CostanoaCoddled Camping on the San Mateo Coastby Judy WylieRack of lamb with mint sauce delivered to your tent. Massage by appointment. These are hardly the usual pleasures of coastal camping. But this is camping California-style, where Silicon Valley millionaires are demanding increasing perks in every area of life.
As you drive in you see a log reception building called the Ranch House and a deli called the General Store. It�s soon clear that although this may be camping, you can� throw away your old Boy Scout notions of roughing it in the woods. Strolling the aisles of the General Store deli� we noticed the shelves held boxes of Carr�s Water Crackers, bottles of Sanfaustino sparkling water, bags of organic saffron noodles and balsa-wood boxes of dried morel mushrooms tied with a gold cord.. The cold case held lamb chops with mushroom and mint sauce ($6 for three), Angus filet with coulis, ($8.99)� and polenta and feta cheese tepenade ($2.50 per square). The magazine shelves held Runner�s World, Bicycling, Money, �Elle, Martha Stewart Living, Gourmet, Vanity Fair and Bon Appetit.� The guests strolling the aisles matched the models on the magazine covers. Sleek couples in biking shorts,� mothers and children in L.L. Bean jackets and older couples in cashmere sweaters browsed for Sea Star goat cheeses topped with flower petals, or blue corn tortilla chips.�
By 7:10 p.m. we were sitting in our deluxe tent, and the wind was blowing up the canyon causing the fir wood frame to creak and the plastic fabric to slap against the roof supports.� The whole tent seemed to breathe in and out, as if it were alive and might pick up and move to a calmer location. Rather than being frightening, it was thrilling, underscoring that we were in out in nature.� Although the tents are fairly close together, roughly six or eight yards from each other, we could not hear people talking. We heard only the sound of laughter.
First, it was time to find dinner. The resort does not have a restaurant permit, and cannot�� use a regular stove with burners or an oven. This means all prepared meal items are cooked on the grill behind the General Store deli,� where the staff works magic. We scanned the cold case, choosing� Moroccan� chicken with saffron rice, and one of the chefs heated it up for us with a smile. We ate it sitting at a small round table in the corner of the deli, but you could also have it delivered to your tent, or take it outside and eat� at the one of the many picnic tables overlooking views of the ocean. Marsha Melnick and Kent Shellenberger of San Francisco brought their own food. They� had driven down Route 92 on the way and had stopped in Half Moon Bay at a fish market. They grilled their fish along with some sweet corn� on one of the communal outdoor grills. There are� outdoor sinks in some of the camp comfort stations� to wash your dishes, Marsha said. �We�ve camped a lot in the western states, and we really like this place. These are the fanciest tents we�ve ever seen, the bathrooms� are nice, and of course the heated mattress pads are great.� Yvonne Hoopes of Novato was also enthused.� �I like it because even though it�s camping, the place is so� clean, and the staff seem to care about what you need and want.�� A design student, she was impressed with the design� touches in the comfort station bathrooms, the dyed concrete counters, formed in a curve, and the heavy wooden doors.� �We�re die-hard campers, we usually sleep on the ground, and for us this is a treat.� She and her husband also brought their food,� salami, bread and cheese, which they ate sitting outside their tent.
The comfort stations have men�s and women�s toilets, one indoor and three outdoor showers each, and an outdoor sitting area with a fireplace and good redwood benches, where earlier in the evening guests had gotten acquainted as they� waited for family members.�� The next morning we noticed that although the resort is near Highway One, the careful design and landscaping with a high berm make the road invisible and you can�t see or hear the traffic. Looking out from picnic tables in the center of the resort, you see only the ocean� in the distance. At Costanoa, everything is� planned with the environment in mind. The� 41 acres the resort sits on is bordered by Big Basin and Butano state parks and the Ano Nuevo� state reserve, so sight lines are endless.
Some people provide their own exercise. Walnut� Creek residents Rick Lane and his wife had loaded themselves and their bikes onto BART, got off at Daly City and� biked down Skyline Drive to Costanoa. When we met them, they were talking to the staff about arranging for a cab to take them back.� �I thought the service here was great, and we liked our deluxe tent, but the ride down was more strenuous than we�d thought. The cab will be expensive, but we just can�t� face some of those� hills again,� said Rick. Public transportation is available during the week at nearby Gazos Creek but does not run on the weekend.
