Category Archives{GLBT}

Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender

Tuna tartare topped with tobiko caviar and micro greens at The French Garden.

Dining Alfresco in Sebastopol’s French Garden

by TravelAndrew9 months ago in GLBT.0 Comments

The dining room at the charming French Garden Restaurant & Bistro is unquestionably inviting, with its hardwood floors, Oriental rugs, crimson and mustard walls, and white tablecloths. On a sunny day, however, there’s no place I’d rather dine than at one of the granite-top tables on the restaurant’s breezy patio, which is fringed by floral and herb gardens. Umbrellas and {…}

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Tips on Shipping Wine Home From Sonoma County

by TravelAndrew9 months ago in GLBT.1 Comment

Given how often I blog about favorite wineries in Sonoma, I thought I’d share a few thoughts on transporting purchases back home. I often make my trips to and from Sonoma by car – I live in Portland, Oregon, and the drive takes 10 to 12 hours. If you’re driving long distances during especially cold or hot times of year, {…}

Main gallery wall at the much beloved Charles Schulz Museum. Photo courtesy Charles M. Schulz Museum.

Pop Art Exhibit at Charles M. Schulz Museum

by TravelAndrew9 months ago in GLBT.0 Comments

One of Santa Rosa’s most famous residents, the late Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz is the subject of one of the city’s most enduring attractions, the Schulz Museum. This 27,000-square-foot museum and research center contains more than 7,000 original Schulz strips as well as outdoor gardens, and a theater with regularly scheduled events and programming. Through December 11, the museum {…}

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Walk off Those Wine Calories at Windsor Oaks

by TravelAndrew10 months ago in GLBT.1 Comment

It takes a little effort to find 710-acre Windsor Oaks Vineyards & Winery – the sunny property in the foothills of the Russian River Valley enjoys a beautiful, secluded setting up a long, happily winding unpaved lane. More than half of the property has been preserved as open space – much of the rest is planted with the Pinot Gris, {…}

Scene at Bottoms Up in Santa Rosa. Photo courtesy Bottoms Up SoCo.

Bottoms Up Celebrates Anniversary with GLBT Pool Party on July 17

by TravelAndrew10 months ago in GLBT.0 Comments

For the past year, the weekly gay dance party known as Bottoms Up has been taking place Thursday evenings at the nightclub in the back of the Santa Rosa Days Inn (3345 Santa Rosa Ave., just off U.S. 101 at Todd Rd. [exit 485]). These parties featuring drag shows and Djs typically run from 9:30 till 2 am and attract {…}

The patio at Gold Coast Coffee is a perfect way to start your day. Photo by Andrew Collins.

Breaking for Coffee in Duncans Mills

by TravelAndrew10 months ago in GLBT.0 Comments

I often make the beautiful drive between the Russian River and the Sonoma Coast, cruising along the lazy, redwood-shaded curves of Hwy. 116 on my way out toward Jenner, and then motoring happily along the similarly windy yet spectacular Hwy. 1 up toward Fort Ross to the north, or Bodega Bay in the other direction. These roads are made for {…}

Photo by Andrew Collins.

Reinventing the Diner in Southern Sonoma

by TravelAndrew10 months ago in GLBT.1 Comment

Along Hwy. 12 in the southern part of the county, between the towns of Sonoma and Napa, the dining options are slim – this is a beautiful stretch of road, close to some excellent wineries, including Homewood Winery, Nicholson Ranch, and a gem of a newcomer, Scribe, that I’ll be blogging about later this summer. There aren’t many businesses along this stretch, but {…}

The Red, White & Boom fireworks are the largest in Sonoma County.

Three Days of 4th of July Fireworks

by TravelAndrew11 months ago in GLBT.0 Comments

The 4th of July is a Monday this year, and that’s helped some communities around Sonoma to stagger their Independence Day-related festivities and fireworks shows. This is great news if you’re a fan of pyrotechnics displays and all the revelry that comes with these annual celebrations.  You can see all the events happening around the 4th here.   July 2: {…}

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Summer Picnic on Bodega Bay

by TravelAndrew11 months ago in GLBT.0 Comments

On one of the warmest, sunniest spring days along Sonoma’s rugged coast, my friend Pennie and I drove out along Bay Flat Road, just off Hwy. 1, around the west shoreline of sheltered Bodega Harbor. We were hungry, and I’d promised Pennie a look at the town and harbor immortalized on film in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 thriller, The Birds. As {…}

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Monte Rio’s Highland Dell Lodge

by TravelAndrew11 months ago in GLBT.0 Comments

I have a slightly sentimental appreciation for the rustic Highland Dell Lodge, which sits along a peaceful stretch of the Russian River as it winds down through the village of Monte Rio on its journey to the ocean. The rustic 1906 lodge, the first in Sonoma County to provide guests with hot running water, lies between the river and a {…}