Wine and Spirits Travel

(This story was previously published in Discovering Sonoma) When you are looking for a place to stay, location is always an important factor, but you also want something clean, comfortable and with lots of amenities for a reasonable price.   Although that can be a tall order in a lot of wine country, Camellia Inn fits the description quite nicely. Camellia Inn is located just a few blocks off downtown Healdsburg, the center of Sonoma. You can reach restaurants, shops and tasting rooms within a five minute walk.  Innkeeper Lucy Lewand and her staff keep the place running like as well as a major hotel, with a feel like you are visiting a friend’s home. The nine rooms at the Inn are each beautifully decorated, varying a bit in size and shape.  You can find some with extras such as a Jacuzzi tub or fireplace.  There is even a family suite that testifies to the fact that children are more than welcome here.   I had the pleasure of staying at Camellia Inn for thr...

Sonoma is one of those places I can visit every few months and it is guaranteed that I will find things to taste and places to visit that I haven’t seen before. The planning of this trip was no different and I was really excited about the itinerary Wine Road Northern Sonoma had helped me plan that included new discoveries and reacquainting with some old friends. I was excited to meet Sondra Bernstein, whose popular restaurants have made her well known even out of wine country. We were meeting at the girl & the fig and she was very gracious about the fact that I was running about an hour late. I enjoyed hearing all about Sondra’s trips through the South of France that led to her love of French food and wine, and a desire to bring it to California wine country. I listened to how Sondra has educated her restaurant patrons and the winery community in the Rhone varietals and food, and judging by the fact that many of these wines are now being made in Sonoma (and many peop...