Pre95

Coming up on an important anniversary, and figured I would get ideas for a weekend getaway somewhere in the area? We like to road trip so a couple hour drive isn't necessarily out of the question... Was thinking of Tahoe or maybe somewhere else... but we don't gamble so don't know if it'd be worth the expense...

ideas appreciated!

ReyHey

Mendocino.

wnut

not sure what you and the mrs' like - if you want an napa or north tahoe resort style environment then there's no question - go up there.

however if you don't mind something a little different, off the beaten path, enjoy wine and have fairly open minds then i'd be comfortable suggesting what we did for 2 days and 1 night...you're on your own for that second night.

we stayed at the quality inn as this was a no frills trip for a bicycle tour, so no one was on a romantic get-a-way and although trip advisor/hotels.com both had unfavorable reviews we reluctantly booked this motel as it was the most convenient. not to mention some $70 with AAA discount.

Quality Inn
118 N. Cherokee Ln.
Lodi, CA 95240
(209) 367-4848

If you want better there's Wine & Roses Inn - rooms begin at $249

http://www.winerose.com/

There's nothing to do during the day but go wine tasting. If you're very specific in what you enjoy, again I am going to tell you to go to napa or sonoma - the sheer amount of varietals grown out here is just astonishing as is the different wine making styles. I'm not going to lie, I believe I'm fairly open minded when it comes to this stuff but a lot of wine in this region is just crap - however the effort is genuine. I enjoyed Watts, Knickerbocker, and Vino Con Brio out here - the latter being more of an italian philosphy coming into wine. There's also Macchia which my gf enjoyed, but you're going to have to drink a lot of 'oh's' and 'ummm's' to get to these places.

There's only one restaurant I'm comfortable suggesting and that's Woodbridge Crossings - you two could probably split the blackened prime rib. service is 'folksy' and there's live music nightly. It's definitely a different scene.

http://www.woodbridgecrossing.net/

They also own the new wine bar next door - Uncorked - if you decide to not bike/drive from one winery to the next you can sit down and go from sober to lucid right here. - or vino piazzo (or something like that) which is more like the wine rooms of santa barbara or downtown headsburg

whatever happens, it's a whole lot slower out there. great place to get away imo, just would hate to spend more then say... 4 days there.

April

http://www.greenlanterninn.com/<ul><li><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g32172-c2-Carmel_Monterey_Peninsula_California-Hotels.html">list of places</a></li></ul>

AJG

It is sublime.