gonna be there for a fortnight. Any thoughts about how to kill the time?

We caught an amazing parade when we were there. Americana at its best.

Hi Cecil, I assume you mean Petaluma CA? Here is one website that might get you started http://www.visitpetaluma.com/

You will be close to many wonderful places..I have no idea when you will be in Petaluma but for a start go to Bodega Bay etc. BTW, the old iron clock in the tower in downtown Petaluma was arranged by a relative of mine by marriage.

Petaluma has a cluster of antique stores downtown, as well as some art galleries and such. There are also some outlets nearby. Otherwise, there's great cycling in the area and the countryside is scenic...

What sorts of things do you enjoy?? Will you have a car? When are you there?

Besides Petaluma itself, there is a TON of stuff w/i reasonable drives.

You are close to the beach, as mentioned, close to the wineries of Napa and Sonoma, Alexander Valley, Russian River. I guess I'm assuming you have rented or would rent a car. If time permitted you could drive down to the southern part of Marin County to Tiburon or Sausalito and hope over the GG Bridge into San Francisco. When are you going? The barrel tasting is comeing up the first and second weekends in March..10.00 and a wrist band gets you tastings of up coming wines and there is also an Artesian Cheese Festival the second weekend. I'm hitting both of those on the second weekend. There is all kinds of stuff going on in that area all the time.

SO and I are going down for a long weekend sometime soon. We have family there, but they are mostly into "Little League", etc. They like it, but say it is a long ride to anywhere.

I'm not sure what they mean by "long ride". You can be in a zillion neat places in an hour or less. Sometimes, depending on where and when you are going, time of day etc, traffic can be a bit of an issue. Try a search of Wine Country, Napa, Sonoma etc., there has been a ton of stuff written here. You might also get a map of the area to get oriented.

I found the drive to Marshall (via the Marshall-Petaluma Road) to be very beautiful, and in Marshall is a wonderful place right on the water called "Tony's Seafood". Not formal at all, but the BBQ oysters are a treat!

While the exit from the interstate offers views of the usual suburban sprawl, downtown Petaluma is quite lovely and quaint. On a recent visit I was told that it is the best-preserved Victorian town in the area, since it was far enough away from the 1906 SF quake to avoid damage. Lots of attractive Victorian homes downtown as well as some antiquey shopping streets and restaurants. We took a 40-minute drive due-west out of town on country roads through rolling hills, ending Bodega Bay on the ocean.

Dear CecilBD,

The short answer would be "no", unless you are into the outlet shopping thing. That being said, Petaluma has a low-key charm of its own which is totally different from the wine country. It is on a small river, so the evening temps in the summer can be a little lower because of the river mist.

scottvan and others bring up the point that Petaluma is an excellent staging point for drives into the wine country and out to the coast. The afore-mentioned Petaluma-Marshall Road is an example of a nice country drive through the best of the West Marin / South Sonoma area. You can take the Bodega Highway out to the coast, with a detour through some exquisite countryside around the tiny towns of Freestone and Occidental. The Russian River area is also very accessible from here. Get a good AAA map or smiliar - some of the best drives to the Sonoma and Napa wine country involve driving northeast from Petaluma through Penngrove across Sonoma Mountain and Mount Veeder on some very narrow, badly marked roads. The payoffs are the views and the lack of crowds.

It has been awhile since I have been to Petaluma, but I remember taking a tour of a cheese making place. It was fun to see the process and they also had tasting.

We live in Sonoma County and know Petaluma pretty well. Don't know where you're from, if you'll have a car (pretty necessary), or what kinds of things you like to do. Here is a brief overview.

In town - the downtown area is attractive and has:

- buildings from late 1800's that have figured in a lot of movies/TV commercials
-a riverfront (the water itself is rather muddy-looking as it is a tidal river that is an extended part of San Francisco Bay) with egrets and other waterbirds, kayaking and other boating (people can sail between San Francisco and Petaluma on their own boats), riverfront cafes and micro-breweries
- some good restaurants, bakeries
- lots of antique shops
- pretty Victorian neighborhoods. I've seen big production crews in front of Victorian houses filming movie/TV scenes, complete with the grass lawns spray-painted neon green for the cameras!

The following are places 45 minutes or less drive away (depending on traffic of course):

South - San Francisco and Berkeley for city activities too numerous to mention, Stinson Beach, Mt. Tamalpais for great hikes and beautiful views of whole Bay Area, Pt. Reyes National Seashore

West - Bodega Bay, Tomales, many beaches for hiking, bonfires, surfing (complete with occasional shark attacks), touring oyster farms, kayaking, whale watching, cheese factory, olive ranch tour including both the orchard, mill, and tastings

East - Sonoma (town)with historic plaza, Sonoma Valley and Napa wineries galore

North - Healdsburg and more wineries, Calistoga and hot springs, Russian River and canoeing, Armstrong Redwoods State Park for, you guessed it, redwoods

So while Petaluma is a relatively small town (55,000), it is ideally situated for going to the coast, the wine country, and San Francisco. If you have access to a car and are willing to drive 20-45 minutes, I don't think you'll run out of things to do.

How about renting a kayak and trying out the Petaluma River?...We enjoy the Italian sing along night at Volpi's too. It is a step back in time to visit that bar. there is a country bar in town that is pretty popular for dancing..depends on what time of day and what your interests are.

thank you, everybody! that gives us ideas, and hope to learn a little about this little town. just goes to prove, there are gems right under our noses, and we are always going toward the bright lights. I, myself, like to stay away from the tourists, if possible.