Guerneville, CA - Sep 2010

We made our first trip a couple of weeks ago to the Northern California towns of Guerneville and Healdsburg.  We had been looking forward to this trip for weeks as this was our first real "research" trip.  We were especially eager to visit Guerneville because of what we had read about its gay friendly atmosphere.  Our trip started off on Friday afternoon in Sacramento.  We headed west, traveling across wide open valleys, rolling hills, and several small towns before arriving in Guerneville.  The road into Guerneville was a two-lane road that wound its way through thick redwood forests and across the Russian River.  The river itself was quite beautiful.  Its tree lined banks stood in stark contrast to the concrete flood channels which comprise much of the Los Angeles River.  There were several folks lazily floating along in rafts and canoes enjoying a warm Friday afternoon.  As we drove through town on the way to our "hotel" we found ourselves marveling at the various restaurants, shops and bars we had seen in pictures on-line as if they were iconic landmarks…Oh look, there’s Pat’s Restaurant, there’s the Safeway, there’s the Rainbow Cattle Company.

We continued down the main street finally arriving at Dawn Ranch Lodge. Dawn Ranch is not really a single "lodge" but a collection individual little cabins.  I was initially excited at the idea of staying in one of these cabins because they reminded me of a family trip we took almost 45 years ago to Lake George, NY.  I fondly recalled the little yellow single-room cabin my parents rented for us...my Mom, Dad, brother and I all cozy in our rustic home away from home.  This was going to be great. Unfortunately, nostalgia quickly gave way to the reality that our cute little cabin didn’t even have enough room for our suit cases.  I’m not exactly sure what Gianni’s expectations were for our room, but it was abundantly clear from the look on his face that this little cabin was not meeting those expectations.  We ultimately upgraded to a two-room cabin…one room for us and one room for our luggage.

Once we were settled, our walking tour of Guerneville began…and ended about 30 minutes later.  In that time we had walked the entire town…twice!  Guerneville is quite literally a one stop light town.  After our second go-around we decided to have dinner at Boon Restaurant.  The meal was delicious and the atmosphere was a pleasant blend of big city vibe with small town charm.  Guerneville is a weekend getaway for many San Franciscans so the town does have subtle undertones of big-city sophistication.  After dinner we decided to drink in the local flavor at the Rainbow Cattle Company bar.  One of two gay bars in this town of approximately 1,300 people.  It was a typical local gay bar with pool tables, a DJ, a shuffle board table and a couple of pin ball machines.  The night started out a little slow but eventually picked up, especially when the three gay soccer teams from San Francisco arrived!  As we were walking back to our cabin after our night on the town I couldn’t help but notice how clear the evening sky was and how many stars were visible.  I couldn't remember the last time I saw that many stars in the sky.  It was simply breathtaking and I had to pause for a moment to take it all in.

The next morning we had breakfast at Pat’s Restaurant before continuing our day-time exploration.  This was the Jazz Festival weekend in Guerneville so there was a good bit of activity throughout the town as folks were heading down to the river bank, beach chairs and coolers in tow, to spend the day listening to great music in the warm summer sun.

Since we had pretty much seen most of Guerneville…at least three times now, we decided to take a drive to the coast which is just a short 20 minute trip west of Guerneville.  What I found amazing was how quickly, yet how subtly, you transition from majestic redwood forests to rolling hills and eventually the rugged coast line of the Pacific Ocean.  Living at the beach in LA we see the ocean every day, yet I was still in awe of the unspoiled beauty of the Northern California coastline.

For our final evening in Guerneville, we celebrated our 5 year anniversary with dinner at Chef Patrick’s followed by an outing at the second gay bar in town, the “Triple R”.  The “Triple R” has karaoke and by the end of the evening we had heard everything from Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” (a high audience participation song) to “The Bear Necessities” from the Jungle Book…the first time I have ever heard that performed at karaoke.  We met a good group of locals and felt quite at ease and welcomed.

Sunday morning we woke up early so we could get started with our day’s agenda of visiting Healdsburg, CA, another town on our short list.  Healdsburg is approximately 30 minutes east of Guerneville in the heart of wine country.  Before leaving for Healdsburg we stopped for coffee at the local coffee house to reflect on our Guerneville experience.  We both agreed that while the area itself is truly magnificent with its natural beauty and the people are warm and welcoming, it is probably not the right fit for us as a permanent residence.  We did not feel that instant connection we were looking for nor could we visualize ourselves living there on a full-time basis.  As we passed that one stop light on our way out of town we laughed at the fact that our quest for “small town” living may need to be re-calibrated to “small city” living.


Next stop, Healdsburg...