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*Safari West’s Classic Safari provides close encounters with animals like the Cape Buffalo © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

It isn’t a surprise to see zebras grazing, giraffes ruminating, a rhinoceros with her 2700-pound baby, or sleeping in a luxurious safari tent and awakening to see a herd of antelope dashing in unison, when you go on safari in Africa. What is extraordinary is that this is in the backyard of Sonoma, California, better known for wineries, vineyards and winetasting. This is Safari West, which since its founding in 1993, affords an extraordinary authentic experience that makes you feel you are in Africa – the Sonoma Serengeti! – no passport, vaccinations or jetlag required.

Eric and I start our Safari West visit with the three-hour Classic Safari, consisting of about 2 ½ hours driving through three habitats across the vast, 400-acre landscape on which some 1000 animals (almost 100 different species), reside and a half-hour walk to visit mammals and birds.

*Safari West’s Classic Safari provides an authentic safari adventure on the “Sonoma Serengeti”© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

During the course of my 24 hours here, I will follow the Classic Safari with a Behind-the-Scenes tour with our toddler (children need to be at least four years old for the Classic Safari, though families with younger children can arrange a Private Safari) where we get to feed a variety of animals; a 5 pm buffet dinner, followed by a walk-about through a zoo-like setting.

*Even our toddler gets to feed a warthog on Safari West’s Behind-the-Scenes tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Then, after the rest of the family leaves, I stay over for a Glamping Among the Wildlife: A Safari West Experience in one of their 30 authentic Botswana safari tents tucked into the trees, enjoying evening activities including s’mores and a movie (“Jungle Book”). Since overnight guests have no curfew, I am able to explore more at dusk, into the dark of night (borrowing a flashlight from reception), and again in the early morning when the animals are most animated. I follow the included breakfast buffet with more exploration before reluctantly leaving Safari West.

*One of the 30 glamping tents tucked into the woods at Safari West © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Safari on the “Sonoma Serengeti”

For our Classic Safari, we ride in vehicles that are open on the sides and have four seats on top (reminding me of my tiger safari in India). The guides – invariably friendly, humorous, knowledgeable and unscripted so they respond to their guests’ interests (and terrific drivers) take us on rough gravel trails over hills and plains, coming incredibly close (without barriers or fences) to giraffe, antelope, ostrich, wildebeest, Cape buffalo, zebra, elands, addax, aoudad and others among the 97 species in residence.

Our guide for our 1 pm. three-hour Classic Safari, Alex Killian, invites our questions and observations which she gleans to stay in an area longer. We are riding in “Bender”, a 1950s Dodge Power wagon (it seems Safari West has bought up the fleet of Dodge Power wagons from 1940s to 1970s). About 2 ½ hours are spent driving, with about 30 minutes on a walking portion to see the primates, porcupines and birds.

You can read about these different animals and see photos but seeing them up close, in their habitat provides a whole different dimension of understanding and appreciation for behaviors and evolutionary adaptations.

We go into the vast field with the giraffes– Killian tells us they are 5-6 feet tall at birth (they are delivered while the mother is standing up and are dropped six feet to the ground); 9 feet tall by one year old, and grow up to 19 feet tall. These sweet creatures – literally gentle giants – are distinguished by the fact every giraffe has a unique pattern of sports, like human fingerprints, but these spots also help in thermoregulation (at night, the giraffes walk themselves into their barn to protect from hypothermia).

Giraffes, Killian says, “speak” but in a pitch that can barely be heard by a human but sounds like a moo and use various sounds like moans, snores, hisses, and grunts, they mainly communicate with body language. Killian tells us they sleep standing up for 20 minutes at a time– only half their brain sleeps at one time – for a total of about two to three hours in the course of a day; the rest of the time they are eating or ruminating. (Later, during the Behind-the-Scenes tour, we get to meet them close up and feed them).

Killian points to “Mango,” the only male giraffe, here, noting that the animals mate and breed naturally here; the caretakers only insuring they are healthy, and adds that Safari West will “buy, sell, trade, borrow and loan” animals with other zoos and conservancies to increase genetic diversity.

Addax, a white antelope that is critically endangered, whose horns have extra twists, which Killian explains helps cool the animal; we see one with only one horn, and she explains that if they break off, they do not grow back. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

In this plain, we also see Dama Gazelle; Gemsbok; Greater Kudu; Roan antelope and Addax, astonished at how magnificent they are with their horns and coloring.

Leaving this area through the double-fence system, we see an ostrich which seems to be “flirting” with the safari vehicle ahead of us. This is “Lucille Ball,” “She is more flirtatious when she is about to lay an egg,” Killian explains. Ostriches, Killian tells us, lay the largest eggs among the birds, equivalent to 12-24 chicken eggs in size and lay 1-3 eggs a week.

*An ostrich gets flirtatious with one of the safari vehicles © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Ostriches are surprisingly large and amazingly fast – she tells us they can run 12-35 mph and though they have a brain the size of a walnut, “they are not dumb.” “It’s an ‘in the moment’ animal,” she explains. “But you don’t need to outwit a predator when you can outrun it.”

*A pregnant Southern White rhinoceros with her baby © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We see a Southern White Rhinoceros mom with her two-year old baby that already weighs 2375 lbs. She is pregnant again (rhinoceros gestate for 16-18 months) and is due to deliver at any time (you can follow her progress on social media). But because the pheromones at the end of pregnancy and when she is in labor are the same as when she is in heat, they have to separate the male, who is in an adjacent area. In the wild, she says, “They spend a week together and then don’t see each other again” but the mom is very maternal. “She is very connected to her baby.” She can nurse two babies at a time. The female rhinoceros can weigh 4000-7000 lbs. A herbivore, the rhinoceros consumes 150 lbs of grass or 60 lbs of hay a day.

*The zebra’s stripes are unique from zebra to zebra and even left and right sides* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We drive through more gates and come to an open area with zebra gathered around where they have just been provided grass. Like the giraffes, the zebra’s stripes are unique from zebra to zebra and even left and right sides of the animal, except for its face.

*The Common Eland depends on pheromones to mate © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Close by are the Common Eland and we see a baby less than one month old (it’s been named “Nova”, consistent with the space-themed names given the herd). The Eland (“it means ‘moose’ in Dutch) is a kind of antelope, the biggest of the species (the tallest is the Kudu).

*“Nova” is a one-month old Common Eland © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“They depend largely on pheromones – it’s how they identify the others in their unit, and how they take a mate. They urinate and others take in the pheromone.”

*Our guide stops to tell us about the herd of eland © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We drive into the third habitat, the largest of the three at 100 acres.

*Stunning views of antelope at Safari West © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We see the African Cape Buffalo, one of the Big 5 – that is, the 5 most dangerous animals to encounter in Africa, she tells us (lion, leopard, Black rhinoceros, African Bull elephant are the others). The Cape Buffalo are dangerous, she says, because they protect each other. “If one of their group is threatened, even if they just think it is threatened, they will still protect.”

*The African Cape Buffalo is one of Africa’s “Big 5” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We meet the Blue wildebeest from Southern Africa which Killian calls “a spare parts animal” because it has hair and horns resembling the female African Cape buffalo; stripes like a zebra; a long face like a baboon; and a heavy build in front but slender legs like an ostrich compared to its bulky front build.

*“Spare parts animal” wildebeest are well adapted for their habitat © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

These are adaptations to the environment, and as we watch one nuzzling a baby, Killian tells us that its long face helps the wildebeest detect humidity – and impending disaster, and that the herd in the wild, 1-5 million of them, migrate or escape danger moving together. Other animals have learned to follow their lead.

*Mother and baby © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In the wild, they somehow synchronize the births to the month, timed for migration. Some 8,000 babies could have been born on the last day before migration, so wildebeest have evolved to move as fast as 55 mph, from Day 1. Here at Safari West, they somehow synchronize births to the season (rather than a month, as they might in the wild) and ‘migrate’ on property (moving down the hillside).

“Animals here mate naturally,” she adds. “We only make sure they are healthy.”

We spot Aoudad on the forested slope, and Killian says that while other species take a mate by showing dominance (brawn), Aoudad males pee on their beard and the ‘best’ smell gets the lady.

*We spot Aoudad on the forested slope © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

(Insiders tip: if photography is important to you, bring a decent SLR camera with a decent zoom lens that can capture moments and movements (cell phone cameras are good for scenics and landscapes and have their merit in difficult lighting situations). Safari photography is just as interesting a sport as hunting – only you are hunting and shooting with a camera. For avid photographers, Safari West offers a Private Photography Safari Workshop.)

After the drive portion of the Classic Safari tour, we have a walking tour of about 30 minutes, to see the porcupines, primates, mammals and birds.

*Nicobar pigeon in Safari West’s aviary © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We walk through one of the aviaries, chock full of bird varieties – crane, sacred ibis, scarlet ibis, spoon bill, cattle egret, black swan, Nicobar pigeon, to list but a few. (We will soon return to help feed the birds during our Behind the Scenes tour).

*The Caracal is a master of hunting and hiding © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We see the Caracal, a master of hunting and hiding that can jump 6-10 ft to capture a bird, take down prey 2-3x its size and when they hunt as a group, they can take down an impala.

*The Patas Monkey is said to have been the inspiration for Dr. Seuss’ Lorax© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I especially love watching the Colobus Monkey and the Patas Monkey (said to have been the inspiration for Dr. Seuss’ Lorax), ring-tailed lemurs (two “old men” in their bachelor pads), and (my favorite) the Red Ruffed Ringtales. All have various forms of enrichment – like puzzles and toys, obstacles and constructions. (There is an immersive Enrichment Tour, also on my list for my next visit.)

*One of the two older ringed tail lemurs lounges © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Behind-the-Scenes

Our Classic Safari ends just in time to meet up with Sarah and our 16-month old toddler to enjoy the Behind the Scenes tour where we get to feed the animals – one of Safari West’s most popular programs for good reason.

Our guide, Zoey, tells us she was part of Safari West’s Junior Zookeepers program for 12-16 year olds.

*Feeding the Crested porcupines on the Behind-the-Scenes tour at Safari West © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Even our toddler gets a chance to feed the Crested porcupines, Spike and Norton – notably, they don’t have the prickly quills, their quills are a softer material.

*Birds flock to whoever has the blue latex glove on the Behind-the-Scenes tour at Safari West © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We go next to feed the birds in the aviary and Zoey warns us that it can be intimidating because there are so many birds and they get pushy when they see the blue latex glove and know there is food to be had. She adds that to stop the birds from rushing at you, take off the blue glove. I find it fascinating that there is such a learned behavior.

Sure enough, it is quite an experience that as we walk in, the birds swarm around us. We get to fling pieces of chopmeat (that surprises me) and watch as the biggest ones catch pieces in the air.

*Flamingoes, the oldest animals at Safari West, were brought here when Marine World closed © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We go to where there is a huge flock of flamingoes in a small pond. These, Zoey says, are the oldest animals at Safari, many came when Marine World closed in 1969. They can live to 30 years old in the wild, but can reach 60-70 years in captivity (the oldest known is 85).

We next go to the Giraffe Barn to feed “Mabel.” Coming so close to the giraffe is truly an experience.

