Snoopy's Santa Rosa

We're at the mid-point of the vacation, enjoying reflecting on the events transpired, those we had today, and yet to come! Today's agenda was more local in nature before our big fling into S.F. tomorrow. We started out the morning going Cafe de Croissants for some yummy chocolate & almond/chocolate croissants (finally a bakery that has them!) and then to Sunce Winery. The winemaker is Croatian, hence the sunny name. They have enjoyed a number of medals recently and we enjoyed drinking what they had. After working our way through the list, we left with a few pictures and bottles, so the visit was a success!

When looking for a lunch place, we stumbled across a conspicuously named bar, "Underwood," so we stopped by to get a picture. The food was too much dinner oriented, so we went into town. It is amazing to see the landscape covered in grapevines everywhere you looked. If there was any open plot of land, grapevines were thrown onto it. It does provide a pleasant green countryside.

We had lunch at a local mediterranean restaurant called East to West, enjoying some tasty oriental salad and teriyaki chow. Then it was off to visit Charlie Brown. We discovered that Charles Schultz lived a long time in Santa Rosa, and was very supportive and active in the community. When he passed away, a museum was built in his memory. It was a beautiful building with the standard Peanuts music soundtracks playing, a gallery of his comic strips, and some artwork done by others inside and around the museum. Some memorabilia was also on display. You got a glimpse into the impact he had on the community, the nation and the world and its appreciation of his talents. We have some pictures in the vacation album, and found a new puzzle to work on. :)

However, we had to run before we were done at the museum to get our massages! They were a few short blocks away in a strip mall. They were fabulous and helpful in recovering from the rock hard bed and long car trips taken. We emerged relaxed and well oiled and returned to the museum to wrap up our visit.

In the evening we browsed the local farmer's market downtown. They had tasty stands of produce, and the usual mix of candles, politics and foods. After perusing the stands, we decided to head out to Willie's Wine Bar and enjoyed some great small plates of food and wine. On the way back we checked out a round barn that is next to our hotel. Apparently there was some thoughts that round barns were more efficient than square ones. As you can tell driving the farmlands anywhere, most people thought those farmers were a few straws short of a haystack, and continued building square ones. We started working on our own square puzzle, and are looking forward to the trip to the city tomorrow!

-David