Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Hampton Inn Petaluma


Staying at this renovated old 1892 silk mill turned-Hampton Inn was an experiment I take full responsibility for. I generally like repurposed buildings, but this one had quirks up the wazoo. Unfortunately it was raining hard AND there was no in-house or nearby dining, which reduced us to nibbling on snacks while watching HGTV. It's a shame that there was no dinner there because the big, high-ceilinged breakfast / event room was great.




Grand Central Coffee

Our short, semi-rainy visit to Sebastopol was followed by a short, semi-rainy visit to Petaluma, round two. We wanted to check out this coffee house, despite having just been to a coffee house. This one apparently is situated in a old train depot right on the Petaluma River.




Retrograde Coffee


We sniffed out one of Sebastopol's more popular coffee houses and were lucky to get a table. I had to re-park the car and took some photos which upon scrutiny had some unintended humor. (I love unintended humor possibly even more than intended humor. It has the gravitas of being unintended).


Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Cozy Plum


We arrived in Sebastopol in time for lunch, which we had at Cozy Plum - a healthy, award-winning, plant-based restaurant. It was another good food decision, as far as I was concerned. I believe both the sandwich and the bread went by the name of Dutch Crunch, a term that was new to me. (Apparently it's a Bay Area thing like Sourdough Bread).