My husband and I are flying out to SF this weekend. We want to drive up to Sonoma for one night and are looking for suggestions on where to go and stay that is feasible to do from say 10:00 am Saturday to 10:00 am Sunday. Healdsburg looks nice but is it too far? What about the town of Sonoma? We definitely need winery recommendations too! We were also told to check out the Carneros region... any advice?

Healdsburg is right off of Hwy 101...net net it's probably 30 minutes farther than Sonoma, which is not on a main, divided highway.

If you're willing to splurge, I recommend the Madrona Manor or Hotel Healdsburg. Both fantastic.

With the Sonoma Mission Inn being in renovations, I need to find alternative lodging for next month. Emummert: is the Hotel Healdsburg really nice? We can get a deluxe room there with the tasting menu for two at the Dry Creek Kitchen for $300/night. It sounds like a good deal, since we wanted to try the DCK anyway. Have you tried Tastings? Also, which wineries would you recommend in this area?

I have a few coupons in my E-Book for some Healdsburg places. Any recommends for lunch? We will be in Santa Rosa for a show, then it's play time! Will probably lunch at the Girl and the Fig in Sonoma. ****kim***

We best friend's former boss and his wife opened a winery in Glen Allen area called "Sullivan and Birney" winery. They also turned the former stables into a lovely 2 bedroom suite that the Gaige House rents out for them. I have not been yet but hear gorgeous. They have a wesbsit under the name Sullivan & Birnery.

Kimamom, Tastings is wonderful, but you might want to check that they are still there. When we were last there in May, they were planning to move to Hawaii and the restaurant was for sale. Hope they didn't leave as I'd love to go back, but when I checked their website at www.tastingsrestaurant.com it just says something about 'to be continued' along with an 'aloha'. We loved our stay at the Hotel Healdsburg, and the restaurant is super. I don't think you'd be disappointed.

MsGhost:Tastings has indeed moved to Hawaii and in it's place is a marvelous restaurant called Sake-O. Aother Gary Chu venture it is CA-Asian cuisine and we loved it. Another well regarded place is Ravenous in Healdsburg.
Kim: IMHO The Girl and Fig in Petaluma is
MUCH better than the one in Sonoma.
If you are going to stay in the Healdsburg area there is no better website than wineroad.com for any questions you might have. What type of wine do you like? I have a long list of my favorites in this area over on the Wine-O's site (Others Forum)-it's near the top if you are interested-Pam SF and Kal have wonderful rec's as well on Wine-O's-dang, it's hard to live in such a glorious place!LOL!
R5

I prefer some of the smaller wineries to the larger ones and Sonoma is much less crowded and touristy than Napa. Most wineries in Sonoma offer free tastings. My favorite 'small' winery in the area is the Frank Family Vinyards. Definitely worth a visit.

kimamom

Re: Hotel Healdsburg and tasting menu for $300. I think that is a great deal. Considering the rack rate at that hotel is circa $250 a night, you are doing well. Dry Creek Kitchen, while, in my opinion, somewhat overrated (we spent the $50 less there than we did at Gary Danko in SF; those who know Gary Danko know of what I speak), however it is still a top-notch restaurant. Keep in mind I am admittedly spoiled living in NoCal. I think if you are getting that deal, you will in no way be disappointed.
Wineries: STONGLY recommend wineries from which you can't easily find their wines. Recommendations: Iron Horse, Hartford Court, Martinelli, Unti. The hotel should have a Russian River Wine Road map that will have all the wineries in the area listed. Have fun!

I think that $250 rate is also with a shower-only in the bathroom. This room is deluxe with a 6' soaking tub which sounds great.

I was chatting with the sommelier at the Elderberry House, www.elderberryhouse.com and he highly recommended DCK. We had a private wine-tasting there on Sat. He tastes over 300 wines/week and was a wealth of knowledge. I hope to post more about this unique experience later.

I'm excited to visit Healdsburg, we may skip Sonoma all together, except to visit the Sonoma Mission Inn to pick up my Apricots N' Cream lotions and candles! ***kim***

If you are in SF for a couple of nights, for the two greatest by-the-glass lists I've seen at any restaurant in the US, try Rubicon or Bacar...Bacar is great because they have live jazz every night (10pm weekends, earlier during the week)