catholic Church at 761 Hilary Drive, Tel: (415) 435-1122; Pastor: Rev. James J. Tarantino. Masses are held Monday through Friday at 8:15 am; Saturday at 9 am and 5 pm; and Sunday at 7:30 am, 9:00 am, 11 am and 5 pm.

St. Stephen’s Church is an Episcopal Church at 3 Bay View Avenue, Tel: (415) 435-4501; Rector: Rev. Jim Ward. Services are held as follows: Sunday, 8 am Holy Eucharist Rite 1; 10 am Holy Eucharist Rite 2; Wednesday, 10 am Holy Eucharist; Thursday, 8 am Contemplative Prayer Group. Children are welcome to all services. There is nursery care at 9 am on Sunday.

Shepherd of the Hills is a Lutheran Church at 9 Shepherd Way, Tel: (415) 435-1528. Services are Sunday at 10:30 am.

Tiburon Baptist Church (tiburonbaptist.org) is located at 445 Greenwood Beach Road, Tel: (415) 388-3900; Lead Pastor: John Shouse. Service Schedule: Sunday 8:30 am and 11:00 am; Sunday School is at 9:40; Wednesday Prayer Meeting is at 6:30 pm.

Tiburon Westminster Presbyterian Church (wpctiburon.org) is located at 240 Tiburon Boulevard, Tel: (415) 383-5272; Head Pastor: Douglas Huneke. Service Schedule is 8:30 am and 10:00 am on Sunday; Sunday School at 10:15 am.

To locate the church on a map, just enter the address into Google or refer to each entity’s Web site (where available) for directions. Please note that the foregoing information is accurate as of July 2009. So, it’s a good idea to check with each individual church to verify.

Marin County Fairs and Festivals – the Biggest and the Best
Marin County is blessed in the number and quality of fairs and festivals that it enjoys throughout the summer season. The following is just a sampling of those events, most of which are held in southern Marin County.

 In 2009, the Mountain Play celebrated its 96^th year with a musical called Man of La Mancha. The schedule began at the end of May and ran weekly through June 21. The play is held at the Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre at Mount Tamalpais State Park in Mill Valley. Tickets were $23 to $40. While some hike or bike to the venue, shuttle buses are provided and driving is discouraged since parking is limited. www.mountainplay.org, Tel: (415) 383-1100.

 The Italian Street Painting Festival is held annually from 9 am to 7 pm on two days in mid-June in downtown San Rafael. Chalk is the medium. The event is free. www.youthinarts.org, Tel: (415) 457-4878, ext. 15

 The Marin Arts Festival is held on two days in the latter part of June at the Marin Center Lagoon at the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael. More than 250 artists display their work and many kinds of music are performed. www.marinartsfestival.com, Tel: (415) 388-0151.

 The Tiburon Music Festival is held over the course of 5 days in June at St. Hilary Church in Tiburon. It celebrates chamber music and chamber opera with performances by Marin classical musicians. Tickets are $10 and $20. www.tiburonmusicfestival.org, Tel: (415) 457-5226.

 The San Anselmo Art and Wine Festival is held for two days in late June on San Anselmo Avenue. 200 artists also display their wares.  www.sananselmochamber.org, Tel: (415) 454-2510.

 The biggest county event held every year is the Marin County Fair, running from 11 am to 11 pm for five days in the beginning of July. The location is the Marin County Fairgrounds on Civic Center Drive in San Rafael. In 2010, the Fair will be 65 years old and it’s a blast from the past and the future with the typical pie baking and dairy cattle competitions and so much more. Concerts, fireworks, carnival rides and amusements galore. www.marinfair.org, Tickets are $12-$14.

 The Tiburon Art Festival is held over the course of two days in the latter part of August along “Art Row” in Tiburon. www.tiburon-artfestival.com.

 Arias in the Park is held towards the end of August at Gabrielson Park, Anchor and Bridgeway, Sausalito. www.ci.sausalito.ca.us, Tel: (415) 289-4152.

 In September, a particularly important event is the Sausalito Art Festival, held over four days along Bridgeway and Marinship Park. The annual Labor Day weekend outdoor event features fine art and sculpture, delicious food and beverages and big name musical entertainment. Tickets are $5 to $20; $30 for a three-day pass. www.sausalitoartfestival.org, Tel: (415) 332-3555 or (415) 331-3757.

 The Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival is held in the latter part of September for two days at the Old Mill Park on Throckmorton Avenue at Cascade. It highlights over 100 craftspeople from around the country with work in 15 categories. There is also live music and entertainment for children with magic, puppets and marionettes, stories and songs. Tickets are $5 to $8, children under 12 free. www.mvfaf.org, Tel: (415) 381-8090.