*Even our toddler gets to help feed “Mabel,” the giraffe, during Safari West’s popular Behind-the-Scenes tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

With eating being the giraffes’ main activity, their tongues are the most distinctive feature – they can be up to 18 inches long and are prehensile to grasp and manipulate objects, so they can strip leaves from branches and maneuver around thorns and rugged bark to reach their food. Also, the front of their tongues are dark, with melanin, to protect from sunburn. They eat the leaves but leave the roots, so that their food source will renew. During the course of a day, they will consume 100 lbs of foliage.

*Giraffes are notable for their prehensile tongue © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The giraffes come when the keeper calls them to go into barn overnight, to prevent hypothermia

We finish our Behind-the-Scenes tour by feeding the warthogs “Lucy”, Vigeri and Fig Newton

And now it is time for our feeding.

Dining Out, Staying Over

Safari West offers a fixed menu buffet dinner (two seatings, at 5 and 7 pm) which is marvelous.

The meal is superb – chicken (paprika seasoning), steak (perfectly cooked over fire), rice, mac/cheese, salad (we are invited to have seconds until they run out), fresh fruit and a cheesecake dessert.

Guests who stay for dinner can wander the property until 8:30 pm; overnight guests (like me) can wander without any curfew.

(There is also a very pleasant deli where you can pick up sandwiches and such (good selection and very reasonable cost.)

*Watching Addax in the field at Safari West © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Even when I go around at 7:30 pm when the sunlight is a rich golden color – I am surprised that it seems as if the animals have grabbed their coats and lunch buckets for quitting time (the porcupines are curled up), but several are very active.

*The Red Ruffed lemur is the second loudest primate. I get to hear their chorus © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The three Red Ruffed Lemurs, with stunning, fluffy red fur, black faces and bright, piercing yellow eyes, are really active at this time. Earlier in the afternoon, when I came upon them, they were making extremely loud shrieks – indeed, the guide says they are the second loudest primates and can vocalize very high and low pitches at the same time, that can be heard up to a half-mile away. Found only in Madagascar, they are matriarchal and the keeper explains that one of the three is being bullied, kept from being groomed and from eating,

*A family of ring tailed lemur live on a small island © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There are S’mores at 8 pm and then they show “Jungle Book” (one of three animal-themed movies they present each night) at 8:30 pm. (Overnight guests can help ourselves to coffee, tea, chocolate an fruit as we like

*From my tent, I watch the giraffes walk themselves into the barn for the night © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

After the movie, I borrow a flashlight from the reception desk, and go into the darkness. I am especially interested to see if I can observe activities of nocturnal animals, but alas, it is too dark and the animals, if they are active, are too far into the darkness to be observed (perhaps on a night with a full moon it would be better and even more magical.)

By now pitch black (and grateful for the flashlight), I walk up the hill to my tent, delighted to find a luxurious, spacious room accommodating a queen bed and two cots, sufficient for a family of four, with beautiful wood floor, an enormous tile-floor bathroom stocked with the necessary toiletries like a deluxe hotel; giant screened windows on two of the walls so I can see out to a gorgeous view of the lake; and a patio where, when I walk out in the pitch black night, it seems the Big Dipper is right in front of my face close enough to touch. If it gets cold, there is a space heater and an electric blanket.

*My glamping tent has all the comforts of a hotel room, but with canvas walls © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I am surprised that I do not hear more animal sounds in the night, and do not need to use the ear plugs they supply.

But I awake to the sounds of birds and mooing, and look out from my porch to see the herd of antelope running together across their field.

*From my glamping tent, I watch antelope running together in the early morning © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The best part of overnighting at Safari West is being here at early morning when the animals become really active knowing they are to be fed.

*Going out in the morning, I can take my time watching animals close up © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Each place i come upon, if there is a keeper, they are happy to share more information about the animals in their care.

*A caretaker explains how she gives special attention to the Red Ruffed lemur which is being bullied by the matriarch © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I watch the Red Ruffed lemur being fed – one is being bullied by the matriarch, so the keeper goes in, entices two of them into a separate compartment, and gives the third special attention (she doesn’t get groomed, so the keeper pats her and feels for any health issues).

*In the early morning, I get a good view of the cheetahs which eluded me the day before © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I get to see the cheetahs, pacing their enormous enclosure (they eluded me the previous day); and the hyenas devouring a thick chunk of red meat

*A hyena with its breakfast of red meat © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

As appropriate, the keepers incorporate enrichment into their feeding methods so the animals have to work for food. (“Most creatures are bribable with food,” our guide Killian had told us on the Classic Safari. “Food is a prime motivator.” (Safari West offers a new Enrichment Tour Experience to see how they use puzzles, toys and activities like hiding treats, to stimulate the animals’ natural behaviors and keep them mentally and physically active.)

*A Patas monkey plays with one of its enrichment toys. Safari West now offers an Enrichment Tour where you can help create toys © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I go into the Elephant room for breakfast (included for overnight guests and served from 7-10 am) – eggs, oatmeal, cereals, yogurt, muffins, toast/bagels, fresh squeezed OJ – before going for another walk-through the animal enclosures.

As an overnight guest I need to be out of the tent by 11, but I am welcomed to stay and wander about as long as I want.

Overall, with all these encounters over the past 24 hours, I must have made some 10 tours through the animal enclosures and each time, the experience is different – I see animals that eluded me before, or doing different behaviors, or in different light, or just happening upon a guide providing information I hadn’t known before.

Mission to Promote Conservation

I am really impressed in how well Safari West fulfills its declared mission to actively promote conservation and environmental education.

“At Safari West it’s all about the animals. Always has been, always will be.” These animals become ambassadors for their species, promoting understanding and appreciation to help each person make well-informed choices for environmental protection and wildlife conservation.

Over the past decades, Safari West has evolved into a top-tier wildlife destination.

Safari West began in the late 1980s when Peter Lang purchased 400 rolling acres in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains. He relocated his small but growing collection of exotic wildlife, converting a former cattle ranch into a world-class conservation breeding facility.

As Peter set to work establishing captive breeding programs for the varied and often critically endangered species in his collection, he worked closely with local zoological facilities including the San Francisco Zoo where he met the lead curator, raptor-specialist and his future wife, Nancy Lang. After four years of operating their conservation breeding facility behind closed doors, Peter and Nancy opened their home to the public on July 4th, 1993.

*Safari West opened glamping tents to give visitors a whole new experience © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Then, in the late 1990s, Peter looked to expand the activities available to guests and built the Safari West Tent Camp, importing custom-built tents from Lobatswe, Botswana. With the Watusi Pond as the center, the tent camp sits between the Gazelle Pasture, the Hundred Acres, and the Vista habitats, overlooking the antelope and giraffes. The 30 glamping tents are mounted on raised platforms, with hardwood floors, electricity, running hot and cold water, and even en suite bathrooms.

The Langs’ devotion to their animals was tested and proven during the horrific Tubbs wildfires that struck in October 2017.

When I ask our safari guide about how they managed during the wildfires, she replied, “We didn’t save the animals, they saved us. They graze so there was nothing for the fires to catch onto, and the oak trees are resilient.”

She relates that when sheriffs came to order an evacuation at around 11 pm, the 90 guests on the property just grabbed their keys and left within 15 minutes.” Helicopters fighting the fires used water from the lake.

But she seems to have understated what happened because it was horrific – 250 out of Safari West’s 400 acres were scorched and the osteology lab operated by the Safari West Research, Education, and Conservation Department burned completely. Though conservation organizations were ready to help evacuate the animals, no one was allowed up the twisting mountain road, so they couldn’t have evacuated the animals.

The animals were saved because Safari West owner Peter Lang, then 76 years old, after driving through fire to evacuate their home which burned to the ground, stayed behind and for the next 10 hours, fought the fires alone. In the next couple of days, some volunteers and staff were able to come and help put out the brush fires that erupted.

All 1000 animals were saved. For his heroic efforts, Peter Lang received the 2018 American Red Cross Animal Rescue Hero Award. (Read the thrilling story by Paige Peterson reported in the New York Social Diary, https://safariwest.com/2017/11/life-after-fires/).

Safari West is ideal for family gatherings and special events – I am already planning to bring our bi-coastal family together for an overnight stay as soon as the little ones are old enough to appreciate the safari. I’ve earmarked the Enrichment Tour and Private Photography tour, especially.

Safari West, 3115 Porter Creek Road Santa Rosa, CA 95404, 800-616-2695, 707-579-2551, safariwest.com

Travel planning help is available from Sonoma County Tourism, https://www.sonomacounty.com.

_____________________________

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Attractions, Culinary travel, Cultural travel, Food & Wine

Wine-Tasting Exemplifies Art, Nature & Neighborhood in Sonoma, California

January 16, 2025 krubin723

*Enjoying a wine-tasting at Dry Creek Vineyard, a staple experience of a visit to Sonoma, California, one of the great wine-producing regions of the world © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Karen Rubin with Eric Leiberman and Sarah Falter, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

A staple of a visit to Sonoma, California, where nature and art come together in a perfect blend, is a tasting at one of the picturesque wineries and vineyards. It is always so fascinating to learn about the art and science of winemaking, and to immerse in joy of discovering, sharing and savoring the fruit of that creative enterprise, the wine.

This trip, we return to the charming town of Healdsburg, where we have thoroughly enjoyed visiting its galleries and restaurants and the lovely town square (like Sonoma), to visit Dry Creek Vineyard. Family owned and run by second generation owner and president Kim Stare Wallace, it is also one of the last truly private, family-owned, iconic wineries of Sonoma County that consistently produces coveted 90+ point wines.

*Dry Creek Vineyard is one of the last truly private, family-owned, iconic wineries of Sonoma County that consistently produces coveted 90+ point wine*s *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Dry Creek Vineyard, we learn, is responsible for many of the “firsts” in this rich wine-producing valley. Established in 1972, it was the first winery to open in Dry Creek Valley after Prohibition. Founder David S. Stare paved the way for a viticultural rebirth in the valley. Inspired by his trips to France, he modeled his winery after a Loire Valley chateau – making for a delightful setting in which to enjoy the wines.

Dry Creek Vineyard makes the claim of being the first winery to plant Sauvignon Blanc in the Dry Creek Valley and the first to label a wine with the “Dry Creek Vineyard appellation. A pioneer of Bordeaux-style blending, the winery was also the first to use the term “Meritage” (with its 1985 vintage) and the first to coin the term “Old Vine” to describe pre-Prohibition-era Zinfandel vineyards.

They make a claim of being the first to introduce the concept of Sustainable Agriculture in California, in 1998, providing a model for and an inspiration to others.

Indeed, it was during the years leading up to Dave’s retirement in 2006, that second generation owners Kim Stare Wallace and her husband, Don Wallace, began to lay the foundation for their vision for the winery’s future based on sustainability. “Their ‘no compromises’ philosophy required a complete re-invention from the inside out, including new winemaking techniques, vineyard management methods and winery upgrades on their 185 acres of sustainably farmed vineyards.”

This shift in philosophy led to dramatically reducing production while increasing quality and sharpening the focus on crafting appellation-driven terroir-focused, varietal-defining wines that have come to rival the best in California and the world. In 2015, Wine & Spirits Magazine selected Dry Creek Vineyard as one of its “top 100 Wineries.”

Its sustainable methods have worked: this year Dry Creek’s Sauvignon Blanc was crowned Best in California, and the Cabernet Sauvignon earned a stellar 95-point rating.

Dry Creek Vineyard is known for its Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Meritage blends, as well as a portfolio of limited, single-vineyard selections. Prices are moderate, ranging from $18 to $125.

