Fly into Sonoma County Airport (STS)<\/a>, right in the heart of the Santa Rosa vineyard region, and convenient as a connection from major hubs like Los Angeles, Seattle and Las Vegas.<\/p>\n Other options:<\/u><\/p>\n Head first to the storybook town of Occidental, and check into the Inn at Occidental<\/a>, a cozy, 28 room retreat nestled at the base of a beautiful redwood forested hillside that\u2019s perfect for letting kids burn off steam with Mother Nature. Theme rooms are fun, like the Safari suite boasting a giraffe mural. There\u2019s a seasonal swimming pool, and you\u2019re just steps from the Village\u2019s restaurants, Friday Night Farmers Market, Performing Arts Center, and eclectic shops like Mad Hatter Toys, or Hand Goods, offering a fine selections of locally-crafted works such as pottery, hand knits and jewelry.<\/p>\n Other options:<\/u><\/p>\n After a morning touring the village, enjoy lunch at the Union Hotel<\/a>, founded as a railroad saloon and boarding house in 1879, and now home to a lovely Italian caf\u00e9, bakery and pizzeria. Run by the property\u2019s owners since 1925, the caf\u00e9 is pure charm, from the red-checkered tablecloth tables set with candles dripping over Chianti bottles, portraits of the original owners on the walls, and whimsical touches like a jukebox. Favorites include chicken Parm, grilled rib eye with mushrooms, Margherita pizza, a mouthwatering spaghetti\/ravioli combo smothered in Bolognese, and an appealing kids menu.<\/p>\n Other options:<\/u><\/p>\n Next, amble over to Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve<\/a>\u00a0in nearby Guerneville. This 805-acre oasis is a quiet place for a leisurely stroll among towering coast redwood trees. As huge as the park is, it\u2019s easy to navigate, over the mostly flat, mile-and-a-half long round trip Pioneer Nature Trail. Some of the most pop\u00adu\u00adlar trees include the Ici\u00adcle Tree, with its mys\u00adte\u00adri\u00adous \u201cburl\u201d for\u00adma\u00adtions, the Colonel Arm\u00adstrong Tree, esti\u00admated to be over 1,400 years old, and the Par\u00adson Jones Tree, towering to 350 feet (that\u2019s taller than a football field is long).<\/p>\n Other options:<\/u><\/p>\n Downtown Guerneville offers plenty of amusement for everyone, as well, browsing eclectic toy stores, vintage shops and art galleries, and a romp at Johnson’s Beach<\/a>, just beneath Guerneville\u2019s entryway bridge. Here, you can lounge on the spotlessly clean river sandbar with rentable umbrellas and beach chairs, or on the water, meandering its gentle currents with by-the-hour canoes, kayaks and pedal boats.<\/p>\n Other options:<\/u><\/p>\n For dinner, Three Alarm Grill<\/a>\u00a0on Main Street satisfies everyone with its tasty prime rib specials, chicken pot pie, and the River Dog, an all beef Vienna hot dog wrapped in bacon, with BBQ sauce and fries.<\/p>\n Other options:<\/u><\/p>\n Finally, after the kids are tucked in at the hotel, mom and dad can head to Barley and Hops Tavern<\/a>, to sip local craft beers, nibble on big, warm German pretzels dunked in spicy mustard, and groove to live music on weekends.<\/p>\n Day 2:<\/strong><\/p>\n Welcome morning with a delicious breakfast at Howards Station Caf\u00e9<\/a>, a quaint Victorian home-turned-restaurant complete with a dine-in porch. The menu is expansive, ranging from corned beef hash and homemade biscuits, to smoked salmon Florentine omelets, crab Benedict, and even tofu rancheros with soy cheese.<\/p>\n Other options:<\/span><\/p>\n Fueled up, it\u2019s time to zip over nearby Sonoma Canopy Tours<\/a>, for zip-lining. The course wings you up to 25 miles per hour through an Occidental redwood forest, over a ravine 300-feet below, and along a creek. Part of the fun is just getting to the jump canopies, since eleven different platforms test your clambering skills, too, daring you to scale a skinny spiral staircase 30 feet up, and wobble across a 175-foot-long sky bridge.<\/p>\n Other options:<\/u><\/p>\n Next, channel everyone\u2019s energy \u00a0to Scandia Family Fun Center<\/a>\u00a0in Rohnert Park, near Santa Rosa. This is a kid\u2019s fantasyland including two 18-hole miniature golf courses complete with tiny buildings, bridges, and waterways, 18 batting cages with slow pitch and fast pitch, bumper \u201cblaster\u201d boats equipped with water sprayers, a Lil\u2019 Indy Raceway, and an indoor game arcade.