the 4th Street experience

Going a little deeper into the town after lunch, we stumbled upon this beautiful building - an old Carnegie Library turned museum and historical society - and an equally peaceful street - 4th Street - with interesting shops and a very good coffee shop called Avid. The impulsively taken photo above is one of my favorite of the whole trip.

Great Petaluma Mill

The Great Petaluma Mill, where the River Front Cafe was located, turned out to be a significant downtown landmark. The repurposed old grain mill had another decent restaurant we would later visit - Wild Goat Bistro. I liked the big  cobblestone circle, great for turning around the car.

River Front Cafe

I guess you could say this was our third impression of Petaluma. The idea of crêpes by the river appealed to me, and the River Front Cafe delivered exactly that. Mrs. had something more Mediterranean. 

Petaluma second impressions

We next stumbled upon this area, which was already better as it featured multiple businesses on the Petaluma River, a pedestrian bridge, and an old train trestle slated to become a promenade. I thought maybe that this was the "downtown" but in fact we had just barely scratched the surface.

Petaluma first impressions

Petaluma was an unknown and we approached it from an unflattering angle. Then I had to pee. In my feverish search for a restroom in the unknown city, I stumbled upon this first glimpse of the Petaluma River. Eventually I found a restroom and things got better after that.

Ohm Coffee Roasters

This interesting space not far from the Plaza is evidently one of downtown Sonoma's more popular coffee houses. As I recall it rained a little on the way there.

rainbow weather

This trip featured its share of April Showers. If you look closely you can see the very short-lived rainbow visible from our room at the Inn at Sonoma.