There are a number of places in Marin County where you can eat dinner, have drinks and hear live music, and in some cases, you’ll have to eat dinner before going, but get ready. Live music is alive and well in Marin County! In fact, quite a few towns have more than one place that’s their claim to fame. Fairfax is perhaps best known for its line up of nightclubs on Broadway, including their 19 Broadway, The Sleeping Lady and Peri’s Silver Dollar. These places rock almost every night of the week.

 For the slightly more sedate of us, there’s Sausalito, which features several places with live music. These include the No Name Bar, which jumps with live music every night of the week; Saylor’s, which used to be Sailor’s Landing; and Taste of Rome, which used to be Cafe Trieste. Both Saylor’s and Taste of Rome feature live music on the weekends.

 The following are listings of Marin Venues with live music.

 Bolinas

Smiley’s Schooner Saloon, 41 Wharf Road, Bolinas, Tel: (415) 868-1311.

Full menu and bar. Bands every night of the week, including reggae. Web: coastalpost.com.

Fairfax

 The Sleeping Lady, 23 Broadway, Fairfax, Tel: (415) 485-1182. Live music nightly. Web: sleepingladyfairfax.com.

 Peri’s Silver Dollar, 29 Broadway, Fairfax, Tel: (415) 459-9910. Features virtually every kind of music, except hip hop and reggae, nightly. Monday is open mike night.

 Nineteen Broadway, 19 Broadway, Fairfax, Tel: (415) 459-1091. Full bar. This place bills itself as “the hottest nightclub in the North Bay.” Live music most nights – jazz, blues and rock.

 Mill Valley

The legendary Sweetwater, New Address: 32 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, Tel: (415) 388-2820. Music nightly.

Nicasio

 Rancho Nicasio, Town Square, Nicasio, Tel: (415) 662-2219. Well-known entertainment venue with restaurant. Music like Zydeco, blues, rock, rockabilly, jazz and more.

 Point Reyes Station

 Station House Cafe, Main Street, Point Reyes Station, Tel: (415) 663-1515.

Full menu and bar. Music on Sunday nights. Folk, Americana.

San Rafael

 Fourth Street Tavern, 711 Fourth St., San Rafael, Tel: (415) 454-4044. Full bar. Live music most nights. Eclectic, many kinds of music.

 Panama Hotel, 4 Bayview St., San Rafael, Tel: (415) 457-3993.

Live Jazz music and restaurant, Bed & Breakfast in San Rafael.

Full menu and bar. Music Tuesday and Thursday and every other Wednesday.
Pete’s 881, 721 Lincoln Ave., San Rafael, Tel: (415) 453-5888. Ask for Randy.

Full menu and bar. Jazz band every other Tuesday.

Sausalito

 No Name Bar, 757 Bridgeway, Sausalito, Tel: (415) 332-1392. There’s a band 5 nights a week, Tuesday through Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Saylor’s (was Sailor’s Landing) Restaurant & Bar – 2009 Bridgeway, Sausalito, Tel: (415) 332-1512. Friday and Saturday – light music, including soft jazz, blues.

Taste of Rome, Italian food, coffee and tea. 1000 Bridgeway, Sausalito, Tel: (415) 332-7660. Music Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Jazz and other types of music.

Because these kinds of listings change with time, it’s important to telephone the venue to verify this information.

Largely because of the influence of John Muir, an early conservationist who was the first president of the Sierra Club, Marin County is blessed with an abundance of Parks and Open Spaces. Nearly all of these are appropriate for kids’ activities galore.

 County Parks

 The John F. McInnis Park on Smith Ranch Road in San Rafael offers places to play softball, soccer, golf, or tennis. McInnis is also the site of the largest skateboarding park in Marin County. Skateboarders must wear helmets and pads.

 According to a video on YouTube, McInnis is 25,000 sq. ft. of carveable concrete that welcomes skaters of all abilities, that is old schoolers and young rats, with a 2 to 5 ft. washboard, a 3 to 5 ft. cloverbowl, keyhole bowl, and the incredible 7 to 11 ft. pool.

 Three miles west of Novato is the Stafford Lake County Park, a 139-acre park that offers lake fishing, a nature trail, and picnic areas with barbecue facilities. Kids can use a popular play structure, a softball field, volleyball, disc golf and horseshoe courts.

 McNear’s Beach and Park, located on San Pablo Bay in San Rafael, is a great place for family barbecues that also features Bay and Pool swimming and nice lawns. $8 to park and $4 for the pool. Note: The fishing pier at McNear’s Beach County Park is closed for repairs until further notice.

