What do 145 scenic kilometres of beaches have in common with eating well?
For starters, there's the seafood.
November 15 marks the opening of California's crab season and for many people, parties featuring piles of fresh Dungeness crab - seafood dressing or mayo for dipping optional - are a festive season tradition.
If you're in northern California at this time of the year, a great escape is a weekend somewhere along the San Mateo coast, south of San Francisco.
The weather is usually mild to warm.
The fog of summertime has gone.
And the drive in itself is a treat - along a narrow coastal highway with the Pacific heaving and groaning on one side and farms, interspersed with quaint small towns, on the other.
If you go the self-catering route or fancy a picnic, Johnston Pier in the Princeton-by-the-Sea harbour is your place.
This is where fishermen sell their daily catch (weather permitting) directly from their boats.
"That first November weekend, things are really hectic. We move hundreds of (crab) pots and when the weather is good, people come in droves to buy," says Rob Kraencke, who trawls the oceans year-round for fish - and crabs when they're in season.
By mid-December the novelty has worn off, the supermarkets have crabs in abundance and only the die-hards make the trek to the source, so you're unlikely to find long queues.
And if you want your crab fresh, but not kicking to oblivion by your own hand, you can take a short stroll across the quayside to Princeton Seafood Company's wharfside Fresh Fish Market.
There, they will cook and crack it so you can eat it right away, or ask them to put it on ice for later.
There are many good reasons besides the crab to head for the sea-fronting stretch of San Mateo county that runs from the town of Pacifica in the north to Pescadero in the south, centred on the hip haven of Half Moon Bay.
You're the equestrian type?
How about a trail ride, by horse or pony, along the seashore, with maybe the sighting of a migrating grey whale?
You like farms?
There are many, featuring everything from Christmas trees to goats and cheese making at its most artisanal and artistic.
Or you can go with no special agenda other than to laze on the beach, visit flower farms, hike, eat and make merry, or drink in an old London bus or at Old Princeton Landing, the area's notorious biker bar.
Want to go upmarket?
There's a Ritz Carlton perched on a cliff that could have your name on it.
Then you can discover attractions and eccentricities for yourself.
Take, for example, Nasturtium.
Proprietor Sudi Taleghani opened the Princeton-by-the-Sea art, craft and gift store spotlighting local artists in September 2005.
The day I was stopped in my tracks by the spectacle of the flowers that bloom all year - to ensure this, Taleghani has painted them on the outside - I quickly became part of the birthday celebration of Marie Antoinette, a French sheepdog and permanent Nasturtium fixture. Turned out she was turning 10.
"Her friend, Guinness the boxer, and her sister, Margot, and various aunts and uncles - my sisters and brothers - are coming to her party tonight," Taleghani told me, proud as a new mom.
A little later, while moseying around the periphery of Princeton, I came upon Jeffrey Miller, who showed me the salmon-brining process he uses, created by his father.
Miller, who is now growing the family business and adding exotic innovations - for example, cognac-infused lox - had recently named the company Mavericks Smokehouse, "because everyone's heard of Mavericks".
Which could be true. Mavericks is renowned for its annual giant-wave international surf contest that takes place, with 24 hours' notice, between January 1 and March 31. South African Grant Baker won the event in 2006 and was runner-up last year.
To get there, you park your car in Princeton and scramble up a tall hill that gives you a bird's-eye view of the surfing and leads on down to a beach walk through the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, rich with tidal pools and seals.
Pete Douglas has been hosting Sunday afternoon music concerts, mainly jazz these days, at his home-cum-Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society music venue at Miramar Beach for more than 40 years.
"The music media just don't seem to be able to take this place and me too seriously, but it's an important venue and the musicians know it," he says.
"Poncho Sanchez, Tito Puente, Pepe Romero, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, McCoy Tyner - I've done all the greats."
On a typical Sunday afternoon, dozens of well-heeled fans converge - and you can too.
"I've got old Bachers who've been coming here for 35 years," says Douglas.
"We were all kids back in the 50s. Now they show up with their damn picnics. I mean, talk about gourmet picnics. Some of them really do it up."
Which means this is a good place to take your crab, the cheese you picked up while hanging out with the goats at Pescadero's Harley Farms, the Mavericks smoked salmon pate, crusty bread and deli delights you purchased at the famed Cunha's Country Store in Half Moon Bay or Arcangeli Country Bakery and Deli in Pescadero - both long-time favourites with locals and visitors alike - and probably a bottle or two of local wine from Half Moon Bay's La Nebbia Winery.
Coastal San Mateo county's three top industries are agriculture (floriculture and veggies), tourism and commercial fishing, in that order.
The area is known for its mushrooms, brussels sprouts, artichokes, leeks and pumpkins. Restaurants, bakeries, food markets and produce outlets abound.
The town of Half Moon Bay tags itself the pumpkin capital of the world and celebrates in mid-October each year, with the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival.
This includes a "heavyweight pumpkin" contest (think of a pumpkin as big as a Volkswagen Beetle), pumpkin carving, pumpkin pie eating and a pumpkin parade.
No point getting crabby with hunger, San Mateo county's new "fresh and local" campaign seems to be telling visitors - and with justification.
But there's a lot more than food to sate the appetite.
Useful Contacts
• To find out what fishermen are selling on any particular day, call the Princeton-by-the-Sea harbourmaster's hotline at 650 726 8724.
• www.visithalfmoonbay.org (for general info and accommodation options)
• www.nebbiawinery.com (Nebbia Winery information)
• www.sanmateocountycvb.com (for additional info and accommodation options)
• www.bachddsoc.org (Bach jazz programme)
• www.miramarevents.com/pumpkinfest (pumpkin festival details)
• www.ritzcarlton.com/hmb (Ritz Carlton)