We sit at lovely wooden picnic tables on the lawn outside the stone chateau, as Darrin Abel, the concierge and Wine Educator, introduces the wines for us to taste.

We start with a 2022 Dry Chenin Blanc, a staple of Dry Creek since its founding in 1972. This is a classic Loire Valley-style wine that is versatile and food friendly, especially when paired with fresh oysters and seafood. Fermented in 100% stainless steel barrels, this wine is wonderfully bright and consistent vintage after vintage. The first swirl brings aromatics of honeydew, white peach and jasmine with floral notes of citrus blossom, watermelon rind and pineapple. On the palate, the wine has refreshing flavors of peach, grapefruit and jasmine with hints of mandarin, cucumber and lemon curd. It feels soft in your mouth, with a twang of acidity. These grapes, grown in Clarksburg, “like heat” which makes it dry.

*Darrin Abel, the concierge and Wine Educator at Dry Creek Vineyard* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Abel, who has been at Dry Creek for 12 years, explains the difference between a wine that is meant to be consumed early, and one that is meant to age and mature in the bottle. “White wine is meant to be drunk immediately (the screw cap). A cork is for aging – the oxygen penetrates cork and slowly ages the wine. A screw cap has no permeability, is not meant to be aged. Our philosophy : to make wine that can be enjoyed now but can age.”

Our second wine is 2022 Taylor’s Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, produced from a vineyard on the western bench of Dry Creek Valley and named after Kim and Don Wallace’s daughter, Taylor. According to the winemaker’s notes, the Sauvignon Musqué grape is a unique clonal selection of the Sauvignon Blanc variety and a delicious interpretation of the classic varietal. Fermented in stainless steel tanks you taste plump flavors of peach, lemonade and orange blossom with subtle notes of grapefruit and Mandarin orange. Full of complexity and depth, the crafted Musqué clone produces a creamy feeling in the mouth. It has a nice, even flavor, good structure and body.

*Darrin Abel, the concierge and Wine Educator, introduces the wines for us to taste*.© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The 2020 Farmhouse Vineyard Zinfandel is the sixth vintage of Zinfandel produced from its Russian River Valley vineyard, where the cooler temperatures allow for complex aromas and flavors to develop. This was the second Zinfandel property of Dry Creek’s estate vineyards to be planted with its Heritage Clone. The winemaker’s notes explain that the vines were planted using the Heritage budwood concept to preserve the heritage of iconic old vine Zinfandel vineyards. Cuttings from a pre-Prohibition era vineyard were grafted onto phylloxera-resistant rootstock to create a “young vine” wine with “old vine” Zinfandel characteristics. Initially, the aromas show fruit-forward tones of black and red cherries, cranberry and blackberry. Subtle notes of mocha, rose and earthy nuances come forward after several minutes of airing. On the palate, flavors of plum and strawberry mix with soft undertones of coriander, toffee, toasty cedar and roasted almonds. The wine is supple with tremendous complexity and silky tannins. The finish has a slight spiciness and refined elegance.

We next taste the 2020 Somers Ranch Zinfandel from grapes grown on two small parcels planted on adjacent hilltops overlooking the valley. The eastern-facing hillside vineyards provide optimum sun exposure for balanced and juicy grapes. This distinctive property was one of the first vineyards in Dry Creek Valley to be planted utilizing the Heritage Clone over 20 years ago, Abel explains.This bold Zinfandel is luxurious and fresh, with ripe fruit flavors of blackberry, cherry and cranberry, with aromatic undertones of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg and firm tannins and structure.

Dry Creek Vineyard’s 2019 Meritage “Alluvial Gap,” which has been rated 93 points by Wine Enthusiast, highlights a microregion in the Dry Creek Valley known as Lytton Springs district© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The last wine we taste is our favorite: 2019 Meritage “Alluvial Gap,” which has been rated 93 points by Wine Enthusiast and highlights a microregion in the Dry Creek Valley known as Lytton Springs district. The Meritage blend is led by Cabernet Sauvignon with three additional Bordeaux varietals to add complexity and depth. It was inspired by decades of working with Bordeaux varietals planted in the different districts and vineyards of Dry Creek Valley, including its Endeavour Vineyard, where the soils are gravelly, clay loam. “Five decades of experience have provided the knowledge of which properties can provide the best fruit our region can offer.” We learn that the wine spends 11-17 days in fermenters at 82-88 degrees F, then 19 months in French and Hungarian oak barrels (43 percent new oak) – such detail that I find fascinating, along with the precise “recipe” of the different grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon (60 percent) with three additional Bordeaux varietals (Merlot 20%, Petit Verdot, 16%, Cabernet Franc, 4%). “The grapes are crushed and fermented separately, then blended,” Abel tells us. “It really shows off the artistry of the wine maker.”

At first swirl, the wine displays powerful aromas of black currant, plum and blueberry. Several more minutes reveal hints of black and white pepper, fennel and rose petal. The palate is full and rich with flavors of black cherry and blackberry, with notes of coriander, thyme and fine leather. The tannins are fine yet firm, with a round, plush texture and a rich, lingering finish – what I would describe as ”full bodied.” Not surprisingly, this is also the most expensive bottle of the day, $70.

After our winetasting, we go to explore.

Dry Creek Vineyard has an Insectary Garden which you can walk through and learn how it is the basis of sustainable agriculture, designed to attract beneficial insects like ladybeetles, bees, ground beetles, hoverflies, minute pirate bugs, lacewings and wasps. The plants provide an environment attractive to natural enemies of crop pests, a natural means of controlling harmful pests like include leafhoppers, spider mites, leafrollers and mealybugs. This natural means of controlling harmful pests also assists beneficial insects in pollination and creates a balanced growing environment, the notes explain. Other animals that are considered beneficial include lizards, spiders, toads and hummingbirds. Beneficial insects are as much as ten times more abundant in insectary gardens.

“In addition to the garden being a beautiful focal point for the winery, our goal is to have this insectary further enhance our sustainable farming practices. Its contribution to a balanced ecosystem in the vineyard will be a key for years to come,” the panel explains.

The list of plants here include black eyed Susan, butterfly weed, California fuchsia, Chinese Fringe Flower, coneflower, Sunflower, Echinacea “Ruby Star”

Other sustainability techniques are described: solar panels help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 tons a year, the equivalent of planting 3,400 trees a year; bluebird houses, bat houses, owl boxes and raptor perches provide specialized housing and shady platform perches to encourage birds of prey to adopt the Dry Creek vineyards as their feeding ground – a natural control for pests such as insects, voles and gophers, without the need for chemical deterrents; a habitat enhancement project provides habitat for endangered Coho and Chinook salmon and Steelhead trout; deficit irrigation uses state of the art equipment to measure specific moisture needs of each individual block of vines, monitor soil conditions and adjust levels of irrigation to conserve water – virtual dry farming; growing cover crops like alfalfa and bell beans between vines to help rebuild depleted soil by increasing the available nitrogen and organic material, while minimizing the need to utilize fertilizer and using special seed blends that flower at different times to attract beneficial insects to help control pest populations.

*Dry Creek Vineyard is one of the pioneers and leaders in sustainable viniculture © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Second generation winery partner Don Wallace, the driving force behind sustainable farming practices at Dry Creek Vineyard, has established Dry Creek Vineyard as a leader in the sustainable agriculture movement in Dry Creek Valley and the industry. The winery and its 185 acres of estate vineyards are 100% certified California Sustainable.

Also among its other notable firsts, Wallace also founded one of the first wine clubs in the U.S. “with a vision of creating a family of wine lovers united in their passion” for handcrafted wines. Events like its recent Holiday Winemaker dinner, where longtime members gather together, help to realize that vision.

Dry Creek has an excellent website that makes it easy to explore the different wine offers, arrange shipping, give as a gift, enroll in their club, or gift a club membership.

Visit 10 am-4 pm. Reservations Recommended.

Dry Creek Vineyard, 3770 Lambert Bridge Road, Healdsburg, CA 95448, cheers@drycreekvineyard.com, drycreekvineyard.com.

Art & Nature & Neighborhood

Wine tastings are the perfect metaphor for Sonoma County, where art and nature intertwine just about everywhere you go in the most marvelously energizing, invigorating, vitalizing and inspiring ways.

The towns of Healdsburg and Sonoma are like that – exquisite architecture, history, culture, intrinsically blended together with vineyards, farms and fields, wilderness.

*Porchfest at Sebastopol © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Sonoma is a place of community and festivals. We visit Sebastopol for its fall Porchfest – really a giant multi-blocks party where people’s porches turn into stages for folk and rock music (you feel you have been dropped into the 1960s), the streets are full of art and food stalls and there is just a lot of good will and neighborliness, where people bump into friends and meet new ones.

*Artist Patrick Amiot recycles junk into whimsical sculptures that populate Franklin Avenue in Sebastopol © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

A particular street in Sebastopol, Florence Avenue, is famous for the whimsical sculptures out of recycled junk by artist Patrick Amiot, painted in bright colors by his wife, that decorate just about every home. The Sebastopol Center for the Arts hosts Sonoma County Art Trails – Juried Open Studios – Sebastopol Center for Arts, 282 S. High St., Sebastopol, CA 707-829-4797, SebArts.org

*A family festival at the Bavarian-heritage Tourist Club of San Francisco © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Sonoma is just 30 miles north of San Francisco, and we have a marvelous time at an annual family festival, one of the public events at the otherwise private hiking club that dates from 1912, Tourist Club of San Francisco (we hike to get to it), delightfully Bavarian themed (even beer, pretzels and oompah band and dancing, people in Bavarian dress, and wonderful games (touristclubsf.org).

*A scene that evokes “Sound of Music”: hiking to the Tourist Club of San Francisco for its family festival © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From there, we hike down a trail into Muir Woods National Park, go through the park and connect with the utterly magnificent Canopy View Trail back up to where we parked.

*Hiking the Canopy Trail from Muir Woods National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Sonoma has some phenomenal state and county parks. One of our favorites is the extraordinary Jack London State Historic Park (also known as Beauty Ranch) in the town of Glen Ellen (which also hosts marvelous street festivals). Beauty Ranch was the famous novelist’s home and ranch where he pioneered and experimented with sustainable farming and ranching techniques. There is an outstanding museum in the stone House of Happy Walls that his wife, Charmian, built in 1919 to serve as a museum after Jack London died (she lived there from 1935 until 1945). We visit the ruins of Wolf House, London’s 26-room dream house (mansion) which was in its final stages of completion when it burned down. We walk the trail to see where Jack London’s ashes are buried in a tiny, totally unpretentious gravesite. On previous visits we have walked trails through the ranch and farm area, through a redwood forest to a small lake.

