Laura Del Rosso - Great Escapes: Northern California

NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA

DEDICATION

In memory of my parents, Silvio and Ilva, who left everything they knew for new lives in northern California.

We welcome your comments and suggestions. Please contact Editor,

The Countryman Press, P.O. Box 748, Woodstock, Vermont 05091,

or e-mail .

Copyright 2008 by Laura Del Rosso

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages.

ISBN 978-0-88150-783-6

Maps by Paul Woodward, 2008 The Countryman Press

Cover and interior photos by the author unless otherwise specified

On the cover: The espresso bus at the Big Sur River Inn in Big Sur;

the Sonoma coast from Bodega Head.

Frontispiece: Point Cabrillo Light Station in Mendocino

Book design by Bodenweber Design

Text composition by Chelsea Cloeter

Published by The Countryman Press

P.O. Box 748

Woodstock, Vermont 05091

Distributed by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

500 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10110

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Researching a book such as this can be overwhelming, and I was helped from friends who pointed me to their favorite hotels, restaurants, and hikes. Many thanks to Sharon Rooney for suggestions in Mendocino, Nina Laramore in the Russian River valley and Calistoga, Sharon Smith in west Sonoma, Julie Armstrong on the Monterey Peninsula, the Hackley family in Fort Bragg, Tina Barseghian in Oakland, Angie Di Berardino in Los Gatos, Janet Fullwood and Lucy Steffens in Sacramento, Susan Arthur in San Franciscos Mission District, Annie Wong and David Takashima for their input on Monterey eateries, John Poimiroo for his wealth of Angel Island and Yosemite knowledge, Willow Murawski-Brown in Nevada City, Annie Hellman for her Amador County and west Marin insights, and the McKenna family for their hospitality at Lake Tahoe. Special thanks go to Peter McKenna, who has meandered more of Northern Californias backroads than anyone I know and whose support, wit, and sharp editing were invaluable. Encouragement came from people I met along the way, starting on my first research trip when I ran across 86-year-old Roy Daniels, in overalls, red bandana, and cowboy hat, sitting on a wooden bench at Angels Camp, offering advice on both local travel and life in general. Even the smallest of Northern California towns has a chamber of commerce or visitors center, and thanks go to their staffs, often volunteers, whose enthusiasm for their hometowns was infectious.

For at least the last decade, studies of consumer travel behavior have tracked the shrinking American vacation and the growth of weekend getaways. These trends show no signs of slowing. More people than ever are foregoing two-week, and sometimes even their one-week vacations, and instead squeezing just a couple of days off into tight work and family schedules.

Those of us who live in Northern California count ourselves fortunate. We can travel in almost every direction and find a variety of landscapes: miles of Pacific coastline, vineyard-lined valleys, well-preserved Gold Rush towns, high mountain ranges, and vibrant cities, all well suited for quick getaways.

So maybe its a Wednesday or maybe a Thursday evening, and youre home from work, tired but also a little restless. There is dinner to cook, bills to pay, and a pile of laundry waiting to be done. You notice your calendar is unusually free of commitments. The forecast calls for fine weather in Northern California. You think about hiking along ocean bluffs, exploring an old mining town youve heard about, sipping wine in the Dry Creek or Russian River valleys, checking out a museum in Sacramento, or lounging lazily on a Lake Tahoe shore or by a Sierra Nevada mountain river.

Its not too late to slip away. Book a flight, pack up the car, call the pet-sitter or babysitter, do whatever it takes, and head to Northern California. You could spend many days exploring here. These 30 chapters dont begin to cover all the possibilities, but, hopefully, they are a good place to start.

This book is geared to people who may have only 48 hours, 24 hours, perhaps even just eight hours for a quick getaway in Northern California.

Its not designed as a comprehensive guide to the region; rather its an assortment of possibilities. Some chapters are devoted to well-known places such as Yosemite and the Napa Valley, others are off the beaten path: Downieville, the North Sonoma Coast, and Lakes Basin, for example. Chapters on San Francisco avoid tourist areas and focus on a couple of vibrant neighborhoods where locals eat, drink, and play.

All of the destinations are within a four-hour drive of the San Francisco Bay Area and are listed geographically, according to their distance from San Francisco.

Chapters cover an areas sights, give some history, and offer suggestions for travelers who want to get out of their cars and explore on foot or by bicycle, horseback, canoe, or kayak. Most chapters have ideas for short walks or easy bike rides.

Establishments under Where to Eat include casual places for a quick bite and, with a nod to the growing number of foodies in America, restaurants that are renowned for fine dining. Since Northern California is the epicenter of the movement toward local and organic meat, dairy products, and produce, theres an emphasis on restaurants serving fresh, locally grown and produced food. Deli and grocery store suggestions are included as resources for picnic supplies.

Hotels and inns were chosen for each chapters Where to Sleep section on the basis of their charm, uniqueness, historical significance, or good value. Their rates generally fall between $150 and $275 per room per night. Those outside of that rangehostels in San Mateo Countys historic lighthouses are one exampleare clearly marked as budget accommodations or, like Yosemites Ahwahnee, for one, indicated as a splurge and included because they are one-of-a-kind experiences. Because some people dont care for the forced intimacy or regimented breakfast schedules at bed-and-breakfast inns, when a B&B is recommended, other types of accommodations are also included.

Hotels are increasingly pricing their rooms using yield management, as airlines do, so rates can fluctuate wildly depending on the season, the day of the week, or even the whim of the owner or manager. Innkeepers often cut rates for Sunday through Thursday night stays, particularly in low season. If you can take a Monday off work and stay a Sunday night, youll not only avoid traffic congestion by starting the trip on a quiet Sunday morning, but youll also save money. And the lower-priced spring and fall are fine times for exploring Northern California. In April and May, hills are green and the poppies bloom. In September and October, days are cooler, and theres a blaze of autumn-leaf color.