After four days in the gorgeous California wine country we’re now wrapping up our stay in Santa Rosa. Tomorrow we’ll head back towards to the coast to Halfmoon Bay State Park a bit south of San Francisco. We’ve been busy with lots of exploring and while I had the best intentions to write a few short posts during our time here, somehow that didn’t happen. So instead of writing a novel length post detailing everything we’ve done and seen in the past few days I am going to let the photos tell the story. Besides, it’s Sunday evening and I’m feeling a bit lazy…
Sonoma County Fairgrounds
We visited the Matanzas Creek Winery in Santa Rosa.
Autumn grape vines
The winery is unique because of the on-site lavender farm. This time of year the blooms have been harvested and the plants are pruned for the winter. We would have liked to see and smell the lavender in bloom, but there is no denying that the perfectly pruned plants hold a unique beauty of their own.
Lavender Fields
In addition to the lavender and vineyards Matanzas Creek is also known for their amazing grounds. We spent awhile walking around and admiring all gardens.
Landscaping in front of the tasting room, Colorful Beech tree, Unique wooden fountain, Smoketree
A seat with a view, Stunning fall colored oak, Tim relaxing
Kousa Dogwood seeds pods, funky tree trunks, more fall colo
Matanzas was the only winery we visited, but not the only one we saw. We spent one day driving around the area from Santa Rosa to Napa through the Sonoma Valley and back up the Silverado Trail. The scenery was awesome with vineyards covering the landscape and the rolling hills as a stunning backdrop. The roads are lined with wineries- so many that it would take weeks to visit them all.
Vineyards and hills
Santa Rosa is a charming city with lots of parks and green space. We visited a different city park each day of our stay.
Spring Lake Regional Park & Howland Memorial Park
We love dog friendly parks
One of the parks we visited was in downtown Santa Rosa and the start of the Santa Rosa Creek Trail. The first section of the trail is home to a collection of murals and local artwork.
Mosaic art in Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa has a historic downtown called Railroad Square.
Railroad Square
We worked up quite an appetite from all that sightseeing and park visiting. In general we don’t eat out that often, but during our stay in Santa Rosa we managed to eat one meal out everyday. There was dinner and drinks at the Russian River Brewing Co., frozen yogurt at Yogurt Farms for dessert, to go sandwiches for a picnic in the park from Angelo’s Deli and Smokehouse, and another lunch of burgers, grilled cheese and fries from In and Out Burger (my first visit ever). I think we filled our eating out quota for awhile!
In and Out Burger, Russian River Brewing, Tim & beer, Frozen yogurt
