Festivals & Events
Special events and family festivals fill the calendar year-round in the Sonoma Valley. From wine tasting events to music, art and food festivals, Sonoma County offers fun things to do for the whole family. Favorite events include the Sonoma Valley Olive Festival, Jazz on the River, Green Summer Music Festival and Russian River Wine Roads.Wine & Food Affair – Go!
For those of us who live in the wine country of Sonoma County, we know that the Napa and Sonoma Valleys have always had the lion’s share of the media spotlight. For those of you who don’t know better, Sonoma County just to the east, also has celebrated wine areas, small batch wineries, family owned
... more »
Art is the Spice of Life
I recently took a tour of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts with Linda Galletta, its Executive Director. Housed in a renovated warehouse at 6780 Depot Street in Sebastopol, just about a mile north of the Fairfield Inn & Suites, Linda was just finishing the installation of the Bibliophoria – Celebratte Books Arts exhibit which
... more »Ellis Creek – a new Trail
It’s not usual that you open your monthly water bill and get an idea about a new trail to run, but sure enough it happened. The water bill had a newsletter enclosed with it and a small blurb there caught my eye – Wetland Trails. Specifically the trail is called Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility,
... more »The Modernization of Wine
Before I begin, let me correct a statement I made on my last post, Ace Cider in the Hole still makes their pear hard cider and it’s called Perry. Now on with the show, SFMOMA, or the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, has just launched a very interesting show revolving around the culture of
... more »Local Brewery in Petaluma
I’ve talked about Lagunitas Brewery before, it’s just right down the street from the Quality Inn. But last week the NY Times had an article on domestically made pale ales and Lagunitas was rated – not at the top but it got on the list. Here’s the link:http://nyti.ms/93YmDD
... more »Wine Not
Oh I think I made a joke, get it – whine not. What I’m trying to say is that both our hotels are in the wine country of Sonoma County, Northern CA, but there is a whole lot of other non-winery, family, group, couple, dog kind of stuff to do. If you just came from one
... more »Sowing Your Seeds
Heirloom seeds! Petaluma’s newest retail store at the corner of Petaluma Blvd. North and E. Washington Street is Baker Creek Seed Bank. Fittingly housed in the historic Sonoma County National Bank building, the seed bank sells heirloom veggie, fruit, flower and herb seeds that your Grandmother or your Grandmother’s mother use to plant. Baker’s main
... more »On a Somber Note – Haiti
A former employee of ours, Mike Lee, who use to work at our Quality Inn, is now a professional photographer and soon-to-be-med student. Besides having a thriving graphic design/photography business, www.Focus97, he gives his time to Operation Rainbow, www.operationrainbow.org, serving as their documentarian. In the last week Mike has been serving with Operation Rainbow in Haiti
... more »Get a round, get a round, I get around
Here we are sliding towards the end of October and the annual pumpkin patch/corn maze off Hwy 101 at the north end of Petaluma is causing its yearly traffic jam. Drive up for breakfast at Della Frattoria and stop over at the pumpkin patch for your Halloween delight
... more »Fall Is Here Where Are You(on the weekends?)
Yesterday was the Autumunal Exquinox, which simply means it was the first day of Fall. Wow, where has the year gone - let’s not dwell on it – need an idea about what to do this coming weekend? The Sunday Chronicle had a great little article about pick-your-own apples and pumpkins, which just so happens to be up in
... more »