At Jack London State Historic Park, visit the ruins of Wolf House, London’s 26-room dream house which was in its final stages of completion when it burned down © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The historic park, a national historic landmark, introduces visitors to the historical and natural features of Jack London’s lifestyle, his contribution to American literature (I am inspired to re- read “Call of the Wild” with new perspective and “White Fang”), his efforts to develop and demonstrate sustainable agricultural techniques and his love for the natural environment. There are gorgeous hikes through redwood forest. (2400 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen, CA 95442, 707-938-5216, www.jacklondonpark.com)

*Enjoying the view with a whimsical animal friend at Sonoma Botanical Garden © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Also in Glen Ellen, we discover the Sonoma Botanical Garden, which provides lovely trails through the different ecosystems – California Oaks, Asian Woodlands, Rose Garden, Stewartia Grove, a Nepalese Prayer Flags section (at the summit), terraced lawn, picturesque ponds with Japanese statuary and seating areas. It offers the opportunity to see rare and endangered plants and conservation in action. The paths are lined with whimsical sculptures of animals. (12841 Hwy 12, Glen Ellen, CA 95442, 707-996-3166, info@sonomabg.org, sonomabg.org)

For pampering, there is Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary (a member of the Green spa network), in the historic village of Freestone, on the scenic Bohemian Highway. A gorgeous Japanese-style building and stunning gardens, the spa features the Cedar Enzyme Bath, a therapeutic body treatment from Japan “found nowhere else on this continent.” This is a fermentation bathing ritual where you immerse in a mixture of soft and fragrant ground cedar and rice bran pulsating with enzyme activity to stimulate your metabolism. This warm and stress reducing treatment offers health benefits, from improving circulation to relieving joint and muscle pain, cleansing skin (707-823-8231, osmosis. com).

The spa is just up the road from the incredibly popular Wild Flour Bread and the Freestone Artisan Cheese shops, an amazing artisanal jewelry shop and a farm stand, before making our way up a winding road to an old growth forest where the redwoods rival Muir Woods.

We also visit one of our favorite restaurants, Salt & Stone (9900 Sonoma Hwy, Kenwood, CA 95452, 707 623 4125, SaltStoneKenwood.com)

Sonoma County Tourism, 800-576-6662, info@sonomacounty.com, www.sonomacounty.com.

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© 2025 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Bluesky: @newsphotosfeatures.bsky.social X: @TravelFeatures Threads: @news_and_photo_features ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Outdoors Adventures, Places of History, See America, Where to Go Next

Experience Sonoma Like a Local

March 14, 2022 krubin723

A late afternoon stroll in our Sonoma “neighborhood” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

You know the refrain: “It’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” Rare is the place that is equally precious to visit and reside. Fortunately, our family has decided to reside in such a place, and I get to visit: Sonoma, California.

Just 43 miles northeast of San Francisco, Sonoma has long been a retreat for urban dwellers, offering a “healthier” climate.

Sonoma is the perfect combination of man and nature, as the vineyards attest, and residents today are obsessive about preserving that balance. In fact, the Sonoma County Tourism, as part of its continued commitment to encourage responsible stewardship from visitors and residents, has just joined the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

The historic plaza is the centerpiece of Sonoma © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

This is my second visit to Sonoma and while my family works, I get to explore like a local, hopping on a bike to ride the delightful paved recreation trail that goes right into the exquisitely quaint, historic village center and out to the vineyards. On my first trip, we biked, visited wineries, and hiked the spectacular Pacific coast. This trip, I focus on Sonoma’s history, heritage and the fascinating people who shaped it. What is more surprising is how contemporary the history feels – truly, history repeats.

Sebastiani Theatre in Sonoma’s historic village plaza © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

It starts at the village plaza – utterly charming today with lovely restaurants, wine tasting rooms and boutiques – but dotted with really important historic sites that are part of Sonoma State Historic Park, a collection of six sites located throughout the community.

Sonoma’s City Hall © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

I start at the Barracks, a military post of Mexican soldiers established in 1834 to serve as a buffer to Russian expansion from Fort Ross (!!!). The Russians had come in 1812 to produce crops and trap furs to supply their Alaskan settlement. (The Russians ultimately moved out, ironically, just before gold was discovered.) You can see a room furnished as if the soldiers were still there. It is interesting to learn that they had to supply their own uniforms, horse and supplies, and basically buy them back from the Commandante. The barracks turns out to be the best place to start my journey because it offers an excellent video that encapsulates the history of this place, and puts everything into context.

The Barracks in Sonoma’s historic plaza © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

From 1834-1846, it was the headquarters for General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, the Commandant of the Frontera del Norte – the northern Mexico provincial frontier – who built it, as well as the Plaza. More than 100 military expeditions set out from Sonoma to subdue rebellious Wappo and Cainameros or Satisyomis native tribes trying to overthrow Mexican domination. For ten years, until 1844, the Presidial company of Sonoma was considered the most powerful military force in California. During the short-lived California Republic, the barracks housed Republic followers until July 9, 1846, when the Stars and Stripes flag was first raised at Sonoma. It then served as an army post. In 1860, Vallejo remodeled the barracks to serve as a winery. (Vallejo’s story, I learn, underpins just about everything in Sonoma.)

Mission San Francisco Solano was founded in 1823 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Across the street from the Barracks is Mission San Francisco Solano – the last of 21 missions established in California. It was founded in 1823 to convert Native Americans to Christianity – often forcibly. Indians would come to the mission first out of hunger –since the colonists introduced disease, technology and livestock which depleted the corn that was their mainstay. The Indians’ had their own culture, religion, lifestyle which “was contrary to the colonists” and so, had to be eradicated. Under the mission system, families were split up, children taken for indoctrination. Indians revolted and tried to escape the mission and the soldiers would hunt the “fugitives” down and bring them back. I learn in the video in the Barracks. (There is a display, “Collision of Cultures,” which acknowledges the tribes’ experience.)

“The Sonoma mission’s sphere of influence reached its peak around 1832, with nearly 1,000 Native California Indians in residence and 10,000 acres of land used to raise crops and livestock.” In 1834, the Mexican government secularized all the missions into parish churches – which was General Vallejo’s task.

The dining room at Mission San Francisco Solano now exhibits watercolors created between1903-5 by Chris Jorgensen depicting the 21 missions © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Dining room today houses a marvelous exhibit of watercolors created between 1903-5 by Chris Jorgensen depicting the 21 missions that remained. His watercolors helped generate interest in preserving the missions. It is most interesting to see his watercolor of this mission as it stood.

Mission San Francisco Solano, as captured by Chris Jorgensen © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The small adobe chapel on the west side of the Padres’ Quarters, built and furnished by General Vallejo in 1840, replaced the original mission church.

It is here in the mission that I meet Ranger April Farnham. When I ask if she is a native Californian, she tells me of her great great great aunt, Eliza Farnham, born in Rensselaerville, NY in 1815, who came to northern California in 1849 with her two sons (her husband, Thomas Farnham, was apparently a rogue). What a character! Wikipedia describes Farnham as a novelist, feminist, abolitionist and activist for prison reform (she worked as the matron of Sing Sing prison’s women’s ward). She returned to New York in 1856 and in 1859, organized a society to assist destitute women find homes in the West. She returned to California, but died in New York City, at the age of 49, of consumption.

(I’m so intrigued about her, I look up her publications: Life in the Prairie Land, 1846 – An account of life on the Illinois prairie near Pekin between 1836 and 1840; California, In-doors and Out, 1856 – A chronicle of her experiences and observations on California; My Early Days, 1859 – An autobiographical novel; Woman and Her Era, 1864 – “Organic, religious, esthetic, and historical” arguments for woman’s inherent superiority’ and The Ideal Attained, 1865 – The heroine molds the hero into a worthy mate.)

General Vallejo’s Home

“Lachryma Montis,” the “Yankee Home” of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, provides a window into Sonoma’s fascinating founder ©Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

I get back on my bike to visit General Vallejo’s home, Lachryma Montis, a 20-acre site (out of his original 500 acres) just along the path about a mile from the mission. Here you appreciate what a visionary – even progressive – Vallejo was, and how instrumental he was to the founding and nurturing of Sonoma through its multiple transitions. By the time he was 40, he had lived under four flags – Spanish, Mexican, the Bear Revolution and then the United States.

Born in 1807 to an upper class Spanish family, his career paths were limited to the military, politics or church. He chose the military. At the age of 25, a lieutenant, he commanded Presidio de San Francisco, the “director of colonization.” In 1826, he was ordered to secularize the missions and transfer power from the church to civil authorities.

The Mexican government fell into chaos; there were frequent changes of governor in his district. Vallejo got no assistance from Mexico and had to pay his soldiers out of his own pocket. The settlers became Mexican citizens, learned Spanish but were different from the “Yankees” who began to come through.

After Mexican Governor Jose Castro proclaimed that the purchase or acquisition of land by foreigners who had not been naturalized as Mexicans “will be null and void, and they will be subject (if they do not retire involuntary from the country) to be expelled whenever the country might find it convenient.” 33 Yankees lead the Bear Flag Revolt against Mexican authorities. They attacked Sonoma, took Vallejo prisoner, imprisoning him at Sutter’s Fort for two months, where he contracted malaria and was a dath’s door before being released. “His imprisonment lasted longer than the Republic” (communication was slow). At the time of the Bear Flag Revolt, (June–July 1846), there were 500 Americans living in California, compared with between 8,000 and 12,000 Mexicans.

Despite the Treaty of Guadeloupe that ended the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) assuring the Mexicans their property ownership would be respected, the Yankees claimed the property belonged to them “by right of conquest”. Mexicans, including Vallejo, had to fight in court to prove title and that often put them in debt. His holdings were reduced from 500 acres to 20 acres, but he kept his vineyards.

Vallejo family photos on view in a small museum in the visitors center of his home, part of the Sonoma State Historic Park, give insight into Sonoma’s founder and visionary ©Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Indeed, Vallejo also had a hand in developing wine-making in Sonoma. His two older daughters married sons of Count Agoston Haraszthy, who began the first vineyards (you can learn this part of the history at Haraszthy’s Buena Vista winery).

Ever adapting, Vallejo went on to be elected state senator for Sonoma, serving until 1853.

What is striking about Vallejo’s home is that it looks like it was deposited here from New England. Vallejo referred to his dwelling as the “Yankee Home” or “Boston House,” departing from traditional adobe style. That was deliberate on his part, to symbolize change (and acceptance) of becoming part of the United States.

You start your visit in the Chalet, a Tudor-style structure which originally was a storage house and granary, now a visitor center that houses a museum with family photos and personal artifacts of Vallejo and his family (he had 16 children, 10 of whom lived to adulthood), as well as their magnificent carriage. The furnishings in the main house, too, are mainly from the family.

Seeing the home as if the Vallejo family still lived there ©Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

You visit the parlor, which Vallejo furnished with items from around the world, the master bedroom, his daughter, Maria’s, bedroom, the nursery. You visit the bedroom of Luisa, his 15^th child, who was born here, married here and, after being widowed, raised her three children in the house; she cared for her elderly parents and inherited the estate where she lived until her death in 1943 at 87. She sold the estate to the state of California in 1933 and served as its curator from 1933-1943.

The picturesque stone and masonry reservoir supplied the Vallejo home with water from natural artesian springs ©Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

There are several other interesting buildings and structures: the picturesque stone and masonry reservoir was constructed in the 1850s to collect water from natural artesian springs; a tiny cottage, the Hermitage, or “Napoleon’s Cottage” at the top of a winding stone staircase above the reservoir, where Vallejo’s youngest son, Napoleon, moved in 1865 at the age of 15, and kept 14 dogs, two monkeys, three cats and one parrot.

A monument to the Bear Flag Rebellion, which briefly established the California Republic ©Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Sonoma’s Plaza itself – the birthplace of the state’s Bear Flag – is picturesque. You can see a monument to where rebels raised their new, homemade flag and declare their own republic, June 14, 1846. (The Bear Flag Republic lasted just 24 days; then the United States took over).

There is also City Hall, a pavilion for outdoor events, and across the way, a lovely old-timey movie theater.

