Every couple or months or so, my wife and I get away from the
kids, work, dog, house -- everything. It is just us and we don’t have a care in
the world. We recently went away to Sonoma, only about 1 ½ hours from our
house. But it was a great couple of days full of rain, small towns and great
food.
First we decided to stay at “The Lodge” in Sonoma. It is in
the Marriott family so we figured we could not go wrong. It is listed as a Category 9 hotel, which is the marriott brand for the top of the line. So we thought it would
be pretty nice and out in the vineyards of Sonoma. Boy were we mistaken! The hotel is
right on a busy street in Sonoma and was more like a Residence Inn from the
1980s. At best I would say at Category 6 hotel. Not a Category 9. They are in
the process of upgrading the property. But I don’t think that will help much. I
am guessing you are paying for the Sonoma name more than anything. Very disappointing.
Ok. Now that I told you the bad now for the good. We found
great food in Sonoma. We got on the internet and found this little Tuscan family owned restaurant in downtown Sonoma-- Della Santina’s. We were greeted at
the door by the owner, who was from the Tuscany region of Italy. Since Paige
and went to Italy a couple of years ago we talked about the area and found we
had been in his home town. From that time on we got the best treatment you
could imagine. He pointed out the best items on the menu and we enjoyed the food and conversation. The food was excellent and next time we are in Sonoma we will
go to his restaurant. I just wish we had more small family owned restaurants in
Folsom.
The next morning we headed to Petaluma. About 20 minute drive from Sonoma. We enjoyed the cute little downtown and walked in and out of shops just window shopping. We had a great time looking in the Christmas Shop (Every little town has a Christmas shop). We love going into the antique shops and getting ideas for Paige's business Daisy Blossom Creations. We also read about the history of the old victorian mansions in town. There are Some beautiful homes in the old downtown.
Because of the rain we spent most of our time in the car or running from shop to shop. We decided to find a movie to see. Since neither of us had seen "Arrival", we tried to find a theater that was still playing it. We found a theater on the way home that night to see Arrival. The only theater was in Walnut Creek, CA. About a 45 minute drive from Petaluma. And kind of in the direction of home. So we headed across the Bay to Walnut Creek.
- Hint 1: for diner and movie in Walnut Creek. You need reservations at any restaurant that is close to the mall. It was a mad house.
- Hint 2: Pay of the Valet parking in the big garage. We spent 15 minutes driving around trying to find a place to park. We finally paid $15 to valet the car. Well worth it.
After we finally parked, We get up to the ticket counter to get our tickets to Arrival. The theater switched the film being shown from Arrival to Split, and weren't showing Arrival in that theater anymore. There were a several people in line that where upset. Just like us they had driven to that theater since it was the only one in the area showing "Arrival". We ourselves, had just drove 45 minutes to get there and spent $15 to park in a free parking lot. So we decided to just see "Split".
One of the things I love about my wife is we just love being together. We take changes in plans very easy and we always seem to find a way to have fun. When we go on these small getaways it brings back all of the great memories of our courtship. Stealing moments together and forgetting about the world around us.
DWP
