Elk and The Greenwood Pier Inn

Probably the biggest, and least pleasant, surprise that we had on our vacation trip up the Northern California coast was when we went to check into our bed-and-breakfast inn, the Greenwood Pier Inn at the small village of Elk, a place we have stayed at many times in the past, only to find the parking lot empty and the buildings apparently deserted.

View From the Cliff House Deck

We finally located the caretaker, who told us the place was in foreclosure, the inn and cafe closed and the staff laid off.  We quickly made arrangements to stay elsewhere, but found it tremendously shocking that such a lovely place could have come to that.

The cottage we had planned to stay in, the Cliff House, is truly right on the edge of the cliff above the ocean about a hundred feet below; you can hear the surf crashing on the rocks below all night long.  The view is spectacular; the sea has carved large openings in the rocks just off shore and the tide flows back and forth through them.

Rocks At Elk

The Greenwood Pier was a pier at the small town of Elk where timber was loaded aboard steamers bound for San Francisco in the later part of the 19th century.  Timber and fishing made many thriving communities in this part of the California for many years.

But eventually most of the timber was cut and the fisheries depleted by over fishing; now the chief source of income for people living here is:  tourists.  That makes the decline of the Greenwood Pier Inn at Elk all the more tragic, as the inn, with its restaurant, garden shop and boutique was probably one of the largest employers in what is a relatively poor area.  Its closure, even temporarily, has to be a tremendous blow to the economy of the area.

We have many happy memories from previous stays at this beautiful place; we can only hope that future owners will restore it to its prior glory.

Meanwhile, if you've got $4 million to spend, it could be yours: http://www.showcase.com/property/5926-Hwy-1/Elk/California/9044617 .