Skating in Sonoma From Richard Katz's
Skating Unrinked book, published in paperback by HarperCollinsWest in 1994. Or was it '95? If you are not reading this on a screen, stop reading and head to www.Amazon.com. Thanx. Richard Katz = katz@frogojt.com. email
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Chapter sonoma
Skating in Sonoma: Cruising General Vallejo
Sonoma is Disneyland without the rides or the hype. It's magic is left over from the time when Costanoans, Spaniards, Mexicans, Yankees, Sicilians, Russians et al were sorting out California. There's the Mission, the Fort, the Plaza, the Mansion, the old train station, and the winery, as well as the place to buy film.
Sonoma's recreation path runs east-west just north of the Plaza for about two miles. You have to cross quite a few streets, but it's still okay for beginners. Park out toward the west end of town and skate on in. Downtown Sonoma can always use a few less cars.
How to Get There by Car from Highway 101:
Take the "Vallejo -- Hwy 37" exit and go east on Highway 37. When you see some large signs advertising drag races at Sears Point Raceway, get ready to turn left on Highway 121 North. Several miles north on Highway 121 various sign will direct you to the right turn onto Highway 12/121 toward Schellville and Sonoma. It's better to continue straight north; the road turns into Arnold Drive. About two miles past Leveroni Road, take the Petaluma Avenue fork slightly to the right (Arnold Drive veers left.) After a little less than a mile, Petaluma Avenue veers right and becomes West Napa Steet. Go east on West Napa, then turn left on Third Street West. If you take this street to the end, you will be in General Vallejo's parking lot; you just passed the trail a few hundred feet back.
What It's Like:
Starting at General Vallejo's place, you have the choice of going east to town or going western toward Maxwell Farms Park. While you make up your mind, look around the General's house; his story is surprising, and gives a historical overview for what you see around the town proper.
Start skating south from the mansion, around the pomelo trees, until you get to the trail crossing. The pavement here isn't great, but it's adequate. This is the longest uninterrupted stretch you will see today. If you've decided to skate to town, turn left. After you cross First Street West, you will be skating through Depot Park, "A Place of Importance to Visit in Sonoma". You can skate around a few old rail cars and inspect the station, which is also the Sonoma Valley Historical Society's Historical Museum. The trail goes right next to Sebastiani Winery, and ends at East Fourth Street. If you look around, you see the vestigial railroad near Sebastiani's; not too far east of town, on Eighth Street, you can see the end of the line of the real thing (it's the Northwestern Pacific RR.)
Start skating back toward Vallejo's place. If it's during the week and there doesn't seem to be a horde of tourists in town, you may want to do a little street skating when you get to Second Street. Turn left on Second, go one block, and get up on the sidewalk to have a look at the restored Mission Solano on East Spain Street between East First and East Second, where the Spanish missionaries rounded up the Indians and took them to die. Not a happy place.
The corner of First Street East and East Spain Street is the corner of Sonoma Plaza. What an incredible square block! There's something unique going on in just about every doorway. Skate over to the Toscano Hotel, a short way west on Spain Street, and peer in to a place purposely frozen in time. Skate around the State Historic Park behind it. Skate through the Plaza, where the old library was turned into a tourist info booth (among other things.) Sonoma has so many eateries, bakeries, stores of all stripes, it will take an hour just to check it all out. Be sure to skate to the other side of the Plaza to study the mural of the Plaza painted on a wall on Broadway. Find your way back to the path and skate east back to the General's house.
If you decide to skate west, you'll skate through back yards and a housing tract. Note the five star pavement sometimes used for basketball in Olsen Park. The path seems to come to an end approaching Highway 12, The Sonoma Highway. Have faith. The trail reappears on the other side of the road. If you have small children, maybe you should turn back here to avoid this crossing. Sonoma Highway is a State Scenic Route, but at this point it is more speedy and less scenic. To continue on, skate down to the crosswalk, the one they put in for the shopping center. There is a crosswalk button there for us non-daredevils. Skate back up the street, and you will see some first class pavement leading into the county's latest park, Maxwell Farms Regional Park. The whole trail is about two miles from downtown out to Maxwell Farms, with another half mile loop around the park.
On your next trip, you might want to start at the park; little kids seem to really like the playground setup and the miniature golf course next door.
Places to Eat:
Sonoma Plaza and it's immediate environs like East Napa Street (just off the Plaza) have a ton of places to eat well. Sonoma Cheese Company, for example, will pack picnic sandwiches for you.
On the way into town (or out of town, apres skate) stop at Angelo's just south of the busy intersection where Highway 121 meets Arnold Drive. Try some smoked turkey and some teriyaki jerky. Wash it down with cherry juice. And then go across the street to Gloria Ferrer's champagne caves. You can sit outside on what has to be the nicest back porch on earth. They like kids, and will feed them tasty smoked almonds while you drink champagne. And here is the unique part: Schellville Aviation is across the street, so you can sit there and watch vintage planes.
Public Transportation:
There is daily service to Sonoma on Golden Gate Transit's #90 line. There are only two departures a day from San Francisco, via San Rafael.
Ratings:
Path Surface = **
Public Transit Access = ****
Surroundings = **
Level of Difficulty = EASY
Overall Rating = ***
Length = Two miles one way
Other trails to check out in the neighborhood:
On the way to Sonoma, check out the bike path at the Marin Civic Center. Take the North San Pedro Road Exit in San Rafael from Highway 101, and follow the signs to County Offices. The bike path is near the lake.
The skating facilities at Marin Civic Center aren't really so great. The big pond doesn't have a paved path all around it, for example; maybe that was on purpose so it would be more meditative. All the trails are decrepit; after all, this place was built in the 'Fifties and maybe needs to be repaved. The real reason to check this out is to spend a little time with Frank Lloyd Wright. The same outrageousness that brought us the Guggenheim brought us the Civic Center. So stop in to skate on the weekend; when you drive in, check to make sure there aren't any big Events happening at the Marin Center or in any of the other meeting halls or theaters that share the grounds with the County Administration building. If there aren't, skate all around the lower areas and Wright-designed parking lots; check out the details. Look up at that Administration building. Amazing. Try not to notice that they're building an extension to Wright's building that looks like a jail.
Thursday, October 10, 1996
Note from the Author: Haven't put in links to the other chapters yet.
From Richard Katz's Skating Unrinked book, published in paperback by HarperCollinsWest in 1994. Or was it '95? If you are not reading this on a screen, stop reading and head to www.Amazon.com. Thanx. Richard Katz = katz@frogojt.com. email
Back to Richard Katz's Homepage
If you want to go back to the Table of Contents of Skating Unrinked, Back to TOC