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A Trip Up To The Russian RiverBy David CurrierOK! OK! I know you’re in a rush. And I’ve got a story to tell, too. But you want to know up front “what’s there to do in the Russian-River-that-I-never-heard-of?” The River is not a place for “rush”. However, here goes - a “Google search” of URLs of my own experiences. You can start at www.russianriver.com, www.russianrivertravel.com, or go directly to your favorite activities:
CAUTION: You are about to enter a diversity-zone. Russian River (passport not required) is a favorite spot of the mega-rich-and-powerful (Bohemian Grove - www.bilderberg.org/bohos.htm) and the migrant laborer (Main Street @ Safeway, Guerneville). You’ll encounter leather harnesses and body piercings, tattooed bikers and leftover flower-children, national politicians in fine restaurants, gay men and women, and families of all genders with screaming rug-rats in strollers. And Ward and June Cleavers, too! Please click here to indicate that you will leave your prejudices at the intersection of California 101 and River Road before proceeding into the Russian River Valley. [I agree]
Northern California’s soft seasons, fall and winter, have days often punctuated with gusty winds and cold rains. Gentle mists can lend a primeval tint to any photograph, painting or poem you might produce in an attempt to capture Nature taking her annual nap. Hiking in the deserted forests will heighten your senses that have long lain dormant. The deciduous trees have shed their leaves, and trunks and branches of all sizes stand naked and lonely among the evergreens of fir and redwood. Chickadees dart from one branch to another and then onto the ground, singing all along. Deer brave the inclement weather (their backs so wet in the sunless afternoon that I shiver for them) while they search for food in golden hillside pastures and dusty-green salt marshes. Squirrels seem to shout at me to “get out” of their closed-for-the-season yard. Seasonal rains occasionally bring a torrent of raging Russian River water into downtown Guerneville and carry a fresh supply of rich silt to the valley vineyards of some of America’s top wineries. As Nature takes her toll or delivers her blessing, representatives of global news organizations descend in a pack on this otherwise quiet community.
Stop at one of the many top restaurants for breakfast along the way back to Guerneville, and you’re ready to visit Davis Bynum or Topolos Russian Vineyards. There are dozens of fabulous wineries in Russian river. And many have tasting rooms open year round. The two I mention happen to be among my favorites – because of their fine affordable wines, and because of their rustic unpretentious atmosphere. Buy a bottle of your favorite and head back to the fireplace! Two wine festivals (among several) – A Wine and Food Event (November), Winter Wineland (January) – each provide entertaining off-season experiences in the world of wine making.
Barrel Tasting ushers in spring at the vineyards.
Barrel Tasting (March) provides us amateur wine lovers with an opportunity
to taste raw wine – partially fermented juices just drawn from their
barrels. How the professionals identify at this stage those that will be
mediocre and those that will be gold-medal winners beats me. But I laughed
my way from vineyard to vineyard, tasting what I think is much like what
California used to ship as real wine back in college-Mateus days. (How
Horseback riding at Armstrong Woods Pack Station is another way to exercise the soul.
Obviously, lots of cash is flowing into Napa and Sonoma for their chardonnays. Personal editorial comment: Californian winemakers need to go back to Chablis, France. I think if I hear the terms butter and oak in the same sentence again….. Few California chardonnay makers have yet to provide America with an impressive French style wine made from the chardonnay grape. (Off your soapbox, David!) In California, I’ve adopted the ABC approach to white wine tasting – ‘anything but chardonnay’. Among others, for white, the fume blancs (a.k.a. sauvignon blanc) and viogniers are delicious. A Valley gewurztraminer will do your spicy foods ‘good’, too.
Visits to winery tasting rooms provide us with the same back-to-nature sensation as buying fresh vegetables or apples at a rural farm stand. A nurturing feeling consumes us with our purchases. But if you do not have time for visits to the wineries and you want to take a few great bottles back home with you, drop into the Bottle Barn on 3331 Industrial Drive in Santa Rosa (707-528-1161). Just off highway 101, you will save $5 - $10 per bottle over vineyard or grocery store prices. There is no tasting room, however. Complimenting the world famous wines of the Russian River appellation, visitors are offered an unmatched variety of restaurants and cuisine. I say unmatched only because, in this forested almost rural area, creativity abounds. If you enjoy exciting dining experiences, you will not be disappointed in The River. The opportunities change frequently. The few mentioned here have been around for sometime.
Several upscale restaurants offer extensive brunch menus, too, including Cape Fear in Duncans Mills, with its cornmeal oysters and country sausage with scrambled eggs, or seven versions of “Benedict” and not an English muffin in sight.
Main Street Station, recognized by the State of California for contributions to the performing arts, is a popular jazz and blues venue (no amplification here, just fresh music and natural voices like Diane Swann’s). This Ristorante – Cabaret – Pizzeria – Deli (breakfast, lunch and dinner) serves outstanding, unique thick crust pizza along with pasta dishes and sandwiches. I never miss an evening or two at Main Street Station when in The River. ($2-5/table cover charge on nights with entertainment.)
