2019 - Sonoma State University Tour

This university would not have been on our radar at all if the Coverts hadn’t mentioned it. We were trying to find time to spend with them, and they mentioned they would be in Sonoma this weekend to tour SSU. So we booked Bonnie for the tour, mainly to just be with our friends.

And guess what? Bonnie absolutely LOVES this university! To be honest, we all loved the tour. Small campus, but the most “residential” campus in the Cal State system. So it has a big university “feel” within a manageable, beautiful campus. As we were driving on the backroads to get to the tour, we were reminded of all the reasons we loved living in California: year-round produce stands, horse farms, mountainous hiking trails, and dry, beautiful weather. While it won’t be the only school to which Bonnie applies, it’s high up on the list at this moment.

Now... for the review of restaurants and activities. Our first night here, we ate dinner at La Gare - a French restaurant. I was a little hesitant when we first walked in because (to me) it has the dated decor and “feel” of a fancy restaurant from the 1970s that your grandparents would take you to. But within minutes of receiving the first course, we knew we’d made the right choice. The food is fabulous, the wait staff knowledgeable, and the desserts are works of art.

Friends since 3rd grade!

For lunch after the SSU tour, we ate at Jackson’s Bar & Oven. Amazing burrata with pistachios and honey for an appetizer, then heirloom tomato salads with vinaigrette, pizzas, burgers, and turkey BLTs for lunch. We were too full for dessert, but after seeing the menu, we have decided to try to come back just for dessert.

For dinner we ate at LoCoco’s Cucina Rustica, which had good wine and food but it was so loud we could hardly hear each other speak. Definitely step into the restaurant and listen for a moment if you want to have conversation with your dinner guests -- however, if you’re alone, enjoy the food and wine and let the conversations flow around you.

On Saturday we headed out to explore a couple of wineries. We started at Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards and Winery with an amazing culinary tour. The adventure began “with an amuse-bouche of organically-farmed produce sourced fresh from our Estate Gardens, which provide the culinary inspiration and ever-changing seasonal influences behind our menu.” Then we enjoyed “a seated, 4-course, farm-to-fork tasting of exquisite Estate Wines, expertly paired with culinary offerings from Executive Chef, Larry Forgione.” The dining room has walls of windows that overlook the vineyards and acres of the estate. I highly recommend this event.

From there we moved across the street to Roth Winery where we had reserved a cave tour and tasting. Unfortunately the employee who had made the reservation for us (and sent us the confirmation email) was no longer employed -- and the winery had no knowledge of our reservation and couldn’t honor it. HOWEVER, Taylor (an employee with the winery) saved the day by comping our wine tasting and giving us a short tour of the cave after the other groups had left.

We then came back to the hotel to rest before dinner at The Pullman Kitchen. The food was fantastic and even though it was a little hot where they seated us, we had a fun time with the girls taking Harry Potter quizzes and figuring out to which house we belonged (RAVENCLAW!!).

The Coverts have headed home, and we are headed into San Francisco for some exploration before we fly home tomorrow. It has been an amazing trip... and Keith, Bonnie and I are so very grateful for the friendship of the Covert family!