These Are a Few of My Favorite Things - In Sonoma Wine Country (Part 2)

For my third and final blog about our recent Sonoma wine country vacation, I’ll continue my list of our favorite things about Sonoma and what we experienced while we were there!

Bodega Head on the Pacific Coast

Favorite Resort/Inn

We stayed at two different places during our 10-day Sonoma trip (well, actually three if you include our last night at the Grand Hyatt at SFO airport) – one was a small luxury inn located in Forestville, and the other a larger luxury resort in Healdsburg. The two couldn’t have been more different. The Farmhouse Inn was nestled in trees and woods in a relatively remote part of Sonoma, and it was small and intimate, with 25 rooms and suites. Montage Healdsburg was a larger more expansive resort with about 125 rooms and suites and on a property that included vineyards and mountain trails. Both were absolutely beautiful, but Laurie and I chose The Farmhouse Inn as our favorite.

We absolutely loved the vibe of the place – quiet and homey yet elegant and refined. The deck in our suite was private with a view of the forest/woods and with an indoor/outdoor fireplace to keep us warm during the cool mornings and evenings. The Inn also had a lot of really nice offerings for guests that included free wine tastings at 25 different partner wineries (tastings that would have otherwise cost $75+ per person!), free happy hours each afternoon hosted by one of their partner wineries, a soap bar with local handmade soaps, bubble baths, and bath salts that you could take to your room, and firepits lit each evening with all the fixings for homemade smores. It was quiet, relaxing, laid back, and lux all at the same time – the perfect place to spend the first few nights of our vacation!

Main path at the Farmhouse Inn

Evening smores at the Farmhouse Inn

Our deck at the Farmhouse Inn - enjoying a local bourbon by the fire

Favorite Accommodations

While the Farmhouse Inn was our favorite resort/inn when considering overall experience, our favorite accommodation (meaning the suite we stayed in) was definitely our deluxe mountain view suite at Montage Healdsburg. The suite was huge, and included 1 ½ baths with a tub, indoor shower, an outdoor shower, a large bedroom, and a large living area with a wet bar and seating area. Oh, and an enormous deck with a comfy outdoor couch and lounge chairs, dining table, and fire pit. The views were gorgeous, and we made the most of every amenity included in the suite!

So why wasn’t Montage our favorite resort if we loved the suite we stayed in so much? The short answer is that it was quite large and felt a bit crowded at times. During the five days we were there, the resort hosted two large business conferences and a large wedding as well – we loved it but preferred the more intimate experience at the Farmhouse Inn.

Our deck at Montage Healdsburg

The bathroom at Montage Healdsburg

Our bedroom at Montage Healdsburg

Favorite Excursion

While we spent the bulk of our time visiting different wineries and tasting wines, we also kept ourselves busy with spa treatments (for Laurie), and excursions to explore the different parts of Sonoma. Our favorite excursion turned out to be our first one – to the Armstrong Redwood Forest Park. There are tall redwoods scattered throughout Sonoma, but Armstrong Forest was absolutely amazing with its beautiful walking trails and historic redwoods, many hundreds and even thousands of years old. We have visited redwood forests in California before, but this one was the best! A close second favorite excursion was a visit to the rugged Pacific coast cliffs at Bodega Head!

A giant redwood at Armstrong Redwood Forest

Giant redwood

Bodega Head on the Pacific Coast

Favorite Touristy Outing

People who know me well know I don’t like doing touristy things, including sightseeing. But every once in a while, you have a chance to visit an iconic place that is worth the time and trouble getting there. One such place was the small town of Bodega on the way to the Pacific Coast in Sonoma. So why would I be interested in driving through and stopping at a small town with one traffic light, along with a church and old schoolhouse?

Because both that church and schoolhouse were featured in one of the greatest horror movies of all time – Alfred Hitchcock’s classic, “The Birds”, one of my favorite movies! The church and schoolhouse are located right next to each other, and the schoolhouse is now a private residence – the sign next to the house says that visitors are welcome to take pictures but asks politely that they stay off the property and don’t climb over the fence!

The famous schoolhouse from the movie "The Birds"

The iconic bird attack scene from the Hitchcock horror movie "The Birds"

Favorite Activity

And finally, the last of our favorite things from our Sonoma trip – our favorite non-winetasting activity (because wine tasting was our favorite activity during out visit!) – a cocktail making class at Montage Healdsburg’s Scout Field Bar. The bar is beautiful, with both indoor and outdoor seating. They offer different cocktail making classes, including an intro to the basics class, along with a classic cocktails class and the one we chose, the advanced cocktail making class!

The class was two hours and included a one-on-one experience with a Montage bartender who walked us through how to make three different cocktails: one gin-based, one tequila-based, and one bourbon-based. In addition to learning techniques for making these drinks, we were introduced to a number of new and unique liqueurs and bartender secrets for making cocktails look (and taste!) stunning. The class was a blast and went by entirely too fast!

Cocktail class at Montage Healdsburg Scout's Field Bar

The Reevra Cocktail, made by Laurie!

The Natural Resources Cocktail, made by yours truly!

Well, there you have it – hope you enjoyed my recap of our trip to Sonoma wine country as much as I did!