THINGS TO DO IN SONOMA VALLEY CALIFORNIA

 

THINGS TO DO IN SONOMA VALLEY CALIFORNIA

Sonoma is a historic city in northern California, located in the center of the world-famous Sonoma Valley wine area. It's noted for its art galleries and the Sonoma Plaza, which dates from the colonial era. Significant 19th-century adobe buildings surround this plaza, including Mission San Francisco Solano and the Sonoma Barracks, which were originally utilized by the Mexican military. The square features a popular weekly farmer's market during the summer.

Sonoma Valley is located north of San Francisco, near San Pablo Bay, and is part of the San Francisco Bay Area. The rich valley is noted for its grapes and wineries, as well as its picturesque countryside. The world-famous wine business of California had its start here.

Sonoma Valley is a lovely and scenic place to visit, considerably more laid-back and relaxed than the wealthy and glamorous Napa Valley. In Sonoma, there are several excellent restaurants serving regional specialties, as well as tasting facilities where you may sample some of the region's best wines.

SONOMA PLAZA

The Mission San Francisco Solano, Captain Salvador Vallejo's Casa Grande, the Presidio of Sonoma, the Blue Wing Inn, and the Toscano Hotel are all within walking distance of this plaza. Sonoma's early twentieth-century city hall, which still stands in the plaza's center and is still in use, was designed and built with four identical sides to avoid offending merchants on any one side of the plaza. The plaza is a National Historic Landmark and continues to serve as the town's center point, hosting numerous community festivities and attracting visitors throughout the year. It serves as a major tourist attraction.

“The Plaza”, as it is known, hosts a massive Fourth of July celebration, with tens of thousands of town residents in attendance. It also hosts the Farmer's Market, which takes place every Tuesday during the summer.

MISSION SAN FRANSISCO SOLONO

The 21st, last, and northernmost mission in Alta California was Mission San Francisco Solano. It was given the name Francis Solanus in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. After Mexico obtained independence from Spain, it was the only mission established in Alta California. The difficulty with which it began indicates the consequent disarray as a result of the change in governance. The California Governor desired a strong Mexican presence north of the San Francisco Bay to prevent Russians from advancing farther inland after establishing Fort Ross on the Pacific coast. A young Franciscan friar from Mission San Francisco de Asis desired to relocate to a warmer environment with greater access to potential converts.

Given its brief existence, the Mission was a success, but it had a lesser number of converts, lower productivity, and a narrower range of industries than the older California missions. In the city of Sonoma, California, the mission structure is currently part of the Sonoma State Historic Park.

SONOMA TRAIN TOWN

TrainTown has been described as "an appealing and startling modern tribute to railroads" and "an obsessively accurate model railroad." It's been dubbed "America's most well-developed miniature railroad." It runs in a "wooded 10-acre park on a 20-minute ride past waterfalls and superbly designed houses, over a bridge, and through many tunnels, all exactly one-quarter the scale of the actual thing," according to the website. Each ride may accommodate up to 90 passengers and spans four miles of track.

TrainTown has a working copy of a New York Central Hudson engine, although it's numbered 5212, which no steam locomotive from the New York Central ever had. Some people think this is the "most beautiful steam locomotive of the 1930s."

"The entire layout is so cleverly built," a travel writer wrote, "that it's a masterpiece of dedication to the art of the rail geek."

Sonoma TrainTown welcomed steam engine 4-6-4 Hudson, number 6088, in 2009. It was built in the 1980s and originally ran on the Goleta Valley Railroad's 15-inch (381-mm) gauge.

The park features a petting zoo and six vintage amusement rides:

Iron Horse Carousel

Sonoma TrainTown Airlines

Locomotion Scrambler

High Iron Ferris Wheel - a 46-foot Ferris wheel

Mine Train roller coaster - A new roller coaster that went into service in July, 2015.

Air Scooter

BUENA VISTA WINERY

Buena Vista Winery is a winery in Sonoma County, California, USA. After the D'Agostini Winery, which was founded a year previously in 1855, it is California's second oldest winery. It was created in 1857 by Agoston Haraszthy. The winery is located just east of Sonoma, California, on its original grounds.

SONOMA VALLEY MUSEUM OF ART

The Museum is Sonoma's only modern and contemporary museum, having opened in 1998. The museum launched a Museum Cafe in early 2011 in the intention of providing a dialogue and reflection area for visitors. Guests can purchase coffee and locally made goodies, with a percentage of the proceeds going to the museum. The "Fun de Latte" campaign is generating funds for the cafe; donors who donate $150 to the museum will receive a year's worth of free coffee and tea. The Stanley Abercrombie and Paul Vieyra Art Library opened shortly after that. The library is founded on a promise from board members Stanley Abercrombie and Paul Vieyra to donate 20,000 books. The museum's present collection of 2,500 art, architecture, and design books is housed in the Pamela and John Story Gallery and serves as a public reference source. The Museum Store, which replaced the Museum Cafe in 2016, focuses in one-of-a-kind items created by local artisans as well as worldwide presents of various types. The one-of-a-kind museum setting offers things that are instructive, inspirational, and entertaining. Mende Design in San Francisco designed a new logo for the SVMA in 2018.

SONOMA STATE HISTORIC PARK

Sonoma State Historic Park is a state park in Sonoma, California, located in the heart of the city. The Mission San Francisco Solano, the Sonoma Barracks, the Blue Wing Inn, La Casa Grande, Lachryma Montis, and the Toscano Hotel are the six sites that make up the park. The park was established in 1909 and contained only the Mission San Francisco Solano at the time. Over the years, the State of California has added more historic sites to the Park. Many of the new venues were connected to Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo's life, which was pivotal in the Mission's secularization, the foundation and development of the Mexican pueblo of Sonoma, and the growth of Sonoma as an American city.