I'm an early morning flight kinda gal. If you don't care for sneaking out of town in the pitch dark as the city still sleeps, you may think twice about booking a trip with Beauty and Her Feast. I have a theory. It's simple and I'm pretty sure Clark Griswold subsribes to my beliefs. First ones in, first ones out. I love getting to the airport early. I love landing in a city, getting off the plane and having a whole day to explore. And that's just what Prince Charming and I did upon arriving in Sonoma. We landed at 10 am and headed straight…for food. 

I made sure to get a list from my chef friends. Each one telling me I MUST go to certain places or they wouldn't speak to me again. It would be unacceptable that I would travel out here for my first time without a visit to what they believe is an essential pilgramage to honor our food religion.

Thus, first stop, Gott's Roadside in Napa. It's just one of those places you have to go. I get it. Good burgers with wine on the side. Done. We shared two burgers, an order of fries and soaked up the sun. A perfect first stop.

But even better was Model Bakery next door for the oversized English muffins. We bought one to go, along with a few other sweet treats for later. Also worth a stroll is Oxbow Public Market. It's a 40,000 square foot market featuring local food vendors, artisan cafes and organic produce. If you plan to picnic anywhere in the area, it's a great place to shop. And yes, Bill Kim, the English muffins are KILLER. 

Back on the road, we headed to our hotel to drop our things and check out the little town of Glen Ellen. Did I mention little town? The Gaige House, a Four Sisters Inn, is a boutique bed & breakfast with updated decor and extremely friendly staff. We fell in love upon checking in. The Gaige House is surrounded by trees and just a short walk from the few restaurants in town. They even supply a basket of flashlights for guests to carry at night. While it's definitely out of the way from the "main attractions" of Sonoma and Napa (about 40 minutes drive to Healdsburg), it's a lovely getaway and great breakfast. 

We then headed to Healdsburg to wander around and sip some wine before dinner, only to find out that almost all of the tastings rooms close at…5 p.m. What??? C. Donatiello, however, stays open late on the plaza, so we ordered a flight and Chris Donatiello stopped by our table to chat for a few minutes. The tasting room manager, Michael was a wealth of information and super chatty, mostly about himself and his wine tasting expertise, but he provided some great tips for around town.

Across the plaza, we dined at Dry Creek Kitchen, which is Sonoma's fine dining restaurant. I convinced Prince Charming we had to order the 8-course tasting menu and he begrudginly agreed. And I preface this next part by saying that I'm glad we did the tasting menu but, I'll be honest because it's my blog I can. I appreciate fine dining but….I'm sort of tiring of the stuffy, long drawn-out meal with a waiter staring down his nose at me. Yes, I just said that. Yet, the food was exquisite. In fact, the pan roasted New York steak was one of the finest dishes both Prince Charming and I have eaten. We did agree on that. 

The cripsy pork belly with corn and the stuffed sole over black trumpet mushrooms were also stellar, not to mention everything was plated beautifully. Overall, I'd highly recommend dining at Dry Creek if you want to add a fine dining destination during your Sonoma trip. 

Next up: The Bubble Room at J Vineyard and Glen Ellen Star