Ok, I know the visiting SF thread has been covered one hundred-fold but I am hoping to glean a little different information from regulars/locals. For X-mas my gf offered me a trip to RR in lieu of a random gift. I have never been to the promised land so I quickly jumped at the opportunity. This site is great for basic place-info but I am a little curious about places to stay/eat near Lagunitas and Russian River. So far my trip is as follows: Fly into OAK in the morning Day 1, Drive rental to The Trappist for lunch (is the food worth eating there/anything good on the way to Lagunitas?) Head to Lagunitas for drinks/evening (anything food in the nearby area or are we better eating whatever is at the tastingroom?) Stay in Petaluma (walking distance) Day 2: Drive to RR for opening/lunch the next day. ??? afternoon/evening Maybe back to RR for more Staying at Marriott nearby (free w/ credit points woot) Day3: Drive back to OAK in the morning and fly out. I figure I might make a quick trip to bottle barn but being from southern Cal there isn't too much that doesn't make it down here. Any cool restaurants/pubs worth hitting up around Lag/RR? Thanks for the help, Cheers
I would start Day 1 by visiting The Trappist but eat lunch @ Rosamunde's sausage grill (around the block). After that, Lagunitas has a decent tasting room menu but maybe other local BAers would have some insight on other food options nearby. On day 2, I would recommend visiting RR and then head out to Bear Republic for evening or vice versa. Regardless, this will be a fun trip for you and i hope everything works out great! Cheers
From the title of the thread I thought there was a new Russian River/Lagunitas collaboration called "Oak".
I don't think the food options at the Trappist are very good so I agree with the above poster to go somewhere else (although I have not been to Rosamunde's).
Hah, might need to change it to 'OAK Intl' but at least it is generating a response. I just did some googling and realized that Rosamunde's is the same place that is next to SF Toronado and I have eaten there in the past. The food was really good, so I think I will make that lunch for day one. Thanks fellas
Not sure on your dates but Russian River is closed 1/6-1/10. Lagunitas is always closed Monday-Tuesday.
Oh man... way to brown up the pants a little. Thankfully we are doing a banzai trip 1/2-1/4 so I should be OK. Wanted to try out The Rare Barrel but they just opened and are only tasting for like 4 hours only on Fri/Sat so this trip won't work with them. Probably better to let the initial hype die down a little.
Doing a similar trip myself. Leaving from SoCal Sunday for Oakland for New Years and plan on going to RR Monday. It's a bummer the Rare Barrel isn't open during the week since I'm headed to Chico Thursday/Friday and coming home Saturday. Also didn't know Lagunitas wasn't open Mondays as I was planning on stopping there before RR so that puts a damper on things too.
Not sure what time your flight is outta OAK, but leaving Santa Rosa on a Saturday and driving back to OAK, there WILL be some nice traffic. Rental cars are off property too. You need to drop your car and get on a bus to the terminal. Security at OAK can be slow too. Not trying to scare you, but I don't want you to take the drive for granted if the phone says its only going to take like 90 minutes.
Man am I glad I checked this thread. I am in the midst of planning a trip that was going to put my at RR on the 7th/8th. I probably would have gone all Griswald at Wally World on them.