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n By now, you\u2019re hungry, so skip over to the new Amy\u2019s Drive-Thru<\/a>\u00a0just up the street. It\u2019s fast food with burgers, burritos and pizzas, but everything is purely vegetarian and made from scratch. You don\u2019t even have to tell the kids \u2013 they won\u2019t notice it\u2019s not meat in the divine Amy\u2019s Burger of two veggies-grains-mushrooms patties topped with double cheese, tomato, onion, Sonoma Brinery pickle, and Fred Sr.\u2019s regular or spicy secret sauce all on a toasted bun.<\/p>\n Other options<\/span>:<\/p>\n Scamper over to Petaluma now, for a complimentary (reservations, please) tour of Mrs. Grossman’s Sticker Factory<\/a>, the oldest and largest sticker company in the United States. You can admire some of the millions of stickers getting printed, plus there\u2019s a\u00a0sticker museum, a gift shop, and a class where kids \u2014 young and old \u2014 can decorate postcards using the signature stickers.<\/p>\n Next, head into nearby Santa Rosa, for a tour of the Charles M. Schulz Museum<\/a>. The entire family surely adores Peanuts, and this is a true museum celebrating the longtime former Santa Rosa resident cartoonist. Spanning 27,000 square feet of whimsy and art, including about 7,000 original cartoons, it\u2019s the largest collection in the world. The Peanuts crew was often seen skating in popular strips, so in tribute, Snoopy\u2019s Home Ice<\/a>\u00a0operates year-round just around the corner from the museum, too, with open public skating and skate rental daily.<\/p>\n You\u2019re ready to put up your feet for a bit by now, so check into your rooms at Flamingo Conference Resort & Spa<\/a>\u00a0in Santa Rosa. Newly remodeled luxury rooms attract modern guests for sleek fixtures in cozy palates of gold and cream, yet the property is still a beloved heritage destination for its stylish wood-trimmed rooms that once welcomed celebrities like Jayne Mansfield.<\/p>\n The low-slung style of dramatic stone and glass spans several wings of suites around a lavish pool and expansive gardens, now designated a Historic Landmark, and still 1950\u2019s retro-chic marked by a<\/p>\n revolving, neon trimmed 50-foot tower capped with a spindly legged pink bird neon sign.<\/p>\n Bonus: all stays include a breakfast buffet and free wine tasting passes at a rainbow array of nearby wineries, while mom and dad will like the salsa dancing lessons in the ballroom, too.<\/p>\n Other options:<\/u><\/p>\n Finish for dinner at Flavor Bistro<\/a>, located on Old Courthouse Square. This Cal-American bar and eatery is a see-and-be-seen destination for business folks, politicians, neighborhood regulars, and the occasional very lucky tourist who happens to discover a local (secret) treasure. Dinner is a particular jewel, starting with the extensive Sonoma-centric wine list, and luxurious entr\u00e9es such as pan-roasted quail, center-cut short ribs, or roast duck in honey-balsamic reduction.<\/p>\n On Farmhouse Wednesdays, the kitchen sends out full, first-rate family style suppers with a glass of wine included, for a jaw dropping $18.95. That might mean chicken Parmigiana, creamy garlic potatoes, arugula pasta, winter veggies, saut\u00e9ed spinach, Blue Lake beans, heirloom tomato soup, organic romaine salad in lemon-Romano dressing, warm stone oven bread with butter, and pear tart with Chantilly cream.<\/p>\n Other options:<\/u><\/p>\n As you\u2019re ready to fly home, keep this in mind: Alaska Airlines invites you to check up to a case of wine for free when you depart from the Sonoma County (STS) \/ Santa Rosa Airport.<\/p>\n Need more information, please visit sonomacounty.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you are looking for a vacation package, please check out our Napa and Sonoma Valley Package<\/a>, and start planning your next getaway!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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