Local Spots
You have traveled a long way to be somewhere quiet. Good news: quiet is everywhere here, and most of it is beautiful.
Valley Ford — You are here.
A town of about 150 people who will notice us and, we hope, forgive us. Home to Dinucci's (Thursday dinner, pay your own tab, order the minestrone, thank us later), the Valley Ford Hotel and Rocker Oysterfeller's next door, and a cheese factory that has been quietly perfecting its craft since before any of us were born. There is one road. Walk it slowly.
Bodega Bay — 15 minutes
The actual ocean. Bodega Head for whales, wind, and the kind of view that makes everyone quiet for a minute. Spud Point Crab Company for chowder eaten on a curb, which is the correct way. Doran Beach for a long walk with sand in it, which we acknowledge is a known risk. The Tides Wharf for a fish lunch and a window seat.
Bodega — 5 minutes
Not Bodega Bay, though everyone mixes them up, and the town has decided to find that charming. Hitchcock filmed The Birds here, and the schoolhouse and church look exactly like you remember. The birds are still around and seem to have moved on. Stop by the Casino Bar & Grill, which is a bar, not a casino, and all the better for it
Jenner — 35 minutes
Where the Russian River meets the Pacific and neither one seems in a hurry about it. Harbor seals nap on the sandbar at Goat Rock and would prefer you admire them from a respectful distance. Café Aquatica does coffee and live music with a view that will make you briefly reconsider your whole life, in a good way. North of here Highway 1 turns into cliffs and sweeping curves, so it's well worth the drive, ideally before the wine.
Freestone — 8 minutes
Wild Flour Bread lives here. See "Need More Bread" and go with your heart. Also Osmosis Day Spa, where you can be gently buried in warm cedar shavings, which sounds strange and is, by all accounts, wonderful. Wild Flour is open Friday through Monday, so time your pilgrimage.
Petaluma — 25 minutes
A little city with a lot of heart, and home to three of our sponsors: Petaluma Cheese Shop, Barber Lee Spirits, and Barber Cellars. Stop in, buy something good, and tell them the Danizens say thank you. They'll appreciate it, even if they're not entirely sure who we are.