This is the last post recaping our trip to Sonoma! I told you where we stayed, where we ate and our favorite wineries, but I wanted to make sure you knew that there’s more than just food and wine in Sonoma (although let’s be honest, those are 2 really great things about Sonoma).
On our first day in Sonoma, we went into the town square. And before we even started wine tasting, we found a little place to do some chocolate tasting right off the square!
The lady who ran the shop was just sweet as can be. I wish I’d gotten a photo with her. And their chocolate was divine! We of course had to purchase a few (or 6) truffles for the weekend. It was a fun experience to have in Sonoma. She was also the first person to recommend La Hacienda (the Mexican restaurant we ate at) to us.
The town square is built around this great open area, where there’s a park, beautifully manicured lawns and the Town Hall. And a beautiful rose garden.
I mean just gorgeous. We came at the perfect time when all the roses were in full bloom. The smell was heavenly.
Oils and Vinegars
After heading to Bryter for some wine tasting, we decided to make our way up Hwy 12 for the first time. We stopped at B.R. Cohn to do some wine tasting.
B.R. Cohn is owned by Bruce Cohn, the manager of The Doobie Brothers, and you can see a plethora of their gold and platinum records up in the winery tasting room. The grounds are surrounded by olive trees and they even have an ampitheatre in the back of the winery where they have concerts. Pretty awesome.
Honestly though, we weren’t super impressed with their wine. It was their oils and vinegars that won us over.
We picked up a bottle of the garlic olive oil and 25 year balsamic. And they shipped them for us for $5! It was well worth the $5 to have them professionally shipped. We checked a case of wine on our way home and I was so nervous it wouldn’t make it intact.
Hiking
The Sonoma area has some great hiking. We did two hikes while we were there. The first was just an easy 3 mile hike on Sonoma Overlook Trail, just outside the town square.
It was the perfect early morning hike.
Our last night there we hiked Bald Mountain Trail.
It leaves from Sugarloaf State Park, where there are tons of trails you can choose from. This was one of the longer out and back hikes (about 6.5 miles) and gives the best view of the area.
We left around 6:30 and it was super warm. And most of the hike was in the sun. We kept thinking we were just about to the top, and then we’d round another corner. And then we’d go around another corner….and we’d have further to go. We almost quit because it was so hot.
^^About half way up the trail. Already a gorgeous view.
I’m so glad we made it to the top.
Absolutely gorgeous. On a clear day you can see all the way to the ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge.
There was a 360 degree view at the top.
Love this guy.
We drank our wine and had our snack as quick as we could and headed back down.
I was honestly freezing my butt off in this photo. With the wind it had to be like 45 degrees. So cold.
And by the time we got to the bottom the sun was setting.
I highly recommend doing a few hikes while you’re in Sonoma. It is such a beautiful, scenic area everyone should see.
I hoped y’all enjoyed hearing about our trip to Sonoma! We sure enjoyed our time there. It’s only been about a month, but it feels like it was so long ago. I can’t wait to go back!
Happy Wednesday!
BEAUTIFUL!!! Such a romantic fun trip! One of these days…
You guys should definitely go. Not just for the wine tasting and food, but for all the great scenery and fun activities in the area!
So many things I love about this! 🙂 First I’ll say this…my BFF growing up and I always said that when a couple looks like each other, they were meant to have a successful marriage :-p You and your hubby do especially in the photo above.
Chocolate tasting?! Yum! I need to do that now.
And those roses are beautiful! You took great photos of them! I wish my photos looked as good as yours. My BIL and SIL have the same camera as you and I was messing around with it last weekend and loved it.
The hike sounds awesome! Love that you brought wine up there and those views!! Holy cow! Awesome!
I’m pretty sure I’d take your exact trip if I went…and I will someday! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Such gorgeous photos! I love the last one with the sunsetting. It sounds like such a fun part of your trip!
We love to travel and clearly need to add Sonoma to our list 🙂
Sonoma looks beautiful!!! It is certainly on my to-visit list!!
Wow, sooo beautiful!!! And wine, food, AND chocolate tasting….I would’ve been in heaven. I love all the photos you got and that last hike looked perfect. I’m glad you guys had so much fun, it looked like a memorable getaway!
It looks absolutely beautiful. I was wondering about the name Bald Mountain so I’m glad you showed the photo and I see why it’s called that!
You had me at chocolate and nature. I love the photos of the landscape and the flowers, but yes! I love chocolate too!
Thanks Brittnei! We had a great time and it’s so beautiful there.