The Tides Wharf

A more close range introduction to Bodega Bay happened here at The Tides Wharf. This was the site of the restaurant in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds". Appropriately there were a few birds.

Hearthside Room

This "Hearthside Room" off the lobby of The Inn at the Tides was part of our introduction to Bodega Bay, the next stop on the journey.

Stockhome

Deep in the heart of downtown Petaluma we had lunch at the cleverly-named Stockhome, a Michelin-awarded Swedish restaurant with great design, a Halloumi burger and memorable mushroom toast (with bechamel sauce). There was nothing to complain about.

Costeaux

Costeaux is the Hotel Petaluma's in-house coffee shop. Unfortunately it was "momentarily" closed, which forced us to hang out and wait in their beautiful lobby. That was okay because it gave us a chance to talk to the front desk clerk, and we learned a thing or two about Petaluma and its coffee scene.

Hotel Petaluma

The 1923-built Hotel Petaluma, now a Hilton-operated boutique hotel. We almost stayed here but instead enjoyed a coffee in their nice restored lobby. The U-shaped configuration reminded us of the historic hotels of west Texas.

Amy's Kitchen

Wandering around the historic core of Petaluma, we stumbled upon the national headquarters of Amy's Kitchen. As someone who has probably consumed a hundred cans of their soup and just recently enjoyed their frozen Asian Stir-Fry, this was meaningful. Their Thai Coconut Soup in particular has personal significance. Perhaps somewhere in the back of my head I knew they were based here, but otherwise I forgot.

 

historic core of Petaluma

That day, which happened to be our anniversary, we took our exploration of downtown Petaluma to a deeper level and discovered something very old, solid, and historic. Above, the 1885 Mutual Relief building, designed by Bay Area architect John M. Curtis. Below, the street known as Kentucky Street.