30
travel
OCTOBER 21. 2011
brian.
mana
W W W .JU S T O U T.C O M
FI NE A R T
Sonoma Adventure
Sandro Negri
Taking the Long Way Home
Wal ks o f L i f e
BY ANDREW COLLINS
his 50 year career in a film strip
of paintings.
O ctober 17 - Novem ber 16
R eception w ith S andro Negri
d ire c t from Italy
Saturday, O ctober 29th,
4 - 8pm.
2236 NE Broadway,
Portland OR 97232
5 0 3 .2 4 9 .5 6 5 9
b ria n m a rk i.co m
We all have our backup plans. Mine in­
volves moving to Sonoma County. It’s not
likely to happen, at least anytime soon. I’m
happy living in Portland. But if I had to go
somewhere new, I’d steer my car toward this
wine-soaked county about an hour north of
San Francisco. It’s a land of breathtaking
vistas with a mild climate, a progressive
mindset, exceptional restaurants and proxim­
ity to city, coast, mountains and forests. Plus
there’s all that wine.
Sonoma County (inside-sonoma.com) is
surprisingly large and varied in its terrain.
You may picture shallow, sunny valleys strewn
with vineyards when you think of this part of
California, and these are certainly a promi­
nent feature, hut the county stretches west
through the Russian River, home to dense
groves of immense redwoods and a small but
thriving gay resort scene, and it continues
clear to the rugged coast, which is fringed by
famously twisting and scenic Highway l.The
county seat, Santa Rosa, isn’t exactly a puls­
ing metropolis, but this city of 168,000 does
offer a nice balance of arts, dining and shop­
ping—and San Francisco is never far.
Also, although it can get nearly as rainy in
Sonoma from December through March as
it can in the Willamette Valley, fall and
spring are considerably drier, and winter
highs are typically 10 to 15 degrees warmer
than in Portland.
As much as I appreciate Sonoma County,
one reason I don’t feel especially compelled
to move there is that it’s remarkably easy to
visit from Portland—I go once or twice a
year. Daily direct flights to Santa Rosa’s
small, user-friendly airport take just under
two hours, or you can fly into one of the Bay
Area’s three airports, which offer a greater
variety of flights and typically cheaper fares.
Usually, though, I drive down from
Portland.
It this sounds like an ambitious, perhaps
even foolish way to get there, it is. But I like
the drive and all the wonderful things to see
and do along the way, and I’ve developed a
favorite road-trip strategy over the years,
driving down by way of Interstate 5 and
spending a night in Medford or Ashland. I
return up the longer but more scenic coastal
route, Highway 1 and U.S. 101, overnighting
in Mendocino, Eureka, or both, and then cut
inland up U.S. 199 at Crescent City, joining
1-5 again in Grants Pass. Getting to Santa
Rosa—not counting stops—can take as little
as 10 hours via 1-5 or as long as 14 hours via
the coastal route.
I made my most recent road trip in May,
driving down with my good friend Pennie
Lane, the Sauvie Island resident whom you
may know as the real-life character Kate
Above: Tómales Bay
Right: Boutiques in downtown Healdsburg
Hudson portrayed in the classic movie Almost
Famous. Upon reaching Sonoma the follow­
ing afternoon, we drove directly to the coast,
actually just into the northern tip of Marin
County, to spend a night at one of the most
idyllically situated inns on the West Coast, a
collection of shabby-chic cottages called
Nick’s Cove (nickscove.com). The small
compound includes a marvelous waterfront
restaurant that serves oysters caught right
outside the window in Tómales Bay.
The following morning we continued north
up Highway 1, stopping in the sleepy hamlet
of Bodega Bay, which most visitors recognize
as the setting of the delightfully creepy Hitch­
cock thriller Ihe Birds. For a nice vantage
point of the bay made so famous in that movie,
we drove along Westshore Road for a picnic-
table lunch at Spud Point Crab Company—
you won’t And better clam chowder or sweeter
crab-salad sandwiches in the area.
From Bodega Bay we cut inland toward
the neighboring gay resort communities of
Monte Rio and Guerneville, the heart of the
Russian River (russianriver.com) and home
to a magnificent preserve of redwoods and
hiking trails called Armstrong Woods. A
longtime weekend getaway among Bay Area
gays and lesbians, the Russian River offers a
mix of rustic resorts and upscale inns. One of
the swankiest is Applewood Inn (applewood-
inn.com), a romantic place to spend the night
and also home to a fantastic restaurant and
small but excellent spa. The gay-owned
Sonoma Orchid Inn (ridenhourinn.com) has
lovely rooms and a peaceful setting, while the
Highlands Resort (highlandsresort.com) is
an affordable collection of cottages nestled
under the redwoods. Downtown Guerneville
has several informal, inviting places to eat
(Boon Eat + Drink is particularly good), an
atmospheric gay bar called the Rainbow
Cattle Company, and a funky little espresso
café, Coffee Bazaar, that’s perfect for people­
watching.
As you head east along Highway 116 from
Guerneville, you’ll quickly enter the Russian
River wine region, one of the most presti­
gious in Sonoma. You can spend weeks visit­
ing tasting rooms in the area and never run
out of them, but here are a few bits of advice
if you only have a day or two for exploring.
First, stop by Sophie’s Cellars in the village
of Monte Rio—the knowledgeable staff at
this gay-owned wine shop and cheese market
can furnish you with maps, advice and even
contacts at some of the area’s best wineries.
Also, as you’re heading east out of Guernev­
ille, the first winery you’ll come to is Korbel
Champagne Cellars, which is home to a ter­
rific deli-café and is a fun place to kick off
your vino tasting.
Sonoma wineries tend to be fairly infor-