A Press Democrat Blog

Breakaway

Touring your Wine Country backyard

Be a celebrity guest in Geyserville

Monday, at 5:03 by

Geyserville is where you might find the outrageous, the quirky, the classy. The little town that sits in the shadow of Healdsburg and fancies itself “The Wine Capital of Sonoma County, ” is where you’ll find the quirky Isis Oasis Egyptian-style sanctuary, renowned art collector Steve Oliver’s extraordinary private outdoor gallery of site specific art, the River Rock Casino and Francis Ford Coppola’s winery, Rustic restaurant and day resort. Lady Gaga was recently spotted dining at the homegrown Catelli’s. It’s… Read More »

Take a learning staycation in Anderson Valley

Tuesday, at 3:52 by

Wise elders will share decades of knowledge and experience in a series of workshops at The Madrones, a little bit of Italy in the middle of Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley. Host Jim Roberts, a designer who has spent years creating this tasteful center for food, wine, art and respite along Highway 128 in Philo, has tapped neighboring luminaries like Fran Gage, chocolate and sparkling wine entrepreneur John Scharffenberger and former San Francisco Botanical Garden director Walt Valen, to lead workshops… Read More »

Sonoma Canopy Tours offers helmet cams to record thrills

Monday, at 1:42 by

In case you’re too terrified or awestruck to register what you’re seeing as you fly through the trees, Sonoma Canopy Tours is offering handy Helmet Cams to help you record the moment. Ziplining through the redwoods as if you were a fortunate bird is a singular way to get out of your subdivision and enter a completely different world for an afternoon, no rocket ships or submarines necessary. And think of the Facebook likes you’ll rack up with your own… Read More »

Classic car show returns to SoCo Fairgrounds

Wednesday, at 12:24 by

Greg Grundstrom is bringing back the classic car shows he loved so much as a kid. The 33-year-old exotic car mechanic is behind the revival of the Santa Rosa Custom Auto Show, debuting at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds this weekend, March 9 to 11. You don’t even have to be in to motorsports to be entertained  by the beauty of a rare or highly customized car. After all, aside from the Amish, we all ride in cars. So if you’re… Read More »

Napa Valley hotel lets you leave the workout gear at home

Monday, at 11:57 by

If you find yourself overnighting in Napa without your workout gear the Westin Verasa has got you covered. The hotel will lend you everything you need to work off some of those extra calories picked up after a long day of tasting and one of Chef Ken Frank’s four course pre-fix meals at the hotel’s hot restaurant, La Toque. For $5 guests can rent a pair of New Balance 759 neutral trainers, a pair of brand new socks and a… Read More »

Madrona Manor one of OpenTable’s Top 100 Romantic Restaurants in U.S.

Friday, at 5:03 by

Open Table diners have declared Healdsburg’s Madrona Manor one of the most romantic restaurants in the country. The Victorian jewel perched on a knoll at the entrance to the Dry Creek Valley was one of only five Bay Area restaurants to make the Top 100 list of romantic dining spots. The list was culled from  5 million reviews of 12,000 restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Unlike populist critic websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor, OpenTable allows… Read More »

Walking tours offer new look at Napa Valley

Friday, at 1:14 by

A walking tour can help you see through new eyes, a neighborhood, a street or a building you have may have already visited 100 times before. The Napa County Landmarks Commission is leading a series of walking tours that will offer new insights into familiar valley spots. The series begins Saturday, Feb. 4, with a stroll through Fuller Park. When you exit the park 90 minutes later you will know who C.H. Fuller was and why a park is named… Read More »

New kitchen-equipped trolley tools among Sonoma Valley tasting rooms

Thursday, at 5:15 by

Several months ago we tipped  you off to The Vine Line, a purple school bus that will shuttle you among wineries in the Sonoma Valley so you can taste away with no worries about getting behind the wheel. Now there’s another way to safely tool around the Valley of the Moon’s better tasting rooms. The Sonoma Wine Country Trolley is an authentic reproduction of an early 1900s San Francisco cable car. But the similarity is skin deep. Like a fine… Read More »

Farmhouse Inn package with Cyrus is a 3 Michelin Star Deal

Wednesday, at 2:38 by

We told you earlier this month about a sizzling  hot deal between Cyrus and The Healdsburg Inn good through April. Well Sonoma County’s most exclusive restaurant is also teaming up with Forestville’s Farmhouse Inn for a Celebration Package that can be added on to any overnight stay. For $395 you can get a three-course dinner for two at The Farmhouse Inn Restaurant and a five-course dinner for two at Cyrus, along with a Russian River Wineroad cookbook. All in all… Read More »

Scorching deal for Healdsburg Inn with dinner at Cyrus

Friday, at 1:02 by

The first time the Healdsburg Inn on the Plaza teamed up with Cyrus Restaurant five years ago the response was so fast and furious the hotel’s phone system crashed. Needless to say, it sold out immediately.  So Breakaway is breaking this scorching hot deal as early as possible to give interested followers a chance to score a rare reservation. The $405 deal includes an overnight at the 12-room boutique hotel overlooking the plaza and a five-course dinner for two at… Read More »