This is the final part of our trip to Sonoma County (part 1 is posted here). We had such a wonderful time, I 
thought I’d share some of our favorite parts of the trip with you as part of my Sunday Drive excursions on Mortgage Porter.
Westside Drive in Healdsburg will take you along a beautiful windy road packed with wineries along the Russian River all the way to the Pacific. We stopped at Twomey Cellars which has a great view and Matrix. Hop Kiln Winery (pictured right) is another "must see". It was too early in the morning for us to taste wines, we enjoyed walking around their grounds. Located right next door is Rochioli Vineyards–this was also a recommendation from Dave Savage (DSR). 
Sadly we were too early to sample these wines which are described as "legendary".
We drove along Westside Drive to where the Russian River meets the coast. It’s really beautiful and nice to dig your toes into some California sand. We headed south along the misty Highway 1 until we reached Bodega Bay. We had lunch at the Sandpiper in Bodega–do have the oysters baked in the chipolte sauce (I’ve been trying to recreate the recipe ever since). 
Bodega Bay is famous for Potters School, where Alfred Hitchcock’s "The Birds" was filmed. The Birds was probably the first "scary movie" I ever saw and is still one of my favorites to this day. Apparently many others agree as Potters School had many curious visitors. Note: no crows were harmed in this photo–this is a rental: 3 minutes for two bucks!
We caught Highway 12 to Highway 116 towards Forestville where we stopped at Iron Horse Vineyards. Another great recommendation from Dave which has wonderful views over the valley of endless vineyards. Our last winery on our vacation was Hartford Family Wines. We really enjoy their Pinot Noir back at home and purchased two bottles while we were there. And I was finally able to meet Dave Savage of Mortgage Coach, who not only provided us with great recommendations for our trip to Sonoma County, he also did a pod-cast interview with me a few months earlier.
You can check out photos from our trip here.
IMPORTANT TIP: Do not try to carry on your wines from Sonoma County Airport (or anywhere for that matter). The grumpy TSA person confisgated our two bottles of Hartford and would not allow us to check it or leave it for a friend (when he allowed the person right in front of us to check an item that was too large to be a carry on). I was told that the wine was donated, the airport will not provide a receipt. Lesson learned.
I am so sorry you lost your wine. For future reference, there are services up in the wine country that ship your wine home for just this reason. I saw your post about Healdburg. There’s a wonderful event they have every year where every winery is open and doing pairings. If you ever get back down this way, do check out Longboard and Sunce in Healdsburg. Up the road a spell is Unti and they rock. Here’s a post I wrote on our day on the Sonoma Wine Road.
http://pinkbunnyears.com/?p=227
Thanks Wine Dog! We did go to Unti–loved their wines and we bought a picture from Lucca as well created by Mrs. Unti. (I did do a quick mention of Unti on the first Sonoma post).
Hi Rhonda,
I enjoyed your Sonoma stories. Earlier in the year we stayed our friends whose tiny vineyard abuts Iron Horse. Too bad about your wine being confiscated.
Thanks, Greg. We were able to bring wine back from our honeymoon a couple of years ago…we should have checked…the airport TCA person was VERY uncooperative and seemed to pick and chose who would be allowed to make arrangements w/their wine and who would not. I’ve chalked it up to a learning experience.