The Sonoma State Historic Park (363 Third Street W, Sonoma CA 95476, 707-938-1519). includes six sites – in addition to the Mission, the Barracks and Lachryma Montis, it also includes Casa Grande (Vallejo’s home on the plaza), the beautiful Blue Wing Inn (built to house soldiers it later accommodated such famous visitors as US Army officer Ulysses S. Grant); and Toscana Hotel. For a schedule of docent-led tours, visit www.parks.ca.gov or call 707-938-9560. (The $3 admission includes same-day visit to the Barracks and General Vallejo’s Home (363 3^rd St. West) and Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park (3325 Adobe Road, Petaluma).

The Buena Vista Winery. Count Agoston Haraszthy planted the first vineyards in Sonoma; Vallejo’s two daughters married his sons © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

My biking takes me into the vineyards that completely ring the village. I return to the Buena Vista Winery, founded by Count Agoston Haraszthy, who came from Hungary initially in pursuit of gold but in 1857, decided instead to build a stone winery on the property. He introduced cuttings from Europe’s best vineyards to California and basically proved that California could produce wine. Buena Vista Winery, 18000 Old Winery Road, Sonoma, CA 95476, 800-926-1266, tastingroom@buenavistawinery.com, www.buenavistawinery.com.

There are about 90 vineyards and wineries you can explore, see Sonoma.com.

I also come upon a wonderful local community garden, Sonoma Garden Park, which is a working farm, education center and “vibrant gathering place” where I encounter a gardener who comes up from San Francisco and learn about sustainable gardening in this drought-plagued place (Seventh St. East & MacArthur).

Jack London State Park

Jack London State Historic Park© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Another marvelous example of this merging of man and nature is the Jack London State Park in nearby Glen Ellen, where we go for a hike and discover a most intriguing history. I was expecting to hike in the woods, but the historic and biographical features blew me away.

I always associated Jack London with San Francisco and Alaska. It was a complete surprise to learn that Glen Ellen was home to the writer/adventurer from 1905 until his untimely death in 1916, at age 40, of gastrointestinal uremic poisoning. London pioneered new agricultural techniques here at his 1,400-acre Beauty Ranch.

“London was well ahead in the real estate game in 1905 when he began buying up what was then exhausted farmland around Glen Ellen,” writes Kenneth Brandt, The Short, Frantic, Rags-to-Riches Life of Jack London,” in Smithsonian (www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/short-heroic-rags-riches-life-jack-london-180961200). “His intention was to restore the land by using innovative farming methods such as terracing and organic fertilizers… ‘I see my farm,’ he declared, ‘in terms of the world and the world in terms of my farm.’ Today, docents lead tours showcasing London’s progressive ranching and sustainable agricultural practices.”

We wander through the ruins of his old stone winery and see a stone barn. You can visit the magnificent ruins of London’s 15,000-square-foot Wolf House mansion, built out of native volcanic rock and unstrapped redwoods, that would have had 26 rooms and nine fireplaces, a library measuring 19 x 40 feet, a two-story high living room, a wine cellar and – befitting a forward looking innovator – electric lighting and built-in vacuum cleaning system. It cost $75,000 ($1.9 million today) to build, but burned to the ground a month before completion.

“Built out of native volcanic rock and unstripped redwoods, it was to be the rustic capstone of Beauty Ranch and architectural avatar Jack London himself. He was devastated over the fire but vowed to rebuild. He would never get the chance,” Brandt writes.

I learn how contemporary London actually was, his writings and outlook remarkably prescient (or else you realize things don’t actually change but only repeat) – he could have been writing today. “He also remained politically engaged,” Brandt writes, quoting London from a 1914 letter: “If, just by wishing I could change America and Americans in one way. I would change the economic organization of America so that true equality of opportunity would obtain; and service, instead of profits, would be the idea, the ideal and the ambition animating every citizen.”

We set out on our hike (there are 20 miles of trails) through lush forest, majestic redwood groves, and meadows (a scenic six-mile trail leads to the top of Sonoma Mountain; you also can explore by horseback or bike), passing by a gorgeous vineyard to get to the trail. (We note the sign warning about rattlesnakes as we enter.)

I must return to visit the museum housed in “The House of Happy Walls” where there are displays of London’s books along with artifacts London and his second wife, Charmian, brought back from their 27-month sailing adventure among unexplored South Seas islands. (Volunteer pianists play on Charmian’s 1901 Steinway grand piano in the cottage where she lived from 1934 until she died in 1955.)

The park is very popular with locals in the know about all there is to do here – including concerts, performances, lectures, piano recitals; year-round there are free docent-guided tours, docent-led Sunday morning hikes, and other park events. Download a park map.

(Jack London State Historic Park, 2400 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen, CA 95442, 707-938-5216, jacklondonpark.com).

You can pick up picnic supplies, as we did, at the superb Glen Ellen Village Market or croissants, mini-sandwiches and other baked goods at Les Pascals bakery.

In the late afternoon, we take a walk in the “neighborhood”:

A late afternoon stroll in the Sonoma “neighborhood” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Moon rise during our late afternoon stroll in the Sonoma “neighborhood” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

See also: WINE & ART: THE PERFECT PAIRING IN SONOMA, CALIFORNIA (https://goingplacesfarandnear.com/wine-art-the-perfect-pairing-in-sonoma-california/)

For excellent planning materials, visit Sonoma County Tourism, 800-576-6662, info@sonomacounty.com, www.sonomacounty.com, www.sonomacounty.com/things-to-do.

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© 2022 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Getaways, US Destinations

Weekend Getaway in Enchanting Mendocino

November 12, 2021 krubin723

Mendocino, California in its values and culture, is more “Coastal Elite” than “49er.” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Eric Leiberman & Sarah Falter

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

At first blush, Mendocino on California’s northern coast is reminiscent of Cape Cod’s coastal towns but with a definite Western twist, like the wooden water towers (we wondered if they are still used, considering Mendocino’s water crisis), some repurposed into shops, like one that houses a Spells shop. This is expressed also in the charming architecture, much of it Victorian and the natural setting – high cliffs than drop into the Pacific Ocean – dramatic and spectacular.

Indeed, Mendocino seems to epitomize today’s California in
values and culture – the northern part, at least. The boutique shops,
restaurants and markets are high end, high quality but not pretentious – they are artful and earthy. There are any number of holistic, New Age-y, naturalist services and organic food markets. Mendocino is more “Coastal Elite” than “49er.”

Headlands Coastal Trail. Menodocino is more “coastal elite” than “49er” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The town itself hugs the rocky coast, providing a stunning scene from the coastal cliff walk, Headlands Coastal Trail, that snakes around and turns on itself for two miles. There is constant drama as waves rise out of green, aquamarine ocean crash against rocks, rush through rock tunnels with a roar and then spit up through a rocky blowhole.

Despite COVID and despite a drought so severe the town has
to truck in water, Mendocino is charming, welcoming, and exudes tranquility (and resiliency) – all is right with the world in this slice of heaven.

Fog Eater Cafe, Mendocino © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

After a pleasant, relaxing morning at Little River Inn, we head to a delightful Sunday brunch at Fog Eater Cafe. Indeed, we join a line
that has formed before the quaint restaurant with a 1940s/50s diner vibe for indoor dining and a gorgeous garden for outdoor dining, even opens. The hearty menu is a vegetarian fusion of Deep South/New Orleans and NorCal (if you can imagine that), big on comfort food, served on gorgeous, random antique China with silver utensils. It’s a hoot, a feast for the eyes. You didn’t imagine Southern food could be vegan? The whole menu is vegan except for poached eggs and the preparations make you forget you’re not eating meat.

Sunday brunch at Fog Eater Cafe, Mendocino: corn bread French toast © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

I get the corn bread French toast with apple, soaked in syrup. There’s fried cauli+ waffles (fried cauliflower and green onion sorghum waffle with pepper jelly and spicy sorghum syrup); pimento cheese and
black-eyed pea sausage biscuit sandwich; savory oatmeal with local tempeh bacon, roasted carrots, braised greens with either poached egg or tofu. Fog Eater Café is open for Sunday brunch, happy hour, and dinner when menu items might include Cheesy Pumpkin Grits, Fried Blue Oyster Mushrooms, fried green tomato biscuit sliders and a Southern Plate featuring mac ‘n cheese. The beignets come with a rhubarb jam. Natural wine, local beer and wine-based cocktails are also served. (Outdoor dining available for all; indoor dining for fully vaccinated guests; also take out; no reservations, 45104 Main St., Mendocino, CA 95460).

“Come in for a spell” at Loot and Lore, Mendocino © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

With great delight, we walk each street to explore the lovely shops and galleries in Mendocino (the village’s scale is perfect) – coming upon such special places as the Mendocino James & Preserves, Moore Used Books and Big River Trading Company on Main Street; the Artists Co-op of Mendocino, My Chic Farmhouse, and Icons on Albion Street; Mendocino Country Store on Ukiah; Mendocino Chocolate Company, Déjà Vu, on Lansing Street. Most intriguing is Loot and Lore, a wicca supplies shop on Albion, housed in a former water tower, where the sign that greets you is “Come in for a spell.” (We peek in through the window because it was closed when we visit.)

Water tower houses Loot and Lore, Mendocino © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We particularly loved Compass Rose (613 Albion Street), featuring American Crafts – the oldest family-run business in Mendocino, established 50 years ago; the father makes the leather items; there are also stunning objects in glass. Also, Rainsong offering exquisite contemporary clothing, accessories – you could imagine a millionaire coming to Mendocino for a weekend, buying a house and furnishing it and their wardrobe in one spot – the quality and designs are spectacular (10470 Lansing Street).

Compass Rose, Mendocino © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The galleries are marvelous – you never know what you will discover. I am enthralled coming upon the wildlife and nature photography of Jon Klein at the Lansing Street Gallery, which accurately describes itself as “a hub for coastal and Bay Area artists, representing a diverse, vibrant and creative community” in the best fashion (lansingstreetgallery.com)

I especially love Mendocino’s rich heritage – mixed or repurposed but preserved – like the water towers that once supplied the homes (and may well again, considering the drought). Besides the historic Ford House that now serves as the Visitor Center for Mendocino Headlands state park, the Kelly House Museum serves as the town’s historical society and offers docent-led walking tours ($20 pp) as well as self-guided audio tours (707-937-5791, www.kelleyhousemuseum.org).

Historic Mendocino Hotel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We loved wandering into the historic Mendocino Hotel, established 1878 – as you walk through the door with its etched glass into the Victorian lobby, you feel you have crossed through a time portal.

But what most transfixes me is the sculpture atop the Masonic Hall, dating from 1873, “Time and the Maiden,” which has become Mendocino’s iconic landmark.

“Time and the Maiden” atop the Masonic Hall has become Mendocino’s iconic landmark © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

I later learn that this exquisite sculpture by Erick Albertson, “the first Worshipful Master” of the Masonic Hall, was hand-carved “out of a single virgin redwood trunk”, is over 10 feet high and wasn’t specifically commissioned for the hall. Albertson, who undertook construction of the hall in 1866, “created the statue as a personal exercise of craftsmanship” but the Masonic members wanted it for the hall, so had a cupola built to support it.

Also known as ‘Father Time and the Weeping Maiden,” the haunting scene depicts a weeping girl reading from a book that rests on a broken column, an hourglass at its base; she holds an urn in her left hand and a sprig of acacia in her right, as Father Time, depicted as an angel with wings and carrying a scythe, stands behind her, tenderly braiding her hair.

