Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Sonoma-Bodega Adventure 1: The Road Trip

Since we were visiting my grandson and his family for a week and a half, and since he goes to school and they work on weekdays, I thought the wife and I would take a two-day outing to Sonoma and visit a friend who had just moved there.

We left on a Monday, spent the night in Sonoma (California wine country!), The next night in Bodega Bay (the setting for Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 thriller classic, The Birds), then drove back to a Fremont on Wednesday.

My iPad map app gave me several choices on how to get there. I took the easiest route that started off on U.S. I-880, transitioning into the I-580, past the Bay Bridge, past Oakland, over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (aka the John F. McCarthy Memorial Bridge), to San Rafael, then transitioning onto California 37 and California 12 into Sonoma.

As soon as we got there, we toured the Viansa Winery, then wandered around Sonoma Plaza and several historical buildings downtown. We also visited with my friend at the Sebastiani Winery in town, and that night, we had dinner with her at a trendy restaurant just up the street from our hotel.
 
The next morning, we set out for Bodega, stopping at the B.R. Cohn Winery, and then took a tour of the Benziger Winery in Glen Ellen. I drove farther north to Santa Rosa then took a straight shot west on Bodega Highway, first to Bodega to see the schoolhouse, then to Bodega Bay for dinner and the night.
On Wednesday morning, we drove a little farther north on California 1 to Spud Point to buy some of the best clam chowder and crab sandwiches I ever had, returning to Fremont with them safely packaged in the front seat.
Driving back to Fremont was easy – California 1 to Petaluma, then the U.S. Interstate 101 south to the I-580, back over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to the I-880. It was then a straight shot south to Fremont, where we started from.
It was a good road trip. Good sights, good food, smooth sailing most of the time. Even being lost can be fun. I'll tell you about our adventures next.
Tomorrow: Our day in Sonoma

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