Solano County has a wine nation of its personal, with wineries and vineyards dotted throughout the rolling terrain. (Courtesy Amber Turpin)
Searching for one thing enjoyable to do that weekend? A Bay Space day journey could also be simply the reply. And with so many charming cities and sights — the Suisun Valley wine nation, San Francisco’s Presidio and Woodside trails — inside an hour or two of residence, choices abound. Right here’s a trio of prospects.
Woodsy Woodside
The quiet nation roads of this San Mateo County hamlet are a bucolic sight — and a captivating vacation spot for day trippers. There are climbing trails alongside this idyllic stretch of the Santa Cruz Mountains, beguiling picnic spots, a historic museum and loads of locations to seize a chunk.
Start your wanderings alongside Woodside Highway, simply off Interstate 280, the place you’ll discover The Village Bakery, Roberts Market and Buck’s of Woodside in fast succession. Buck’s, a unusual, kitschy, traditional diner, has been a well-liked hangout for Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs and enterprise capitalists because the early Nineteen Nineties.
If there’s a hike in your itinerary, make a cease at Roberts Market first to select up picnic fare on the deli — a French ham and brie on ciabatta, maybe, or a Southwest tri-tip sandwich with pepper jack. Or in case you’ve already obtained your picnic sorted, head west to the Village Hub, an interfaith nonprofit gathering house, arts heart and workshop venue. It’s residence to The Espresso Bar, too, the place you possibly can order your latte — the espresso hails from Cafe Con Lucha, a small-batch, female-owned roastery in Woodside — drizzled with housemade syrup, Sizzling Date, maybe, or lavender.
The Woodside Retailer is a enjoyable subsequent cease, a restored Nineteenth-century common retailer that can take you again in time to the Gold Rush period, when treasure seekers found there wasn’t a lot gold in these hills, however there have been redwoods aplenty and room for sawmill employees, lumberjacks and shingle makers to thrive. Right now it’s a county park that’s well-liked with college students and academics — and households, who flock to Previous Woodside Retailer Day, a dwelling historical past day sometimes held in late Could.
Then head for Huddart Park or one of many different, close by San Mateo County parks to hike and picnic among the many groves and glades. Or in case you favor to combine climbing and wine tasting, Woodside’s Thomas Fogarty Vineyard provides winery excursions and out of doors wine tastings (by appointment, ages 21 and up solely) and the views from this vineyard atop Skyline Boulevard are spectacular.
Particulars: Roberts Market opens at 6:30 a.m. day by day at 3015 Woodside Highway; www.robertsmarket.com. The Village Hub Espresso Bar opens at 8 a.m. weekdays and eight:30 a.m. weekends at 3154 Woodside Highway; www.thevillagehub.org/coffee-bar. The Woodside Retailer opens at 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and at midday on weekends at 3300 Tripp Highway; www.historysmc.org. And Thomas Fogarty Vineyard is open for tastings day by day by appointment at 19501 Skyline Blvd.; www.fogartywinery.com.
Promenade The Presidio
From climbing trails and spectacular overlooks to artwork installations, monuments and a soon-to-be-completed park, the Presidio of San Francisco provides a lot to do. Chances are you'll suppose you already know all about this former army put up, which is run now by the Presidio Belief. You might have already found Andy Goldsworthy’s public artwork installations right here, the gorgeous Wooden Line inside a cypress grove and Spire, a hidden community of fallen timber. However we’re betting you haven’t explored the San Francisco Nationwide Cemetery Overlook, the place poetry leads you alongside hidden paths with poignant views of gravestone-covered hills and a dramatic, up shut vantage of the Golden Gate.
The Presidio’s Walt Disney Household Museum is a pure for households, however Crissy Area and its bayside promenade are nice for teenagers, too. You’ll discover a climbing fitness center, yoga studio and trampoline park housed in former airplane hangars. The Warming Hut provides cocoa and different scorching drinks, along with cabinets of books to browse. And late spring will carry the opening of the Presidio Tunnel Tops, a 14-acre collaboration between the Presidio Belief and Golden Gate Nationwide Parks Conservancy, with terraced inexperienced areas, native gardens, large driftwood play buildings, a science station, an artwork heart and later, meals service stalls and eating places.
Particulars: Discover maps and particulars on San Francisco’s Presidio, Tunnel Tops, the Warming Hut and extra at www.presidio.gov.
Vineyard enjoyable in Fairfield
Neglect the jelly beans. Fairfield could also be well-known for its Jelly Stomach Manufacturing unit, but it surely has wineries, too — and breweries, U-pick farms, olive oil and different enticements. Listed here are 3 ways to discover the edible, drinkable delights on this a part of Solano County, and none of them contain Bertie Botts.
The Suisun Valley Wine Co-op tasting room provides flights from three small-production wineries, together with Sundown Cellars, which was based by Doug and Katsuko Sparks. They began the label as storage winemakers in San Francisco’s Internal Sundown, therefore the title. They’ve simply handed the reins to their winemaker, Fah Sathirapongsasuti, who will proceed the give attention to Japanese heritage and a minimalist winemaking philosophy they wish to name “Zen Zin.”
Favor beer — or spirits? Fairfield’s decade-old Heretic Brewing Firm is understood for its Evil Cousin double IPA, however they’ve been distilling, too — vodka, gin and whiskey. The brewery serves quite a lot of principally vodka-based cocktails on faucet, which can make any non-beer drinker in your occasion fairly glad. Search for grownup slushies in the summertime months, too.
You’ll discover Mankas Nook within the midst of the nation roads which might be so charmingly completely different from the freeway you got here in on. It’s a one-stop vacation spot, the place you possibly can take pleasure in a stunning meal at Mankas Grill, then head throughout the best way to the cool, revitalized Suisun Valley Filling Station, a bottle shop-meets-tasting room and grocer, and choose up a bottle of spicy petite sirah, this area’s signature grape.
Particulars: The Suisun Valley Wine Co-op opens at midday Friday-Sunday at 4495 Suisun Valley Highway; www.svwinecoop.com. Heretic Brewery opens at midday day by day at 1052 Horizon Drive; www.hereticbrewing.com. Discover Mankas Grill, which opens at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday-Sunday, at 2522 Mankas Nook Highway; www.mankasgrill.com. And the Suisun Valley Filling Station opens at 1 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday at 2529 Mankas Nook Highway; www.suisunvalleyfillingstation.com.