Local residents who watched the resort being built� obviously� like the result.� General Manager Dave Smith remembers seeing a local farmer, his pants caked with dried mud, still wearing his work boots, browsing in the resort�s gourmet deli. Surprised that locals were shopping there, Dave stopped to chat. �I�m so glad I found this place,� said the farmer. �Now I don�t have to go all the way into� Santa Cruz for my pates.� Deluxe tent bungalows are $95 per night, �Standard tent bungalows are $70, Economy tent bungalows (simply furnished and you bring your own linens) cost� $60. Cabins are $145 per night, and Lodge rooms are $175 -$240 per night. Pitch-your-own-tent camping sites are $40.Rates do not include tax. �For more information� check their web site at www.costanoa.com � or call (800) 738-7477 or (650) 879-1100. -Updated 9-24-99- |
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The first camping resort to respond to these needs suddenly appears as a rustic collection of log buildings peeking up from behind a high bank on the inland side of Highway One, 55 miles south of San Francisco and� two miles south of the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. The tantalizing glimpse you get from the road makes you want to drive down the long eucalyptus- lined drive and explore it. 
This is Costanoa,� the first luxury camping�and lodge resort in the continental U.S., recently opened after 12 years of planning and negotiating with�environment groups, San Mateo County and the Trust for Public Land. Located on part of what was once the 4,000 acre Cascade Ranch, the resort includes scores of� custom-designed white tent-bungalows on wooden platforms, a� 40-room log lodge and spa, six attractive wooden double cabins,� RV hook-up sites� and dozens of� pitch-your-own tent sites. 
Across from the General Store, guests check in at the Ranch House, pick up the key to their tent, cabin or guest room, and notice the key is equipped with a small but powerful flashlight. It will come in handy as they make their way in the dark to the resort�s �comfort stations,� as the tents and cabins do not have bathrooms.� The Ranch House also has a large common room where music, nature talks, storytelling� and� movies are provided in the evening
An� accommodating check-in person named Maria� gave us a key to tent # 50� in the area called Cypress Camp, and we set off to find it, which wasn�t hard because the property is well-signed. The tent had a beautiful vista at the head of a small canyon blooming with wildflowers, and was next to a tent whose guest was sitting outdoors strumming on his guitar. But it was a bit far from the comfort station for us so we returned to the desk and were graciously switched to another tent a little closer. 
Our tent�s decor included a queen bed� with� grayish white wooden head and foot boards� and a minimalist brushed aluminum four-poster structure over it. The plywood floor that formed the tent deck was also painted gray, reminding me of an old sleeping porch at my grandmother�s house. A heavy linen shade hung at a side window, and the duvet cover� was also heavy linen, printed with spare leaves and flowers. Two unmatched bedside tables and two wooden chairs completed the decor.� The tent was keeping its best secret, but we would have to wait to discover it. 
That night we turned in early and discovered what Marsha had meant about the heated mattress pads. � On each night stand was a separate control for these heavenly devices,� which is much better than an electric blanket, as the bed is warm when you get in and the heat rises.� The wind might blow, but the steady heat reminded us we weren�t far from civilization. In the night when nature called, I got up and pulled on jeans and a sweater and set out for the comfort station with the key flashlight. I hardly needed it as the night was full of� stars and the light of an almost-full moon. The camp was completely quiet as I walked along the path, marveling at the pulsing light� from the north that flashed every few seconds: the Pigeon Point Lighthouse light. 
A continental breakfast is included in the rate at Costanoa, and guests gathered at the tables on the porch of the General Store on Saturday morning to pick up fruit, rolls, coffee and juice. Perhaps fifty guests were� milling around between the General Store and the Ranch House, having a bite, chatting, getting ready to pack up, or setting out for a morning three-mile nature walk guided by Activities Director Steve Nichols. � The affable� Nichols� also coordinates trail horse rides, rental bikes,� a five-hour hike with a naturalist and a bag lunch, and the petting zoo on property, which includes lambs, pot-bellied pigs, geese and a pony children can ride. After the hikes, guests are glad to learn about the resort�s spa treatments, such as post-hike foot treatments and aromatherapy massage. 
We wandered over to Eucalyptus Camp to see the spots for campers who bring their own tents. We found Kathy Engberg, a travel planner with the AAA� office in Capitola and� two good� friends just finishing up breakfast near their large tent. �We like this place,� the setting� is terrific, and the bathrooms are great. We�d come back.� She said. Engberg�s tent site was out in the open, but we could also see some tents set up in the woodsy border on the other side of the dirt road that led down to the beach. 
A walking trail through high grasses �leaves from Eucalyptus Camp, crosses Highway One, then �leads beyond to what the locals call Fist Beach, thanks to the stunted fist-like tree trunk that marks the entry to the path by the road.� Elephant seals, which normally congregate at Ano Nuevo State� Park two miles down the coast� have been found on this beach, a pristine stretch of scalloped sand reached by a meandering path that cuts through sea grasses, vetch and golden wild lupine. One walker told me she found interesting tide pools, one with a� large crab in residence.