
Ready2Retire answers:
OK, Rohnert Park is not the world’s most exciting town. If you have a car and are willing to drive 30 minutes to the east (towards Glen Ellen, in the Sonoma Valley) or north (towards Santa Rosa), there are plenty of wineries.
Here’s a map that shows the wineries in this area:
http://sonoma.com/visitorsinfo/Sonoma_County_Winery_Map.pdf
(You’ll find Rohnert Park a bit below the middle of the map.)
Santa Rosa is just up 101. To get to Glen Ellen, you have to take some back roads; but the back roads up there are beautiful, especially this time of year. Here’s a map of the route to Glen Ellen:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Rohnert+Park,+CA&daddr=Glen+Ellen,CA&hl=en&geocode=FTUESQId1rqv-Cl39qD6akqEgDHHUj4DojiIJA%3BFa9jSQIdC26y-CklYnAFHz-EgDEsRv5yAGVgzQ&gl=us&mra=ls&sll=38.349465,-122.66716&sspn=0.06085,0.153637&ie=UTF8&ll=38.371001,-122.608795&spn=0.121664,0.307274&z=12
(You can also get to Glen Ellen by heading north on 101 and then turning onto Highway 12 east. This is the simplest route, but less fun and a little longer than the back roads.)
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Glen Ellen is a beautiful little town. Besides wineries, here are two more places worth visiting:
- Jack London State Historic Park is a mile west of Glen Ellen on London Ranch Road.
Http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=478
The park is open daily, but the cottage is open only on weekends.
- Wine Country Chocolates
http://www.winecountrychocolates.com/
This is on Arnold Drive, less than a mile south of Glen Ellen. Their chocolates are pricy but very good.
As I said, the back roads in that area are all beautiful, so I encourage you to pick some road that heads away from the main highways, and explore the region. A map of California doesn’t have enough detail. You need a good local map, and might be able to find one in a gas-station convenience store or 7-Eleven.
Alternatively, if you belong to AAA, you can get high-quality free maps from the California State Automobile Association (generally open during normal business hours Monday-Friday). Here are some CSAA offices near Rohnert Park:
1500 Farmers Lane, Santa Rosa (north of Rohnert Park)
111 Lynch Creek Way, Petaluma (south of Rohnert Park)
650 2nd Street West, Sonoma (in Sonoma Valley, south of Glen Ellen)
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The town of Sonoma itself is also very attractive. It has a really nice town square surrounded by shops and restaurants. Just north of the town square is Sonoma State Historic Park, where California seceded from Mexico in the “Bear Flag Revolt” of 1846.
Http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=479
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Incidentally, the San Francisco Chronicle recently had an article about somebody else who had a similar experience on Hotwire (unhappy with the hotel and the location):
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/27/TR2K1I1BBH.DTL
“Blind” travel sites like Hotwire are kind of unpredictable.
The Doubletree in Rohnert Park gets decent but not great ratings; some people like it, and some don’t. With luck, your room will be fine, and you’ll have a good time despite the somewhat long drive to points of interest.
Http://www.tripadvisor.com/hotel_Review-g32982-d119652-Reviews-Doubletree_hotel_Sonoma_Wine_Country-Rohnert_Park_Sonoma_County_California.html
http://www.yelp.com/biz/doubletree-hotel-sonoma-wine-country-rohnert-park