When it rains money....

[theatokos]

I'm going here. Does anyone have some extra thousands lying around?

I'm scouring places for our vacation. The requirements are:
*less than a day's drive from Oakland
*possible spa
*comfy room
*good food nearby
*green
*other activities nearby (for example, wineries, maybe golf, etc)
*money is a consideration - we neither have loads to spend, but we don't want to be cheap. We often use budget as an excuse to not have a vacation at all.

You'd think a master planner such as myself would find this a delightful task, but no.

Comments

[erinya.livejournal.com]

Sonoma or Napa? Or Calistoga? There are a ton of inns, resorts, beds and breakfasts, etc. I don't know any good ones specifically because I usually spend my time there at Casa Mom and Dad, but I know they exist.

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

Yeah, looking at that general area because we love it and know it meets all the above criteria.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

Out in my area:

Hotel Leger (http://www.hotelleger.com). The food is lovely; I've never stayed in the rooms but the website is detailed.

From there you can golf in Valley Springs, or hit wineries starting with French Hill in Mokelumne Hill, and wending north on 49 to the huge cluster of wineries around Plymouth.

Once you get to Plymouth, you MUST eat at Taste (http://www.restauranttaste.com/).

Ask elflet if you want specific winery recommendations.

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this! I was thinking of something on the coast, but that may not happen.

[miss-december.livejournal.com]

Monterey? Big Sur? Napa? Even Santa Barbara is within a day's drive and there are some lovely spas there.

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

I looked at Big Sur. I've never been and would like to. However, a lot of it is a bit too pricey for us right now. And Santa Barbara is too warm. I don't want to go south very far. I've mostly been looking at the coastal areas in mid- and northern CA. But the most promising places seem to be in Sonoma (which we LOVE) and Napa areas.

[makeda55.livejournal.com]

Can't vouch for green in the places I've stayed recently, but I had a lovely few days in Monterey & south with M., and then recently eye_of_zohar and I stayed 2 nights in Healdsburg just blocks from the plaza. (Walking distance to great restaurants, and to spas if we had wanted to do that, and in the middle of Sonoma wine country, etc.).

Searching 'round on the net, I found The Stanford Inn (http://www.stanfordinn.com/innlight/about.html) in Mendocino that sounds intriguing... check out their attached restaurant, too.

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

I looked at this place yesterday! It sounds lovely. Adam and I were in Mendocino once. I don't think there's enough to do there for Adam, nor do I think he would be happy with a vegetarian only restaurant. We'll see what he thinks of the places I sent him for consideration yesterday.