Vacationers have been coming to The River since the early 1900’s. There are many older, even historic, and modern facilities to call your home away from home. One B&B to consider is the peaceful Raford House on Wohler Road overlooking vineyards nestled on the flood plane of Russian River – not far from fabulous wine tasting opportunities. (Designate your driver now!)
There are too may establishments to cover fairly within an article such as this. A URL has been provided at the beginning of this article to assist your search. Remember, the popularity of The River during all seasons makes reservations at both lodging and dining facilities very important. In Russian River, each season’s visual and sensual experiences define the mood that attracts the specific type of tourist that enjoys a vacation in that aura.
To explain the diversity of today’s Russian River social fabric, I think it’s appropriate to start with a visit to Guerneville’s community cemetery at the top of Highlands Hill. A sign at the gate says it was established in 1862, but earlier dates on several grave markers belie that notation. Actually, I love visiting cemeteries when I’m travelling. It’s not a fascination with death, but a compassion for life, family, memories, history – an opportunity to reflect on my own importance (or lack thereof) in the cosmos - that prods me. The answers to many riddles, the pieces to complete hundreds of fascinating delicate puzzles can be found on lichen-covered gravestones.
“America Sutton” – was she named by a joyous mother
recently immigrated to the land
Landing perfectly on heli-pad #3 at Sonoma count airport, passengers and crews of three balloons scurried to repack their balloons, load them onto trailers for the drive back to the launch site at Rodney Strong Vineyards. There we were served a gourmet breakfast, we chatted with new friends, the Aerostat staff. We hope to be back soon. And, soon, we will rush back at The River to recharge! Special thanks to the Russian River Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center. Photographs by author. |
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TM
Tasting
rooms of over a hundred world famous wineries, many of them
architecturally or historically significant, some which serve the White
House
Since
1980, as soon as the tires of my airplane have rolled to a halt at San
Francisco or Oakland airports, my rental car wheels have instinctively
guided me up route 101 to Sonoma County. I’ve visited the Russian River
Valley during every month of the year. Each month offers special gifts
to guests that choose to investigate what those months have to offer.
Although there are months when the song is true, “It never rains in
California”, there are times when rains come hard. For some travelers,
that’s a good thing. What better time to find cozy lodging with a romantic
fireplace, grab a bottle of Russian River’s finest vintages, hold your
lover, cuddle your children or let your mind travel far away on an
adventurous or lusty book. 
Here,
it seems, Mother Nature is not good at basic arithmetic when calculating the
date for the next 100-year flood. To compensate, valley homes and businesses
are often located up a flight of stairs, inches above the highest recorded
floodwater level. Street-level businesses often have a marker on a wall
indicating the height of the most recent intrusion.
When
you’re not sitting by the fireplace or hiking through Armstrong Woods, an
early morning drive to Jenner provides a great experience. Here on the
sandbars separating the Russian River waters from the Pacific, hundreds of
harbor seals (250 pounds) and lone sea lions (800 pounds) spend the night
resting out of the water. If you can move early in the morning and get to
Goat Rock State Beach before the fog starts to lift, your eyes or telephoto
lens will not be disappointed. 
Spring
arrives on the warmer rays of the sun. The mud between the rows of
grapevines coddles pools of brown water, refusing to let them slip away, as
if it knows that the brilliantly clear sky of a hot and dry summer is
lurking behind the redwoods. Dandelion yellow is among the first springtime
colors to be added to the river valley’s palette. Daffodils and roses,
planted at the end of many rows of vines, announce conception of the next
vintage of pinot noir, fumé blanc, zinfandel or cabernet. 
When
the floods recede, so do the weather paparazzi. Guerneville, “capital city”
of the Russian River valley, slips back into its special un-newsworthy time
warp. 
Summer
is here. Mountain breezes barely disturb the green needles on the tips of
gnarled limbs on towering redwoods. Vultures and hawks rise and soar over
green hillsides, their flight in quest of food supported by strong thermals.
Cool sea-green colored Russian River water again flows lazily under rusty,
seemingly prehistoric metal bridges at the various hamlets sleeping on its
sandy banks. Swimmers and sunbathers flock to ‘ole swimmin’ holes’, float on
simple rafts, skinny-dip in secluded eddies, kayak or canoe leisurely over
the moiré surface of The River. Picnic on the Russian River sandbars,
in Armstrong Woods or at a winery like Hop Kiln. (Try Hop Kiln’s Thousand
Flowers or Marty’s Big Red. Great values for casual picnics!) 
Wine
is king in The River (or queen, if you’re a business feminist). Visits to
wineries in summer and fall offer tasters opportunities to sample the most
recent vintages as they are released. There’s nothing more pleasing to the
wine taster’s palate than an opportunity to unlock the flavorful mysteries
of a new vintage red. Limerick Lane’s zins’ or Topolos’ Bella Lisa zin’
grab me. Meeker’s Five Kings is sumptuous with grilled meats and sausages.
