Tourists
Last week two San Francisco Chronicle writers did an interesting story, Tourist Trap Day: Seeing the sights visitors flock to — but locals skip. We may or may not have anything exactly the same here in Sonoma County; San Francisco is, after all, a tourist town, with an international reputation. Folks generally know what they want to see. Our reputation here has become entwined with wine and wineries, a less crowded Napa County. Sonoma County, adjacent to Napa Valley, stretches from the Pacific Coast in the west to the Mayacamas Mountains in the east, and is home to almost 60,000 acres of vineyards and more than 425 wineries. That’s a lot of wine tasting.
For many of us, the prime place to take visitors is Bodega Head, the easily accessible part of the coastal range with great views.
Another tourist destination is Armstrong Redwoods. This is as spectacular as Muir Woods, larger and much less crowded. Parking at Muir Woods is impossible from early in the day. Armstrong is beloved by locals as well. We have taken many of our guests there.
One of Santa Rosa’s most famous residents was Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic. The Charles Schulz Museum is a worthwhile tourist destination; comprehensive, and everybody knows about Peanuts, even worldwide. As we approach the one year anniversary of our disastrous fires, there was this sad note last year: ‘Peanuts’ creator Charles Schulz’s home burns down in Santa Rosa fire.
Many tourists explore the coast near Marshall. The destination there is Hog Island Oyster Company. Notable visitors have included Martha Stewart and side pocket (this is where I bought 175 oysters for the famous Kossack Oyster Bash).
Another tourist draw is Safari West. This place has animals you might find on an actual safari, and one can camp and dine there. The place was affected by last year’s fires. All the 1,000 animals were saved. There is a recent story about this: Safari West, one year after the fire — the dream that survived.
I could drill down to other sites, but these are the main ones that come to mind. So my question for today's KTK is......where do you take visitors in your neck of the woods? Do they ever request a visit to a local attraction you've never visited? What is the weirdest tourist attraction in your area? Do you take your visitors to the attraction or just point the way? Has a visitor surprised you by suggesting a local attraction previously unknown to you? Do you have a sekrit destination too precious to share with visitors? Where is it? (We’re all friends here).
As always, this is an open thread.