“Time and the Maiden” atop the Masonic Hall has become Mendocino’s iconic landmark © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

According to Wikipedia, the hour glass symbolizes the brevity of human life; the scythe and the urn foreshadow its end; the broken column symbolizes a life cut short prematurely, the weeping maiden represents those who mourn; the open book represents the enduring record of accomplishments. Acacia was the wood is specified in the Book of Exodus to use to build the Ark of the Covenant, and is also an evergreen known for its resistance to fire and decay, signifying the immortality of the human spirit. The symbols are drawn from history or mythology, and are used in Masonic rituals and rites.

The masons have their own understanding of the symbols which boil down to “time, patience and perseverance will accomplish all things.”

But to me, the girl symbolizes lives cut short – so common in Albertson’s day. Father Time is also the Angel of Death but his scythe remains in its sheath. He is taking his time, tenderly braiding her hair. Perhaps she is telling him she has not yet had the opportunity to fill the pages of that book. Perhaps we are witnessing a negotiation. Has the hour glass run out for her?

The Masonic Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and though sold to a savings bank in 1977 which operates on the first floor, the Masons continue to hold their meetings there on the second floor.

Mendocino cherishes its heritage © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Mendocino was the first of several north coast towns founded between 1851 and 1920 – the heyday of the lumber industry. German immigrant William Kasten was bound for gold country in 1850 when his ship ran aground off Mendocino coast; in 1851 he filed papers claiming the land. San Francisco engineer Harry Meiggs built a sawmill at Big River in 1852 and Little River was founded in 1854 as a mill town supplying the lumber that built San Francisco.

In 1854 Jerome B. Ford, superintendent of the first sawmill and founder of the town, built a home overlooking the Pacific. Today, the Ford House serves as the visitor center for Mendocino Headlands State Park and houses various exhibits.

Mendocino cherishes its heritage and what’s old can be new again © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Many who found their fortune not in California’s gold but in lumber built these magnificent Victorian buildings. But over-logging resulted in depletion of the forests and led to businesses and the school being abandoned – until new enterprises, like the vineyards and tourism, repurposed and repopulated the area. (We stay at Little River Inn, opened by Ole Hervilla, a pioneer of Mendocino’s tourism, who converted his 1857 house into the inn in 1939).

We can’t leave Mendocino without returning for a brief walk on a favorite section of the Headlands trail, just before it starts to rain. Considering the drought, I expect to see people rushing out and dancing.

Headlands Coastal Trail, Mendocino © Eric Leiberman/goingplacesfarandnear.com

During our all-too brief but oh so perfect weekend in Mendocino, every moment is filled with something special, and yet so unhurried and relaxed. We are able to enjoy the Skunk Train, Glass Beach, Noyo Harbor and Headlands Coastal Trail, as well as exploring Mendocino’s lovely shops, boutiques, markets and eateries. But there are scores of other places and experiences – so many with enchanting names and providence (Glass Beach, Pygmy Forest, Fairy Trail) – and we can’t wait to return.

On our list (with help of the Brewery Gulch Inn and Little River Inn):

Beaches

Van Damme State Beach (the Little River Inn has its own trail down to the beach directly below). Among the activities, this is the launching point for sea cave tours by kayak (Kayak Mendocino, www.kayakmendocino.com, 707-813-7117)

Caspar Beach on Point Cabrillo Drive off Highway One. “Good rock and tide pooling during low tide”

Big River Beach just north of the bridge in Mendocino, where the redwoods meet the sea, is reached from the Presbyterian Church on Main Street to a staircase to the beach. “The most popular beach with lots of activity- surfers, volleyball, etc. Soft sand, river side is often warmer, currents can be dangerous”

Hikes:

The Haul Road at Big River – “Flat and straight, easy walk into the redwoods with a stroller”

Van Damme Pygmy Forest: Fern canyon and ecological staircase walk.“Wooden walkway has educational signage about the pygmy forest. Both walkway and trail are easy for shorter legs and strollers.”

The Fairy Trail – inside the Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg. “Discover fairy dwellings and other surprises. The Gardens are hilly, so bring stroller or prepare to carry little ones.”

Jug Handle State Preserve – just north of Caspar on Highway One, which is recommended by a couple we meet at the Fog Eater. “Best example of an Ecological Staircase in the Western Hemisphere.”Hike through six different ecological zones – a five million year old ecological staircase with ancient marine terraces – wander through tall pygmy forests along a creek canyon. “Great educational science hike for older kids. Be sure to pick up the guide in the parking lot that explains everything.”

Montgomery Woods – first-growth redwood groves (there is an uphill half-mile hike to the virgin redwood groves)

MacKerricher State Park – scenic boardwalk along the ocean to tide pools and seal observation points or walk around the lake.

Ten-Mile Beach – dunes and miles of deserted beach, just north of Fort Bragg past the railroad trestle. – good for walking and biking.

Activities/Attractions

Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens – 47 acres overlooking the Pacific

The Point Cabrillo Light House – (Schedule of events at PointCabrillo.org)

Bryan Preserve – in Point Arena: Preserve and breeding of endangered African hoof animals (Weekends, by appointment only). “The 2-hour Jeep tour better for older children”

CV Starr Aquatic Center, Fort Bragg: Water park with lazy river, water slide (must be 48”), and fountains.

Driving 128 through the Navarro Redwoods Forest © Eric Leiberman/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The drive back to Sonoma along Route 128 is gorgeous – taking you through the Navarro Redwoods Forest and Anderson Valley wine region where we stop off at Husch Winery for a wine tasting (we enjoyed the wine at both the Brewery Gulch Inn and Little River Inn). It is very picturesque setting for wine tasting amidst the 21-acre vineyard of Pinot Noir (the vineyard was the first to grow Pinot here), Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer grapes (they require a warmer climate). Husch, founded in 1968, was one of the pioneering vineyards in the Anderson Valley and has used sustainable farming techniques since the 1960s (owl boxes help with gopher control, no till farming, sheep as mowers, insectory, cover crops, fish friendly farm). In 1971 Husch made history by becoming the first bonded winery in the Anderson Valley. H.A. Oswald (neighboring grape growers) purchased the winery from Tony and Gretchen Husch in 1979; today the Oswald grandchildren run the day-to-day. (Husch Vineyards, 4400 Highway 128, Philo, CA 95466, 800-554-8724, huschvineyards.com)

Husch Vineyards © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We also stop at the PennyRoyal farm in Boonville, famous for its cheese and wine, happy to show off its 23 acres of vineyards, sustainable farming practices and traditional winemaking methods. The rain now coming down heavily (and you need a reservation for a tasting or tour), we stop just long enough to buy delectable cheese produced from their sheep and goats (www.pennyroyalfarm.com).

For excellent planning help: Visit Mendocino County, 866-466-3636, 707-964-9010, www.visitmendocino.com.

WEEKEND IN MENDOCINO: HISTORIC SKUNK TRAIN INTRODUCES A NOVEL RAILBIKE EXPERIENCE

WEEKEND GETAWAY IN MENDOCINO: LITTLE RIVER INN

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© 2021 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights
reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at
goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Destination Weddings, Getaways, Hotels & Resorts

Weekend Getaway in Mendocino: Little River Inn

November 11, 2021 krubin723

By Karen Rubin, Eric Leiberman & Sarah Falter

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

It is just after sunset when we arrive at the Little River Inn, perched on a lovely curve on the Mendocino coast with a commanding view of the ocean. Little River Inn is one of the oldest lodgings on this dramatic stretch of the Northern California coastline, family-owned for 80 years. Over the years, it has expanded, upgraded and modernized in delightful ways to be a true luxury resort with the charm of an inn and ideal for everything from a romantic getaway to a family adventure to a destination wedding.

The original house that is the nucleus of the inn was built in 1857 by Silas Coombs, and has remained in the family ever since. Grandfather Ole Hervilla, clearly a pioneer in turning Mendocino’s economy from lumbering to tourism, turned the original building into an inn in 1939, which is now run by its fifth generation innkeeper, Cally Dym.

The original house that is the nucleus of the Little River Inn was built in 1857. Grandfather Ole Hervilla, a pioneer in turning Mendocino’s economy from lumbering to tourism, turned the original building into an inn in 1939, which is now run by its fifth generation innkeeper, Cally Dym © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Set on 225 wooded acres, the old Coombs home is now surrounded by 65 ocean view rooms in townhouse-style units where you have your own entrance and your own balcony and luxurious amenities like Jacuzzis, steam showers, private hot tubs, gas and wood-burning fireplaces, superior quality bedding and linens. There is also a lovely dining room in the original building and a legendary Ole’s Whale Watch bar.

The Little River Inn is distinguished by having a nine-hole golf course – the only golf course on the Mendocino coast (Ole actually built it himself in 1957 after being dissuaded by the cost of hiring golf architects); two tennis courts with lights for night play, and a day-spa.

Dining in the inn’s restaurant is sublime. The garden has been opened for outside seating (actually it is a tent) as an accommodation for COVID but has proved extremely popular – we sit among twinkle lights at the base of redwood trees.

Little River Inn has turned its lush garden into a dining space © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The sophisticated menu offers a host of delightful preparations, marvelous flavors and gorgeous presentation. Sarah indulges in the Spicy Lobster Tagliolini prepared with lobster meat, lobster-tomato broth, yuzu caviar and house-made Tagliolini pasta (one of the “small plate” offerings that is sufficient for a main course); mushroom agnolotti prepared with “black pearl” oyster mushrooms, ricotta, parmesan with a black truffle cream and pecorino tartufo. Eric savors the Cioppino, prepared with Dungeness crab, clams, shrimp, local rock fish, simmered in a tomato-fennel broth; and I delight in good ol’ Ole’s cheese Burger with flourishes of grilled onions, tomato, mayo, pickes, Pain de Mei bun, prepared with perfection.

Chef Dym’s Spicy Lobster Tagliolini prepared with lobster meat, lobster-tomato broth, yuzu caviar and house-made Tagliolini pasta © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

These are the creations of Chef de Cuisine Jason Azevedo who has largely taken over from five-star chef Marc Dym, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America and was named Executive Chef at Little River Inn in 2006 after Marc and Cally (the fifth-generation Innkeeper) were married. Azevedo brings a modern twist to classic American-regional cuisine and have garnered Little River Inn high Zagat ratings.

Schedule a tee time at Little River Inn’s Audubon-certified 5,458-yard, nine-hole golf course. Tucked among redwoods and pine trees, it offers majestic views of the Pacific and some “unexpected” challenges.

The Little River Inn’s Audubon-certified 5,458-yard, nine-hole golf course – the only golf course on the Mendocino coast – offers great views and interesting challenges © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

I love the colorful back story that once again features Ole Hervilla, who turns out to have been a major visionary for Mendocino’s tourism: After watching Arnold Palmer play on television, in the 1950s, he got the idea to build a golf course at the inn because it would be a draw for guests. Locals were skeptical that anybody would want to play golf on the coast (tell that to Pebble Beach). Working with his own contractors (after getting cost estimates from golf architects), he opened his course in 1957.

There is also a driving range, putting green, two lighted tennis courts (available free to guests; they even supply the racquet) and fully stocked Golf and Tennis Pro Shop (call 707-937-5667 to reserve a tee time).

Little River Inn’s Spa offers a full array of services including customized massages and facials (open daily, 10 am-5 pm).

