Sonoma County (like nearby Napa Valley) is all about wine. But on our three-day trip, we didn’t visit any of its lovely wineries, nor drink any wine. But we did eat and drink (I just had a few sips! Sad!) at two breweries – Half Moon Bay Brewing Company in Half Moon Bay and the Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa. Russian River Brewery is known for its Double India Pale Ale called Pliny the Elder which has won several awards and which my beer-drinking father-in-law enjoyed, but I really liked their Irish stout called O.V.L. Stout, which had a velvety chocolatey finish. I never quite understood how a stout could taste ‘chocolate-y’ (not chocolate) until I tried this one. Dark and just gorgeous. I wish I could have had more than a few sips!!
The Russian River Brewery also has a mean list of pizzas but this Omni pizza we ordered was a bit too salty for me. I actually preferred their gorgonzola salad.
The food at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company was better (it was more of a restaurant than a pub). I had a nice Dungeness crab roll with a side salad (didn’t photograph well) but the husband really enjoyed his fish and chips (well, it was garlic fries – but so so good!).
Besides all that eating and hanging out at the hotel (unfortunately it was a bit more chilly than we anticipated and only managed to swim once), we hit Howarth Park, a lovely community park in Santa Rosa for Wee Reader to sit the miniature train, the old carousel and just to run around the playground. He declared it “fun!”. So it was a lovely couple of days out with the family, despite not having any wine in wine country!
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Real Life Reading 
That pizza looks delicious, but I can see where it might be too salty.
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The food looks delicious! I love salty things, so that pizza is making my mouth water. YUM! Glad you had a good trip!
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Sounds like you might have enjoyed the pizza more than I did! Thanks for your comment!
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Food looks yummy and a bit naughty! Cheers
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Heh, it was kind of naughty I guess, but we were on holiday! 😛
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It looks like it was a wonderful trip. I love fish and chips although your crab roll would be a treat as well. Thanks for all the beautiful pictures.
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You’re welcome! Fried seafood! Yum yum!
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I’m actually going to Sonoma County this week. I’m excited for a few days away 🙂
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Nice! Hope you have a good trip! And thanks for your comment.
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Great photos! The stout sounds delicious!
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Thanks! It was so yummy I could’ve had the whole pint myself!
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I”m writing down the beers — We love trying new ones and that stout sounds really good. The pizza looks yummy but I’m not big on too much salt.
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Oh the stout was so good… I’m kind of craving it now…. hee
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that pizza just screams for beer!
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Thanks for stopping by and commenting! Pizza and beer go so well together, don’t they!
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The food looks delish — my weakness is salt even more than sweet so i would probably love the pizza.
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You probably would. It was definitely a very savory treat.
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