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One of the best local scenes during summer is the Santa Rosa Downtown Market (a.k.a. Wednesday Night Market), on Wednesdays, 5 to 8:30 p.m., now through August 29. This family-friendly fete is a little bit Wine Country chic, a little bit earthy, and a whole lot of fun.
Strolling around the market provides a real taste of Sonoma County culture: farm-to-table produce, great food and drink, and down-to-earth entertainment. The obvious draw is the chance to shop for the season’s finest locally grown produce and local artisan food products. Last Wednesday, I purchased a flat of the juiciest, sweetest strawberries I’ve ever had (until next year, when I say that again!) Several local artists sell hand-made arts and crafts, too.
You’ll never leave the market hungry. I like to bring my famished brood in the heat of summer, when I just don’t feel like cooking. Each of us can find what we’re craving at the assorted food vendors, whose aromas reel us in. There’s even a popular Wine Tasting Garden, featuring wineries of the week, located on the east side of Courthouse Square near the fountain. Countless downtown restaurants and pubs also serve fabulous foods, from pizza to French cuisine, if you’d rather sit down for a spell.
The market, if anything, is sheer entertainment. I find that it’s a total diversion to beat the doldrums. Each week, live bands perform on a main stage located at E and Fourth streets, as well as three other supporting stages. Scene-stealing street entertainers position themselves throughout the market – juggling, pantomiming – you name it. Who knows, a flash mob might break into song and dance! I find myself completely mesmerized by the eclectic setting and the new flavors brought into the mix each week. It’s also a place to unexpectedly run into an old friend.
To find out which bands are playing each week, go to www.wednesdaynightmarket.org/events.
Bring the kids – once they spot the activities geared for them, they’ll be pulling you toward inflatable play structures, face painting, and more. Freshly popped kettle corn or a snow cone always brings a smile to my children’s faces when the temperature rises.
Have a bike? Ride it to the market, and get free valet bike parking on the corner of Fourth and Mendocino, courtesy of Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition.
Another cool thing to do at the market is catch the bus from Rosie Explorer Tours. Each week, Rosie will take people on free tours to different locations in Santa Rosa, such as historic McDonald Avenue, or the Santa Rosa Junior College Culinary Academy. Catch Rosie at 6 p.m., on the corner of Third and E Streets. Tours last approximately 45 minutes. Click here for Rosie Explorer Tours’ market schedule.
Be sure to visit the market’s information booth on the corner of Fourth and D streets. There, you’ll get the full scoop on what’s happening that night!
If you’re on Facebook, check out Santa Rosa Downtown Market’s page. It provides the latest information, like which bands are playing, featured wineries at the Wine Tasting Garden – even details on giveaways.
See you at the market!
Get ready for some fuel injected family fun, as the Peggy Sue’s All-American Cruise revs up the city. It’s a chrome plated, dual-muffler, perfectly detailed, four-on-the-floor kind of weekend. You don’t have to be a total gearhead to be impressed by over 500 buffed, shining cars dating from the early 1900s to 1976.
What impresses me most about this massive show each year isn’t necessarily the cars. It’s the absolute pride, dedication and enthusiasm their owners have. You literally feel the love that’s been poured into the restorations. For many car owners their ride isn’t just a hobby – it’s a true affair of the heart. That’s obvious by the gleaming details on each and every car.
The weekend kicks off with the Chili & Pasta Cook-Off and Beer & Wine Tasting on Friday, June 8, 5 to 8 p.m. at A Place to Play Park, 2375 West Third Street. The cost is $30 at the gate. Graze your way through this fiery cook-off, sampling dozens of chili and pasta styles. Wash it down with some ice-cold beer and local wine, while listening to the R&B sounds of Eddie and the FOG, and ogling the cars. For a list of participating breweries and wineries, go to the Peggy Sue website’s Chili & Pasta – Beer & Wine page.
Show & Shine is the car show portion of Peggy Sue’s All-American Cruise (also taking place at A Place to Play Park). It’s an all-age event, open to the public Saturday June 9, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday June 10, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission on Saturday is $10 (age 11 and older) and $6 on Sunday. Sunday morning at 9 a.m., bring the family for a pancake breakfast for $7, put on by the Dad’s Club of St. Rose elementary.
An awesome lineup of bands will be playing retro music throughout Show & Shine:
Packed with vendors, Show & Shine is where car enthusiasts can browse dozens of booths, discovering anything from the best car wax to unique memorabilia. There’s always an interesting selection of original car art, too.
Come hungry, it’s a weekend to indulge in yummy barbeque, hamburgers and hotdogs, ice cream, snow cones, and much more.
On Saturday evening, catch the popular cruise through downtown Santa Rosa from 6 to 9 p.m. You might stake out your vantage point early, it gets really crowded. Fourth Street has several restaurants that offer limited sidewalk dining – a relaxing way to watch the cruise if you get seated early. It’s a rolling, rumbling procession of the eye-catching cars. They’ll be revving their engines and honking their horns for the crowd. Be sure to wave, hoot and holler – the cruisers really like that.
Sunday, there’s a “car corral” of used cars for sale. If you’ve been looking for a four-wheeled affair, this is a great opportunity to score a shiny model. Who knows, you just might be cruising with the other gearheads next year!
If you’re planning a visit to Santa Rosa for Peggy Sue’s All-American Cruise, and haven’t booked your hotel room yet, we have plenty of suggestions on where to stay at www.visitsantarosa.com/hotels/. Be sure to mention that you’re in town for Peggy Sue’s All-American Cruise – they may be offering a special rate!
