Wednesday, August 17, 2011

A Visit and Memories: Manka's Inverness Lodge

Good morning. Tina here. I am going to share some memories of a place with fond memories: Manka's Inverness Lodge. Manka's old lodge burned down in December of 2006, but my memories continue on. Last Saturday as a birthday treat for me my husband suggested a drive to the California coast. We had breakfast in Pt. Reyes Station and then drove to Inverness to see if they had started building yet, they haven't.
This is the old lodge at Manka's, lost to fire in December 2006.


Gone is the lovely dining room with the old windows overlooking the trees.I just spend over an hour writing a post which I lost since it would not stop saying "saving" for over a half an hour. So I am not going to try to recreate all that. I will just share photos of the fire. Another time I will dig out my old photos of Manka's and share my memories.




These photos are so sad. I am glad I didn't have to be there to watch it burn.


This gentleman apparently had a car stuck in the parking lot.


Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal were staying at the lodge the night it burned. Jake helped other patrons out and helped to pull belongings from the fire.


You will see this rock wall again below in my photos.


Old wood, the building was about 60 years old, burns quickly.


Goodbye Manka's.


As we came up steep Argyle Street and rounded the corner, there was a cute little airstream trailer below the old rock wall. It is now the office.


The old porch railing still stands above, and a few of the trees.


The chairs used to grace the porch.


This is the small parking lot, the lodge stood on the right. The wall here, which hides the empty lot where the old place stood, is cleverly built of firewood rounds.




In my post I just lost I told about Manka, the original owner. This is a cookbook her daughter published of her recipes.




Farewell Manka's. You are dearly missed.

2 comments:

Heidi Ann said...

So sad. I am really grateful that I have my memories of the fabulous brunch you and I had there many moons ago.
I miss it, too. It was such a wonderful place.

Vickie said...

What a horrible tragedy. My heart hurts for you. I so love our beautiful north coast & go there as often as possible to "recharge" my batteries. I don't think I've been to Inverness but I do know it was one of my mom's favorite romantic getaways. She probably frequented your Manka's lodge. I can see what a wonderful part of your life this was & I hope you will come back & post the one's you lost to "tech failures"