Reveling in a quiet cup of coffee on our balcony at Little River Inn, looking out to the Pacific Ocean © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

All of this – the setting, accommodations, dining, amenities – makes Little River Inn prime for destination weddings from elopements to grand affairs of 200, reunions, as well as events and functions, with four different venues.

The inn is especially welcoming to families and offers Family Discovery and Family Adventure packages, and children under 16 stay free. Pet-friendly units are also available (check out the Water Dog package). Other packages include Stargazing, Romance, there are also special offerings for festivals and seasonal promotions.

Stroll down Little River Inn’s private trail to Van Damme State Beach to enjoy the sunset and the tidepools © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Little River Inn is perfectly positioned to take advantage of all the attractions in Mendocino, Fort Bragg. You can stroll down its private trail down to Van Damme State Beach where there are 10 miles of hiking trails, a Pygmy forest, beach and tidepools.

View from Little River Inn lawn © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

And so, after lingering over coffee sitting in rocking chairs on our balcony, reveling in the view to the Pacific Ocean, we set out to thoroughly explore Mendocino.

Little River Inn, 7901 N Highway 1, Little River, CA, United States, 95456, 888-INN-LOVE, 707-937-5942 www.littleriverinn.com.

For excellent planning help: Visit Mendocino County, 866-466-3636, 707-964-9010, www.visitmendocino.com.

WEEKEND IN MENDOCINO: HISTORIC SKUNK TRAIN INTRODUCES A NOVEL RAILBIKE EXPERIENCE

WEEKEND GETAWAY IN ENCHANTING MENDOCINO

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© 2021 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Attractions, Getaways, Historic Places, Outdoors Adventures, See America

Weekend in Mendocino: Historic Skunk Train Introduces a Novel RailBike Experience

November 10, 2021 krubin723 2 Comments

The legendary Skunk Train on the Pudding Creek track, out of the historic depot in Fort Bragg, California © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Eric Leiberman & Sarah Falter

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Our Mendocino, California weekend sojourn continues. From the Brewery Gulch Inn, where we stayed our first night, it is a picturesque 20 minute drive up the coast to Fort Bragg for the Skunk Train, a vintage steam train that weaves through the redwood forests of the Noyo River Canyon. That was alluring enough, but what really captured our imagination was the idea of riding a “railbike” on the same train tracks through the forest. Railbike?

Before you board the Skunk Train or railbike, sure to visit the model train display and the historic exhibits across the track from the Skunk Train depot © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Train buffs will be absolutely ecstatic to visit the historic train station, walk across the tracks to a fantastic model train exhibit and historical society exhibit housed in appropriately aged buildings (so atmospheric), then board the train for a fairly short ride about 3 ½ miles down the track along the Pudding Creek, to Glen Blair Junction before returning, for a total of 7 miles. Weather permitting, you can ride an open car or sit inside the vintage cars.

Boarding the Skunk Train at Glen Blair Junction © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Since 1885 the historic Skunk has made its way through these old-growth redwood groves, over scenic trestle bridges, through tunnels, and into the heart of the Noyo River Canyon, primarily for logging purposes. Today, the repurposed train offers five trains that ply two different routes and two different railbike experiences.

First the railbike experience.

Riding the railbike through the redwood forest en route to Glen Blair Junction © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Two of us have already gotten onto our railbike (it seats two people) – custom-built, patent pending, specially designed like a recumbent, where you sit back, outfitted with electronic-assist, and virtually silent so you can really appreciate the forest.

We take the more modest of the railbike trips that are offered, The Pudding Creek railbike trip, which gives you an excellent taste and can be done by just about anyone. It is 7 miles roundtrip traveling along the same tracks as the scenic train – in fact, the trips are coordinated so the railbikes leave first, then the train, then the train leaves and the railbikes follow. (Note: it is downhill most of the way but uphill most of the way back, along a grade that is higher than most railroads – no problem, you have the motor assist!). There are two guides who accompany us – one in front and one in the back. People follow one after another but everyone is independent.

Railbikers return to the station © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

One person is designated the “driver” (the other is the passenger) who is given an orientation before we set off how to brake and use the electronic assist; the passenger just pedals (it is manageable for a parent and young child). It is fun, and you get this wonderful opportunity to just chat and be together as you roll through the forest.

The Puddle Creek railbike excursion takes less than two hours, including time at Glen Blair Junction where we get off (as the railbikes are reversed for the return), and can walk a delightful forest loop trail.

This gives the historic train time to arrive, the train passengers to also get out and stretch, and depart before the railbike riders start back. The guide gives us some narration here and points to where the train tunnel has collapsed.

While Eric and I set out on the railbike, Sarah boards the train at the Fort Bragg depot for the relaxed, scenic 7-mile roundtrip journey on the Pudding Creek Express, traveling along the same Pudding Creek Estuary through primeval ancient redwoods forest to the Glen Blair Junction.

The stop at Glen Blair Junction gives the railbikers time to hike a short trail in the redwood forest which brought industry and settlers to Mendocino © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Trains also stop at Glen Blair Junction for 15 minutes, allowing the passengers to get off and explore. But if you would like to spend more time walking the trails among the redwoods, you can stay behind and catch the next train (roughly two hours later). You can bring a packed lunch (to enjoy at the picnic tables set out there.

We organize it so I switch off with Sarah who has come on the train so she can experience the railbike and I can experience the train on the way back (how clever of me since the return was more uphill). Both were delightful experiences and the length well suited to families with young children.

The Skunk Train claims to be the crookedest train in the West © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

On the way back I hear the narrator say these were some of the first tracks ever laid down by the California Western Railroad in 1885 and have been used in some fashion just about ever since. He claims it is also the most crooked train in the West, possibly the world (though I would need confirmation of that). 1940s music is playing as we roll along. I mostly stay in the open car but wander through the passenger cars to see what that is like.

The Skunk Trains operate with both Diesel-Electric engines and a #45 Baldwin 2-8-2 Mikado Steam Engine, the Super Skunk, pulling the passenger cars, including a bar car with snacks, non-alcoholic drinks, beer, wine, and spirits, as well as an open air car.

Train buffs will love the back story of this historic train: the Fort Bragg Railroad was formed in 1885 to make transporting lumber easier, eventually being incorporated into the California Western Railroad, commonly known as The Skunk.

The train played a vital role transporting families and workers to their logging camps along the route, making The Skunk a different type of railroad, the website notes: It not only was key to the area’s economic activity but also its social and cultural life. “No other logging railroad in America has made the deep impression on American life that was created by the line from Fort Bragg – first by the natural beauty of its route and later, by the distinctiveness of its equipment,” the website boasts.

The nickname “Skunk” originated in 1925 when motorcars (actually railbuses or railcruisers) were introduced on the line. These single unit, self-propelled motorcars had gasoline-powered engines for power and pot-bellied stoves burning crude oil to keep the passengers warm, but the fumes they emitted had a very pungent odor that people living along the line said smelled like skunk. “You could smell them before you could see them.” (No longer the case.)

The Skunk Train dates back to 1885 and played a vital role transporting families and workers to their logging camps along the route, and not only was key to the area’s economic activity but also its social and cultural life © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The California Western Railroad was first operated as a division of the Fort Bragg mill (Union Lumber Company, Boise-Cascade). In the mid-1960s, Arizona-based Kyle Railways began managing the railroad and purchased it in 1987. In August 1996, a group of local Mendocino Coast investors purchased California Western, marking the first time in its 111-year history that the line operated as an independent business. Today the Skunk Train is owned and operated by Mendocino Railway.

The Pudding Creek train operates year-round and the railbikes operate rain or shine, so just bring raingear if the weather isn’t great).

The Pudding Creek railbike excursion is $250 for one or two people; the train is $41.95 (Ages 13 and up); $25.95 (Ages 2-12), Infant: $10.95; Dog: $10.95.

Be sure to visit the model train display and the historic exhibits across the track from the Skunk Train depot © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Train buffs should consider the longer excursion, the two-hour Wolf Tree Turn a scenic 16-mile roundtrip journey departing from the Willits valley floor that takes you over the summit of the line (1740 feet elevation), through Tunnel #2, and down into the Noyo River Canyon where you are immersed in the redwood forest that made Mendocino County famous. The train stops briefly at Crowley, giving passengers the opportunity to visit one of the oldest and most iconic trees along the route, the Wolf Tree (named for the large growth off of one side which woodsmen called “wolf trees”) (Adult: $49.95; child: $29.95; Infant: $10.95; Dog: $10.95).

There is a much longer, more ambitious railbike experience, as well: a four-hour excursion that travels the Redwood Route takes you 25 miles along the meandering Noyo River and deep into old-growth redwood groves on a section of track now reserved exclusively for the railbikes ($495/railbike for one or two people).

Eric and Sarah pedal the railbike © Eric Leiberman/goingplacesfarandnear.com

There are loads of seasonal and themed events as well: Cinema in the Redwoods; Music in the Redwoods; Magical Christmas Train; Easter Express, Pumpkin Express; summer BBQ trains, murder mystery trains, the Mushroom Train, the Crab & Cremant train and Railbikes by Moonlight. The trains can also be used to host corporate meetings, picnics, parties, proms, weddings, baby showers, and team building.

The Pudding Creek railbike excursion is $250 for one or two people; the Pudding Creek Express train departing Fort Bragg year-round is $41.95 (Ages 13 and up); $25.95 (Ages 2-12), Infant: $10.95; Dog: $10.95.

Skunk Train, 100 West Laurel Street Fort Bragg, California 95437;
299 East Commercial Street Willits, California 95490, www.skunktrain.com.

Glass Beach

From here, it is a very short distance to go to Glass Beach in Fort Bragg – one of the absolute highlights of this place. The intriguing name and spectacularly picturesque scene belie the origins of the beach and why it is covered with tiny, shimmering pebbles of sea glass like gemstones: Rather than the sea glass floating in on waves from various places and mysteriously collecting here, the sea glass is in this space because it was once a garbage heap and the glass bottles tossed away over the years have broken down, smoothed and rounded by the rhythmic waves. There is a finite amount of glass so though it is illegal to remove any glass, people take what they think is an insignificant amount, and over the years, has drained the beach of much of what it used to have. Still, it is magical.

The water crashes against rocks just off the shore here, making for dramatic scene (but not suitable for swimming or letting kids venture into the water). You can hike north up to Pudding Creek Beach where a paved multi-use trail crosses over an old train trestle; other trails go south from Glass Beach to other glassy beaches.

Dramatic scenery at Glass Beach, Fort Bragg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Glass Beach is at the southern end of the sprawling MacKerricher State Park in Fort Bragg, which is noted for birdlife and harbor seals.

You can hike from Glass Beach north up to Pudding Creek Beach where a paved multi-use trail crosses over an old train trestle; other trails go south from Glass Beach to other glassy beaches © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

From here, we follow the Brewery Gulch Inn’s concierge recommendation to lunch at Princess Seafood in Noyo Harbor, an actual fishing port where various restaurants have sprung up to serve the fresh catch. Princess Seafood not only is totally operated by women, but the fishing boat that brings in its catch is run by women, as well.

We take the short drive into Mendocino to explore this charming place.

Headlands Coastal Trail

You literally step across Main Street from Mendocino’s charming shops and eateries to enter Mendocino Headlands State Park, a 347-acre park that envelops this enchanting village. The coastal trail is nothing less than spectacular: dramatic 70-foot bluffs providing views of rocky offshore islands, tide pools and beaches below. The hiking trail begins at the Ford House Visitor Center and continues for some 2 miles around the entire bluff of the headlands to the north side of town.