 Located on Paradise Drive along the east shore of the Tiburon Peninsula, Paradise Beach Park is a 19-acre park with family and group picnic sites, lawn areas, a horseshoe court, sandy beach and a fishing pier. Also located on Paradise Drive is a 24-acre wooded upland preserve south of Paradise Beach Park. The Park has a loop trail that provides a variety of native plants and animals and excellent bay views.

 Marin County Parks Department maintains paved pathways throughout the County for use by bicyclists and pedestrians. Among the most popular are the Mill Valley-Sausalito Path, the Novato-Stafford Lake Path, and the Corte Madera Creek Path.

 State and Federal Parks

 There are Junior Ranger Programs at both the John Muir State Park and the National Golden Gate National Park. The Muir Park has a great kids’ program called Questing, which provides Word search for clues to discover the hidden secrets during your visit.

 County Open Spaces

 There are 34 named Open Spaces throughout Marin County and each of them has its own special features. For example, the Bolinas Lagoon, a protected estuary, just north of the town of Stinson Beach, is a haven for birds, seals and other wildlife. Gary Giacomini is a wild and rugged windswept ridge with a high-altitude feel, accentuated by the presence of a forest of dwarf Sargent Cypress trees.

 Ring Mountain, a wind-swept ridge high atop the Tiburon Peninsula is one of the most valuable pieces of real estate on this planet. The unique geology and microclimate of this location provide a home for a number of rare plants. Santa Margarita Island and Santa Venetia Marsh are popular for walkers and joggers seeking a clear, level path. Birders also enjoy this area because of waterfowl that cruise the channels at high tide and shorebirds and rails at low tide.

If you are contemplating relocating to Marin County, you are in for truly enjoyable times ahead. One of the most beautiful and unique areas in America, Marin County not only promises gorgeous scenery, but also excellent schools, fine restaurants, endless open spaces and parks, great shopping, and that only grazes the surface.

 Some of the most sought-after places to live are in Marin County’s southernmost reaches – most of them in direct sight of the spectacular Golden Gate Bridge. A first time visitor to the area was so overwhelmed with the fantastic scenery that his eyes were feasting upon as he drove up US101 that he literally “had to pull off the road.” And he was a jaded advertising man from New York!

 Sausalito, with its houseboats and long waterfront, has incredible views of San Francisco. Tiburon, which is just west of Sausalito, not only has phenomenal views of the City; it also has wide-open spaces. The piéce de rèsistance is the island City of Belvedere, one of the wealthiest municipalities in the United States, which sits between Tiburon to the west and Sausalito to the east.

 Located in Mill Valley, Tamalpais High School – also open to attendance from Sausalito – was awarded the California Distinguished School Award in 1999, 2005, and 2009 and has ranked in the top 5% of American schools since 2005. Mill Valley is perhaps the most popular municipality for families with children in Marin County.

 The process of relocating to Marin County is made much simpler by easily accessed online information that is available about virtually every aspect of each town that one could wish to know. To illustrate, copy and enter the following URL into your browser window: http://www.city-data.com/city/Mill-Valley-California.html. To learn about Tiburon, Belvedere or Sausalito, simply substitute these places for the Mill Valley part of the URL.

 Additional detailed information about schools in each area, commuting, dog walking, recreational activities of all kinds, places of worship, farmers markets, nightclubs and much more is available from many online articles available at (Tim: fill in here).

Another aspect of Marin that is outstanding is its topographic diversity, beginning with tidal flats along the coastline and rising up the rugged 2,600 foot Mt. Tamalpais. Lush and towering Redwood groves and the open trails of the Tennessee Valley Trailhead, which is part of the Marin Headlands and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area National Park Service, are perfect locations for hikes and horseback riding.

Swimming, boating, fishing are all possible in the San Pablo and San Francisco Bays as well as the Pacific Ocean.

Marin County is also interesting from a historic point of view. Inhabited by the Miwok Indians at the time of the Gold Rush in the early 1850s, the area became most fully populated after the 1906 Earthquake and fires that followed in San Francisco, driving many people of different nationalities across the Bay to Marin County. Owned by Mexico before the US Mexican War, the area was broken into enormous ranchos that were given to Mexicans and Americans who spoke Spanish.

In 1579, famed Sir Francis Drake sailed into a small harbor in western Marin County to repair his ship, The Golden Hind, after a year of marauding along the Mexican coast. While he claimed the surrounding territory for Queen Elizabeth I and England, those claims were never recognized.