Road Trip To Port Costa

(Pic by Benicia Magazine)

Road Trip to Port Costa

Never did I know that the small, quaint town of Port Costa had such a magnificent history. Tucked away in between Martinez and Crockett is a long windy country road that leads out towards the Carquinez Strait. Most people probably don’t know this town exists, and it’s not a town people would stop by on the way somewhere else. Port Costa was founded in 1879 as a major grain port and since then it’s population has dwindled to a mere 190 people. I’d been here a few times before with friends years ago, but never really paid any attention to what the town was all about.

This time, my husband, son and I made our trip a family outing as we planned to go to the  renowned “Warehouse Cafe”. We decided to go on a Friday night for dinner and figured it would be pretty hectic and we’d get a good feel of what the atmosphere’s like. On Friday nights they are open from 6-2am so we figured we’d get there around opening time. Unfortunately, I forgot about daylight savings time and when we got there it was already getting dark so the outdoor pics I took were not great. That mixed with the rain from the week left for a very muddy parking lot!  I decided to go to Port Costa for my road trip because Dave and I love trying new places and exploring them. We also love to eat, and Port Costa's main restaurant in known for the food.

Before heading to dinner we decided to go check out the Burlington Hotel which is pretty much in it’s original condition. The only updates done to the place was in 1906 after the quake they decided to add a third story. Rumor has it that it used to be a brothel and quite a scandalous place. It is also an urban legend that the place is haunted. I tried to interview the lady working at the front desk named, Elizabeth but she was filling in for her boyfriend and didn’t know too much about the place. She said that many people have claimed to see and hear things but she herself had never experienced anything unusual. I asked her if I could walk around and she said I could go in any rooms that had doors open so we did and I took lots of pics. Rather than the rooms being numbered they are named after women, presumably the “ladies of the night” from back in it’s heyday. I found this place very fascinating, although I was a bit wary to walk around without my husband so I made him go with me. I was amazed at how rustic everything appeared. The rooms had big, bulky furniture and wrought iron beds that looked less than comfortable. I was half expecting to see a ghost in the mirrors or the eyes move on the paintings in the hallways.

 

Just by walking through and exploring the hotel you could practically feel the history of the place. I went back and spoke to Elizabeth at the front desk and she told us that for $45-65 you could stay there on a weekday and $60-80 for the weekends. The special "Kay" sweet was $85 for weekday and $100 on a weeknight. I thought the Burlington Hotel was very interesting but I would definitely opt out of staying there for superstitious reasons!

We wandered around the town a bit and walked across the tracks to see the view across the Strait but since it was dark there wasn't much to see. When we walked into "The Warehouse Cafe" we were surprised to see how quiet it was for a Friday night. There were a handful of locals hanging around the bar and a few patrons seated here and there. I laughed when the waitress brought my son an antique high chair and said they didn't get many children there.

After we were seated I started talking to the waitress, Hilary and told her I was doing a project on Port Costa for my Ca History class and she thought it was the neatest thing. She went and grabbed me a book to look through on the history of Port Costa called, "Images of America: Port Costa" by John Robinson.

 I flipped through it and it definitely sparked my interest. I'd actually like to read it in depth sometime. Port Costa was way more interesting than I'd originally thought. I learned a bit about it's history. Port Costa used to be one of the busiest grain ports. Lots of wheat ships were at port there including a very famous one called "The Eaton Hall" from Liverpool, England. In 1879, the two world's largest ferryboats were docked at Port Costa. They were the Solano and the Contra Costa measuring at 400ft long each.The reason Port Costa is so famous was because it once had ferry service between Benicia and Port Costa which was a vital link in the Transcontinental train service. The ferry service ended in 1930 but the town stayed vital to Southern Pacific railroad service. The port Costa train station closed in 1958. All that's left now are a few concrete remains to show where the railroad yard once was. (Robinson, John. "Images of America: Port Costa)

 I asked Hilary if I could ask her some questions and use her as my interview and she was more than happy to oblige. I asked her why she lived in Port Costa and she said she was from a small town herself, used to come there to drink and decided she loved the small town feel of it so she moved there three years ago. She loved that everyone knew everyone and had worked at the Warehouse for 2 years. I thought that was a great reason to live there. I kinda expected her to say she got stuck there somehow! She really loves where she lives. Here's some stuff from our interview:

Me: What was the Warehouse originally used for?

Hilary: It was a grain (Wheat) storage facility

Me: What's the history of the polar bear in the case?

Hilary: In the 90's there was a guy from Alaska that owed a debt and he gave the polar bear as collateral and then never came back.

Me: What's your favorite thing about Port Costa?

Hilary: The sense of community I feel here. Everyone knows everyone and people wave when they see you. It has an old town feel that reminds me of where I came from.

Me: What's something interesting about Port Costa that most people don't know about?

Hilary: About 1/2 mile east is Bull Valley and there's remnants of an old Brick making plant that was called Port Costa Brickworks, and it's now a vital stop in the yearly Martinez Brickyard race.

Me: Have you ever seen any ghosts?

Hilary: Not personally but I've heard stories.

Me: Was the Warehouse anything else?

Hilary: I think they used it to store the town's fire engine way back and it used to be a restaurant called, Juanita's Gallery. There are still some signs posted around. 

She also confirmed what I read in the book, like the Burlington Hotel, The Warehouse also built a their story after the 1906 quake which are apartments/offices.

After looking at the menu I realized that this was probably not the place for someone that didn't eat meat or fish as there were no vegetarian options aside from the salad bar. Actually, we hesitated on eating there at all because there were only a handful of things on the menu, and it seemed rather pricy. I didn't want to leave without having the full Port Costa experience so we took a chance and stayed.Apparently, this place was known for their massive steaks and their selection of 400 beers. We don't drink so that didn't interest us much but for a beer conniseur I'd definitely recommend checking this place out because their selection is amazing. They will even let you come take a look in the back and let you take our pick.  I went with the NY steak and my husband had the Prime rib. We were not prepared for the amount of food we were about to encounter! Most meals are around $24.95 , and each meal comes with an all you can eat salad bar and clam chowder and chili. 

I'm not usually a huge fan of chili but theirs was AMAZING!! Even my son liked it!They make it there and it has big chunks of meat (I'm guessing beef), tomatoes,and I think cumin?? I'm not sure, but I'm glad I tried it. It had quite a kick to it! When we got our meals I was blown away at the size of the steaks. A pound each! We were both very impressed with our dinners and thinking back to looking at the menu I think that you get more than you pay for. Our steaks were tender, cooked perfectly, and even came with mushrooms and potato. After that meal I could've easily been rolled back to the car...I 

was STUFFED!!

I was so excited about how this trip went. I have lived near this neat little town for a long time (In Martinez) and I never knew how much history there was here. It makes me curious to look into other places in my area and learn about them as well. We had fun, as well as a great meal, and wonderful service. I'd definitely recommend this place, if not for the food, (which was FANTASTIC!), then at least come check out the eclectic style of the Warehouse or the town of Port Costa itself. I'm already planning a return trip, this time with more daylight so I can see more of it's beauty.