Our hike starts overlooking Noyo Bay, then snakes around to open views of the Pacific.

One of the highlights of this incomparable trail is Portuguese Beach, named for the Portuguese sailors from the Azores who were among Mendocino’s early settlers. The tide is low enough when we take the stairs down to Portuguese Beach to come upon these fabulous formations of driftwood, and can see at water level the rock arch. Eric can’t resist and with great abandon, plunges into the frigid water. The beach, its sand surprisingly soft, is aptly named, since it is reminiscent of the beaches in Portugal’s Algarve.

Encompassed by high bluffs, Portuguese Beach is reminiscent of the beaches in the Algarve of Portugal © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Continuing on the trail, we see remnants of the logging that was Mendocino’s primary industry, and, at a promontory about half-way along the trail, you take a small path to a blow hole/punchbowl where the ocean smashes up through a hole in the rocks, with a roar and a splash.

Coming upon the blow hole on the Headlands Coastal Trail © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Rounding the bend, there are dramatic rock formations. Offshore and north of the west end of Little Lake Street is Goat Island, a large flat offshore rock that is part of the California Coastal National Monument where you are also likely to see various shorebirds and seabirds. Indeed, it is a good idea to bring binoculars because whales and birds can be seen throughout the year.

Headlands Coastal Trail © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The visitor center for Mendocino Headlands State Park is in the Historic Ford House on the south side of Main Street near the beach. It is worth a visit especially if you are interested in local history and the flora and fauna you are likely to encounter at the beaches and on the trails nearby. Walking tours are also available. There are public restrooms at the north and south ends of the Headlands- on Heeser Drive and near the Ford House.

The Headlands trail is a fabulous place to watch the sunset – the sun literally falls into the ocean – before we head to our next destination, Little River Inn.

For excellent planning help: Visit Mendocino County, 866-466-3636, 707-964-9010, www.visitmendocino.com.

WEEKEND GETAWAY IN MENDOCINO: LITTLE RIVER INN

WEEKEND GETAWAY IN ENCHANTING MENDOCINO

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© 2021 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Adventure Travel, Camping/Hiking/Outdoors, National Parks, Outdoors Adventures, See America

Road Trip: Discovering Death Valley’s Treasures, Richer than Gold

March 6, 2021 krubin723 3 Comments

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Laini Miranda, Dave E. Leiberman & Eric Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

In the quest, so very popular in these days of coronavirus, of finding open spaces to become renewed, revitalized, revel in nature and contemplate one’s place in the universe, there is no better place than Death Valley National Park, spanning California and Nevada.

Our four-day trip to Death Valley has an overlay of planning that goes beyond planning for hiking in a vast desert: the coronavirus pandemic. It impacts our route, where we stay (an Air BnB at the outskirts and the Ranch at Death Valley in the park, having double-checked their COVID-19 protocols), how we organize food and water to take with us (and ice chest) to cut down on the need to eat out.

And our itinerary is designed to pack as much as possible from such an expansive landscape into such a limited time. In the process, we discover that we are very much following in the footsteps of the miners who came before seeking the treasures in these landscapes. For us, the treasures we find are not the material kind, but even more enriching.

With an eight-hour drive ahead of us, we calculate when to depart in order to get to Death Valley in time to begin our exploration. With meticulous planning and organization that the Army would be proud of, we pull away from Sonoma at 5:39 am, taking an interior route, east toward Tahoe, then south, passing the eastern side of Yosemite National Park.

The fall scenery all along the way is breathtaking, going from wilderness, through these little Western towns and ranches.

We pass the ski resorts at Lake Tahoe, where the road takes us up to an altitude of 8,000 ft. and temperatures as low as 19 degrees, and by the end of the day, down to 275 feet below sea level at Death Valley. As we drive out of Tahoe, we watch the thermometer ticking up a degree every mile, until reaching the 80s. Actually, the weather is quite cool and comfortable for Death Valley, which is the hottest place on the planet, with ungodly temperatures that reached 130 degrees this summer, but can also get frigid in winter. Our visit, in October, is actually a terrific time.

Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Preserve

Laini plots our route so we would stop at Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Preserve, in Lee Vining, California, where we have a picnic lunch. The first sight of Mono Lake from the highway above is astonishing: a stunning, ethereal scene with its brilliant aquamarine color and striking tufa formations. We stop at the overlook and then drive down along the shore to the parking lot. The visitors center is closed (because of COVID-19 restrictions), but we go into a trailhead that leads to a short boardwalk to the lake edge.

California created the reserve to protect these spectacular “tufa towers,” calcium-carbonate (limestone) spires and knobs formed by the chemical interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water. The reserve protects the lake surface as well as the wetlands and sensitive habitat for the 1 – 2 million birds that feed and rest at Mono Lake each year.

Covering 65 square miles, Mono Lake is ancient – over 1 million years old and one of the oldest lakes in North America. Freshwater evaporating from the lake each year has left the salts and minerals behind so that the lake is now about 2 1/2 times as salty as the ocean and very alkaline. “The extremely high salinity and alkalinity of Mono Lake has created a rare ecosystem, supporting a complex food chain of green algae, brine shrimp and alkali flies, and more than 80 species of migratory birds.” (www.parks.ca.gov)

(Highway 395, 13 miles east of Yosemite National Park, near the town of Lee Vining, California, 760-647-6331, www.parks.ca.gov; also www.monolake.org).

We stop off at Carroll’s Market (probably the last one we will see), which actually gets high ratings on Yelp, especially for its blue cheese dressing, and has become its own attraction. We buy a dozen gallon jugs of water and stop off to fill up at a gas station.

Death Valley National Park

Father Crowley Vista Point view over Rainbow Canyon, a colorfully striped canyon created by ancient volcanic activity, nicknamed “Star Wars Canyon” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

After a long flat stretch with mountains in the distance, we drive the winding mountain road (make sure you have a full tank of gas), entering the park at Panamint Springs. We stop at the Father Crowley Vista Point for the view over Rainbow Canyon, a colorfully striped canyon created by ancient volcanic activity. Nicknamed “Star Wars Canyon”, it’s where the military practices Star-Wars type of flying. The wind today is so intense, it practically throws us over.

(Nearby is Darwin Falls, a seeming oxymoron in this desert place, quickly turning from a gravel canyon to a lush oasis of cottonwoods and willows, creek crossings, and finally 20-foot waterfalls, a two-mile roundtrip hike, which we have marked down for a return visit.)

We stop at the historic Stovepipe Wells Village – like something out of a Western movie – that links back to the very beginning of tourism in Death Valley. In fact, long after mining gold, borax and talc had collapsed, tourism has been the enduring enterprise in Death Valley.

Stovepipe Wells General Store evokes the earliest days of tourism to Death Valley © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Herman William “Bob” Eichbaum effectively invented Death Valley’s tourism industry here, believing its “beauty, mystery and history” would attract tourists. Indeed, since 1915, motion pictures, automobile companies and writers weaving tales and promoting advertisements sparked interest (early social influencers) in visiting. In 1925, Eichbaum built a 38-mile toll road over Towne Pass and 20 tent-style bungalows, a restaurant, general store and filling station. He opened the Stovepipe Wells Hotel in 1926. Just a few months later, the luxurious Furnace Creek Inn was opened by the Pacific Coast Borax Company, setting off an intense rivalry. Most enthralling is that both places are still around and give you this sensation of stepping back in time. (Open year-round, deathvalleyhotels.com, 760-786-7090).

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

It’s only a short drive from the village to reach Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, a little after 4 pm, giving us at least one hour before sunset. We have just enough time to play on the dunes and watch the colors (and temperature) change with the setting sun. People bring cardboard sleds, using the sand like snow.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes is an extraordinary setting: sprawling over 14 square miles, ringed with mountain peaks, the contrast of colors, shapes, contours is just stunning.

In late afternoon, the sand is cool enough to take off shoes and feel remarkably soft granular sand on toes. We climb the dunes –as much as 150 feet high- wowed in the colors of the golden hour as the sun descends. All the pure joy you had playing in a sand box when you were four comes bursting through.

The best time to visit is the early morning or late afternoon; on a dawn hike, the notes say, you might see tracks of nocturnal animals and if you hike at night in the warm months, they warn, be alert for sidewinder rattlesnakes (I’m still thinking about the tracks of nocturnal animals).

Designed to Death

We drive on, reveling in the scenes of the road disappearing into the far distance, headed to our Air BnB, with the intriguing name, Designed to Death, in the small town of Beatty, about 20 miles outside the park’s eastern border (Las Vegas would be about 1 ½ hours beyond). Though the name evokes Agatha Christie, it is breathtakingly beautiful, cozy luxury, with a bit of a Western vibe – easily explained because the hosts are interior designers and the house is a showplace for their talent.

We are here for too short a time to fully enjoy all that the house affords. Set on an isolated stretch of high desert, the 1,200 sq. ft., three-bedroom, two-bath vacation home was designed by Peter Strzebniok to incorporate the vistas, providing stunning views while making the desert part of the interiors – merging the inside with the outside. What we do thoroughly enjoy though, is the large open kitchen, dining room, living room, that opens onto a 900 sq. ft deck with hot tub. The Presidential Suite at a five-star hotel would not have been any nicer or more comfortable.

Our Designed to Death Air BnB hosts are Karen McAloon, an interior designer who works in San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, who was an HGTV host and her partner was her producer. (They have two sister properties, Hip Modern cottage of Amazingness in Lake Tahoe, @hipmoderncottageofamazingness, and Too Pool for School in Joshua Tree, @toopoolforschooljtree.)

They provide excellent notes – like the nearest place for supplies would be at Family Dollar, but the nearest actual grocery is 70 minutes south at Pahrump. They also supply tour information of nearby ghost towns, museums, attractions and of course Death Valley National Park. There is an interesting note about the wild burros that we might see (there is even a traffic sign like a deer crossing), which are descended from burros abandoned by miners a century ago. “Don’t feed them, they can be destructive. They tend to be down at the creek in the morning and wander into town at night.”

We take full advantage of the gorgeous kitchen to prepare dinner (we brought food for dinner and breakfast).

Rhyolite Ghost Town

Rhyolite, a Death Valley ghost town © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.

The next morning, we pack up quickly and head out early morning with a plan to stop off on our way into Death Valley to visit an actual ghost town, Rhyolite.

It is so fascinating to try to piece together what this town might have been like and to realize how big it was – most surprising, really (especially when you see the context) is what’s left of a hotel and casino. A casino! “100 years ago, Rhyolite was the largest city in southern Nevada with more than 10,000 residents. Yet after only a decade, the town became a ghostly remnant of itself” – a classic boom and bust story, with all sorts of lessons about the transitory nature of success in the span of history. It is tremendously exciting to wander about these ruins, so dramatically set.

In its heyday, between 1905-1911, Rhyolite had two churches, 50 saloons, 18 stores, two undertakers, 19 lodging houses, eight doctors, two dentists, a stock exchange and an opera.

The ruins that remain today include the Bottie House, the train depot (there is a caboose there), the remains of a three-story bank building and the jail.

It is one of several ghost towns that are scattered through Death Valley, “the silent ruins of broken dreams.”

*Death Valley in art: “Rhyolite Bank Window,” a Death Valley ghost town, by Laini Nemett (2020, 12 x 9 in, oil on linen on panel). Visit www.laininemett.com.*

Next: Hitting the Highlights of Death Valley National Park

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© 2021 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

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