ARTrails is a big event here....A program of the Arts Council of Sonoma County, ARTrails is an annual fall tradition and Sonoma County's largest and most visible arts event. Celebrating its 22nd year and voted "Sonoma County's Best Outdoor Art Event", ARTrails provides a rare opportunity for the public to meet local artists in their studios and learn about their diverse creative processes and techniques. Through hands-on demonstrations as well as intimate conversations, ARTrails artists will take you into their world where colors, shapes, materials, and textures merge into unique and collectible works of art.

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We have a lot of Farmer's Markets here in Sonoma County, and all are good. The latest addition to the Friday night market in Occidental is Kashaya's Brick Oven Pizza. She has a brick oven trailer that she fires up at the market, and makes the most incredible pizzas. Tonight's menu included spinach, garlic and ricotta (yum!), potato, rosemary, and mushroom, and apricot, strawberry, and slivered mushrooms.

We took home two pizzas, one for tonight and one to freeze. Delicious!

The main drag in Petaluma offers restaurants, cafes, antique stores, specialty shops and galleries, and is right along the river to boot! The San Francisco Chronicle just published a nice piece on some highlights of the street not to miss!


Petaluma is getting ready to celebrate it's 150th anniversary, so it will be a festive time all through the year!

Petaluma is just a half hour from "At the Bay's Edge". If you're coming from San Francisco, you can pass through on the way in or out of town!

Candy and Kites hosts their "Friday Night Fun Fly" at Doran Beach from 6-7pm every Friday night through October (just a few minutes away from "At the Bay's Edge"!).

Bring your own kites or come out and demo theirs! They have a large selection of kites for you to try, just ask and they will see what they can pull out of the bag for you!

If you've never flown a stunt kite, this is the perfect way to try one!

Happy kite flying!

The Local Color Art Gallery is featuring a display entitled "Uniquely Bodega Bay" from January 5th - February 10th. This display focuses exclusively on the sights and scenes in Bodega Bay.

The Local Color Art Gallery is located just a few minutes from "At the Bay's Edge". They feature artwork from over 25 Sonoma County artists and have one of the most popular galleries on the north coast.

Enjoy!

Many folks think about wine tasting as just a spring, summer, or fall activity. Winter is actually a great time of year to go wine tasting, as the wineries are all "dressed up" for the holidays and there are no crowds. You'll have a chance for a more personalized tour, and lengthier discussions with the winery staff.

Here are maps of the Sonoma County Wineries, and the Russian River Wineries, all of which within an hour's drive of "At the Bay's Edge".

Enjoy!

My daughter and I went for a ride along the beach for her birthday. One of the things we kept meaning to do....well, we finally just did it! Chanslor Horse Ranch is just a few minutes from "At the Bay's Edge". We booked an hour and a half ride along the beach. We went on a weekday and were the only two in our group, our guide was fabulous....very knowledgeable about the horses and the area.

Chanslor offers both trail rides and beach rides, and you can go for an hour or an hour and a half. They also offer pony rides.

We had a great time and I'm looking forward to going again!

Point Reyes Vineyards, family owned and operated on scenic Highway 1, overlooking the beautiful Point Reyes National Seashore, is less than a half an hour from "At the Bay's Edge".

We had a wonderful time tasting wine, enjoying cheese, and talking to the servers and the other guests that came in. It was a tough choice, but we ended up buying several bottles of their 2000 Merlot. They spent a lot of time with us talking about the winery and the area in general....they're very knowledgeable and the winery has a great small family feel to it.

The vineyards are only a few miles from the Tomales Bakery, the Tomales Bay Oyster Farms, the Cow Girl Creamery, and of course the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse. So plan an afternoon of wonderful treats and a spectacular drive!

The Bodega Art and Wine Festival will be held August 25 - 26th in Bodega.

The ever popular seafood art and wine festival, now in it’s 13th year, showcases the best of Sonoma's wineries, breweries, artists, and craftspeople. This event also features outstanding regional musicians and of course, a delicious selection of seafood, a kid's funzone, as well as environmental exhibits. It's a really good time for all! Enjoy!

Candy and Kites hosts their "Friday Night Fun Fly" at Doran Beach from 6-7pm every Friday night through the summer (just a few minutes away from "At the Bay's Edge"!).

Bring your own kites or come out and demo theirs! They have a large selection of kites for you to try, just ask and they will see what they can pull out of the bag for you!

If you've never flown a stunt kite, this is the perfect way to try one!

Happy kite flying!

For those that don't want to go deep sea or sport fishing, there is great trout fishing just five minutes away from "At the Bay's Edge"!

The Hagemann Ranch Trout Farm's Fishing pond has been stocked with Rainbow Trout for over 25 years! It's a great family adventure, and they provide everything you need.

This is a busy season for the sport fishing boats....whale watching season is still in full swing (through April 30th), and sport salmon season opens on April 7th.

There are several sport fishing locations within 5 minutes of "At the Bay's Edge"...check them out!

Will's Fishing
Bodega Bay Sportfishing Center
Bodega Charters
The Boat House 707-875-3495

The Sonoma Coast Visitors Center will host, ‘Chowder Day’ on Saturday, Feb. 3rd. Last year hundreds of people came to taste and vote for their favorite clam chowders and receive discount coupons to local businesses.

To participate, come to the Visitors Center at 850 Coast Highway One, located next to the Tides 76 gas station, between 11am to 3pm to pick up your guide/map to the Bodega Bay restaurants serving the clam chowder.

See if you can detect the secret ingredients each restaurant uses to make their chowder unique. You get to be the judge! When you return the map/guide with your comments to the Visitors Center, you’ll receive a packet of discount coupons to be used at the participating restaurants.

I had company in town this weekend and one of the trips we took was to Fort Ross State Park -- just 20 miles north of "At the Bay's Edge" on Hwy 1. Fort Ross was an important part of California history during the 1800’s. The settlement of Ross was established in 1812 for trade to Russian outposts in Alaska.

Fort Ross was also the site of California's first windmills and shipbuilding, and Russian scientists were among the first to record California’s cultural and natural history. Fort Ross was a successfully functioning multi-cultural settlement for some thirty years. The tour through the Visitor Center and a walking tour of the grounds proved to be a fun and informative outing!

There are many areas in and around Bodega Bay and the Sonoma Coast to bicycle...one of our guests just spent the day out at Bodega Head and said they could see for miles and miles up and down the coast.


Here's a good resource for bike rentals...or bring your own!