Photo credit: Council on Aging
There is something about viewing an athletic competition live, being there to see your favorite sports stars experience the ecstasy of victory or agony of defeat. For example, I watched the recent Amgen Tour of California start on the streets of Santa Rosa, and loved the roar of the crowd, the rim-to-rim duels between cyclists, and the excitement of rooting for Levi Leipheimer (like thousands of other Santa Rosans), who competed despite his injury.
Now that the Amgen Tour fervor has subsided, what’s next on the agenda for the local sports scene? It turns out the next set of athletes will grace the pools, playing fields, streets, and courts of Sonoma County, and will be a set of seriously competitive seniors.
May 31 through June 10, more than a thousand over-50 athletes will ride, swim, run, swing, dribble, spike, and bat their way to medals in the 2nd annual Sonoma Wine Country Senior Games as they vie for their own moment in the sports spotlight. I can already smell the sunblock, hear the cheers, and even imagine the comradely “trash talking” that accompanies any heated sports battle, no matter what the age of the athletes waging them.
Photo credit: Council on Aging
According to Amy Crabb, development manager for the Council on Aging, the sponsor of the games, athletes are coming from all over Northern California to compete. Some are former national-level competitors, and others are recreational athletes who just love the thrill of participating. Anyone turning 50 this year is eligible to participate. And there will be competitors at both ends of the age spectrum, including a swimmer in his 90s from San Francisco and a local tennis player who is also a nonagenarian.
The games take place at various venues in Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Windsor, Rohnert Park and Cloverdale. Individual sports run the gamut from cycling and swimming to golf and tennis, and team sports include basketball, bocce ball, softball, soccer and volleyball. Mixed in are some light-hearted, but spirited bouts of square dancing, pickleball (a simple paddle game using a slow-moving ball on a badminton-sized court), and social walking.
It’s too late to compete (registration ended May 20), but you can still go and applaud the efforts of these ambitious athletes who are taking full advantage of Sonoma County’s wellness lifestyle and opportunities for indoor and outdoor recreation.
In Santa Rosa, you can view the following events, starting at 9 a.m. (unless otherwise noted):
For a complete list of sports activities, go to: www.winecountrygames.com/Senior%20Games%20Schedule.htm.
If you are coming into Santa Rosa as a competitor or spectator, you can book a room, as availability permits, for a special rate at Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa (premier host hotel and site of the games’ “athletic village”), or Hilton Sonoma Wine Country (if you make your reservation before May 26). Make sure to mention the 2012 Senior Games when booking.
As a spectator, you may not witness an Olympic-caliber moment, but you’re guaranteed a chance to share the beauty of athletic achievement at any age.
Amgen Tour of California starts in downtown Santa Rosa on May 13
In case you live off the grid and haven’t heard, cycling mania is about to hit Santa Rosa in a big way. The 2012 Amgen Tour of California kicks off May 13, with more than 35,000 spectators expected to visit our part of Wine Country to see the first stage of this prestigious cycling race.
These riders will sweat it out tire-to-tire on a grueling, five-hour road race that covers the arduous, but gorgeous terrain of Sonoma County consisting of thigh-burning mountainous regions, the redwood-canopied Russian River area and the rugged Sonoma County coastline.
Downtown Santa Rosa – spectator central
I learned from past years watching this fun event that it helps to scope out vantage points early because spectators will line the streets, perch in trees (not recommended!), and peer from rooftops, windows and parking garages. It’s an opportunity to see world-class cyclists in action – like previous Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer, who calls Santa Rosa home.
The fever-pitched race will begin with two neutral laps through the heart of downtown, starting at 10:50 a.m. at Santa Rosa Avenue and Third Street, giving onlookers a thrill before the cyclists head out on their 116-mile quest through Sonoma County. Around 3:49 p.m. (yep, they’re that exact), riders are expected back downtown to hit the breakaway mile, ending in a flurry at Santa Rosa Avenue and Third Street. Expect throngs of people, wild cheers, flashing cameras and a blur of spandex as each rider sprints toward the finish line.
As many times as I’ve cheered for the peloton (for those who don’t know, that’s the pack of riders), it’s still difficult to find words that do justice to how exciting this is. You just have to be there!
Also on race day, swarming crowds will descend upon downtown to enjoy the Amgen Tour of California’s Lifestyle Festival. The all-day bash includes something for everyone: inflatables for kids, a health and fitness expo, an extreme bicycle jump demo by professional rider Andrew Taylor and friends, local food vendors, music throughout the day, snow cones, a beer garden for thirsty adults, race video, an awards ceremony, and too much more to list.
A Kickoff concert, Santa Rosa Soiree, and a cycling charity event
Be part of the hoopla a few days prior, at the free Amgen Tour of California Kickoff Concert at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 10, at Courthouse Square. Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter/musician Carrie Rodriguez will entertain the crowd, along with opening act, The Whiskey Thieves.
Then, Friday, May 11, get dressed up and rub elbows with the professional cyclists by attending the Santa Rosa Soiree at Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards of Windsor. It’s an opportunity to meet the cycling teams, enjoy dinner on a vineyard terrace, dance at a D.J. after-party, and much more. Tickets are limited. Information is available at www.santarosa2012.com.
Saturday May 12, riders of all levels can test their cycling mojo in the Life Time GranFondo California with options of 15-, 31- or 62-mile rides that begin and end at the rustic Cloverleaf Ranch in Santa Rosa. For more information, including registration, visit www.ltgranfondo.com.
Where to stay
If you’re a cycling enthusiast, or simply want to be part of the mix, you may want to make a getaway of it. Santa Rosa has lots of great places to stay overnight, but rooms go fast during this event. To find Santa Rosa hotels, please visit www.visitsantarosa.com/hotels/.
For complete information about the Amgen Tour of California’s stage one in Santa Rosa, please visit www.santarosa2012.com.