Geyser Peak always has some great surprises in their reds! Geyser Peak and
Chateau St. Jean (outside The River, but worth a trip) have recently
produced wines ranked as best in the world! To the point, the cabs, pinots
and other fine Russian River wines from various vineyards are superb, many
of them making it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
If
you don’t have time to visit lots of tasting rooms, search out a wine store
with a tasting room like Wine & Cheese Tasting of Sonoma County in Duncan’s
Mills. It’s refreshing to sip wine with people who appreciate ok, good and
great wines and to discuss the experience unpretentiously. Check them out if
you take your ‘rush’ to The River with you!
Typical
American fare – hamburgers, fries and a microbrew – is everywhere. But your
adventuresome palate will never be disappointed. Starting with breakfast in
downtown Guerneville, there is Pat’s for omelets, sausages and cream gravy.
The Coffee Bazaar always serves muffins, quiche and frittatas with a
selection of fine coffee based drinks. (The Coffee Bazaar’s customer mix is
a slice of diversity in itself!). The River Inn has Swedish pancakes. Pasta
Boys, new to Main Street, offers breakfast to go (or dine in) if you’re
camping and don’t want to light the Coleman. 
So
much to eat, and so little time. For dinner, Stella’s in Sebastopol and Chez
Marie in Forestville, and Cape Fear are wonderful choices. And the funky
Jonathan’s, in a
seedy-100-year-old-not-a-level-floor-in-the-place-reservations-recommended,
appears to be a hang-out for “old money”. (Great rack of lamb.) Not far
away you’ll enjoy the Village Inn and restaurant in Monte Rio. Or back
towards highway 101 is the Farmhouse B&B and fine restaurant. 
Truly
upscale deluxe dining and lodging are available at Applewood Inn and
Restaurant in Guerneville and Madrona Manor located a half mile off 101 on
Westside Road in Healdsburg. Both are great locations for a romantic
anniversary or birthday dinner and stay. John Ash & Company is another fine
restaurant, located at River Road and 101.
The
Highlands Resort, a straight friendly establishment, consists of several
1930’s cabins and tent-sites. (Hot tub and pool areas are clothing
optional.) Located above the center of downtown Guerneville, resting under
towering redwoods, this technology-free (no TV, no radio, no phone in the
rooms) zone, is nirvana for someone who needs to escape the hubbub of city
life. Another resort in the middle of redwoods, Fern Grove Cottages is
conveniently located near the center of Guerneville, too. 
“We’re
going up to the “The River” on vacation,” is a cry of glee for the various
tourist-types who know and repeatedly visit the Russian River valley
playground. This cultural diversity of the local population and of the
tourists that visit the Russian River area contributes to the intrigue that
attracts visitors back, year after year. 
The
names in Redwood Memorial Gardens define a social diversity that continues
in Guerneville and the rest of the Russian River valley today. Family names
like Monticelli, Bussemaker, Beaver, Janetsky, DelCarlo, Coon and Vitkovskia
are nestled among the wild yellow California poppies, Queen Ann’s lace and
blackberry bushes dripping with juicy fruit. 
of
opportunity? I discover that Larson Howard was a pioneer who came here in
1856 from Joplin, MO. Did “Annie Garetti, nata 1901, morta 1918”,
plant some of the first Italian grapes in the valley? Did the Count and
Countess Straten of Belgium plant hops for an early beer industry? The
orthodox Christian cross above the white marble gravestone of ТАТЬЯНА
АНДРЕЕВА – was she a descendent of a Russian fur trader abandoned to the
Pacific Northwest when the Russians withdrew from their historic Fort Ross?
The more contemporary Randy Shilts, our modern Paul Revere of the AIDS
invasion, completes this quilt of diversity. They never knew one another,
but they all chose to call The River home.
The
River offers the visitor diverse and endless options for entertainment. This
story highlights only a few. My list of memories is too long to be printed.
But one experience from our most recent visit must be told before I rush
back to work. It’s relaxing to know that for the moments when you feel
compelled to be more active than sitting at the pool or in a beer pub, the
ocean, mountains, forests or shopping are only 15 minutes away.
I
happen to love the early morning. The sunlight of a California morning calls
me. And this July it called me up; up into the gondola of a hot air balloon;
a dream I had had since 1980. And Aerostat Adventures fulfilled that dream
with classy service at a competitive price. I selected my trip from
Aerostat’s internet site. But before buying, I called a friend who manages a
hotel on The River. “Which company should I use,” I asked? “Aerostat, no
question”, was the reply. (Rates are $195 per adult and $130 per child under
12.)
You
are part of the Aerostat Adventure. You, yes the paying guest, are expected
to assist with the set-up of the balloon. Arriving at the take-off site just
before dawn, passengers and Aerostat staff roll out the giant deflated
balloon. You hold and pull ropes and flaps of fabric, tug on baskets, and
otherwise guide the inflation process while the professionals perform
activities that require experience.
Within
an hour you are soaring over some of the most beautiful terrain in America,
looking down on rows of grapevines, across hills at steaming geysers and at
other balloons traveling with you. Rolls of film or memory cards are
devoured by your camera while your pilot stays in constant radio contact
with local air traffic control. Other than the occasional roar of the gas
burners used to adjust the height and direction of your ten-mile voyage, the
trip seems motionless – and silent.