Point Reyes Lighthouse

Antonio Bay. The town in John Carpenters, 1980 thriller, The Fog. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d have a chance at visiting locations from The Fog.

The original Fog was filmed in Northern California, Inverness, Bodega and Point Reyes, all which helped become the fictitious, Antonio Bay. Interiors were filmed at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. The film starred Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman, Tom Atkins and James Canning.

Late last year I found myself in Bodega as part of a vacation. I was so obsessed with planning my visit to Bodega & the location of Hitchcock's, The Birds I didn’t think to plan surrounding possibilities. I saw a sign in Bodega for the Point Reyes Lighthouse. I knew it was in The Fog so I made a plea to Randy to go for a drive and check it out. Little did we know how far away it was.

Heading towards the lighthouse, just like in The Fog

After getting lost (so much for satellite navigation) and driving past countless farms, we finally ended up at the Point Reyes Lighthouse after what seemed hours of driving. Upon seeing the lighthouse it was instantly recognizable and looked as if time had stood still. It was radio station KAB Radio 1340 right before my eyes.

Then there was this sign...

Going down was easy...getting back a nightmare

It’s a long walk down the lighthouse, 300 stairs. There was such a sense of joy heading towards the lighthouse, once I was there I knew there was only one way back ...climb 300 stairs!

Climbing up the stairs I saw a crowd of people watching me. (I'll admit I had to stop a few times to catch my breath) humiliating to say the least. I soon discovered why they were watching. The park ranger had closed off the stairs as it was too windy and too dangerous to walk to the lighthouse. At least we arrived in time. Desperate to catch my breath I asked the Ranger about The Fog and where I could find the house featured in the movie. She said something about the “mushroom house”. Mushroom house hunting is extremely difficult when you have no idea what your looking for. I noticed some onion dome minarets on a house. Was this it? Was this the house from, The Fog.

After some Internet detective work, it IS the house used in The Fog. I'm so glad we stopped for a photo. Randy again can't be thanked enough for being so great that day. There are other local places around Inverness The Fog filmed but it was late in the day and we headed back to San Francisco. It was a perfect way to be introduced to the sights of Northern California.