Petaluma Hill Road may not traverse Petaluma, but it’s my
favorite route into Santa Rosa, especially this time of year when the leaves
are falling and the scent of winter is in the often mist-laden air. In case you
didn’t know, Petaluma Hill Road begins with the intersection of Old Redwood
Highway at the Penngrove Fire Department and The Grove and runs 9.9 miles to its
termination at Santa Rosa Ave. just before Highway 12.
Besides the pastoral views, farm stands, and the Green Music
Center, there’s some great shopping along Petaluma Hill Road. It’s shopping
season, isn’t it?
I’m anxious to get my shopping out of the way and get on to
the more important work of decking the halls and celebrating family, friends
and the foodie paradise we live in.
Linda O and I will meet
at JavAmoré Café in The Grove center for breakfast. Owner Kim Hanson, a
Petaluman, has created a homey little café that makes the best breakfast around,
and turned this corner into the hub of Penngrove. Just ask any resident—we all
go there for Penngrove news served up with fresh coffee drinks. Kim carries
local crafts and homemade foods to buy as well as displaying local art on the walls.
If all you want is coffee or tea, you won’t be disappointed with your cuppa.
Fortified by a good breakfast, we’re on to our next stop
across the parking lot: Full Circle Baking Co.—only the best organic artisan bread
in the shadow of Sonoma Mountain. Kathy and Keith Giusto started the bakery the
year I got married. They baked special wedding breads with our initials for the
reception barbeque and hold a special place in my heart. Besides, Penngrove
Multigrain is my favorite bread. I’ll take a loaf home for dinner, and pop another
in the freezer for later.
Next stop, Passanisi Home and Garden. The downtown store
opened its doors in the spring of 2007 but the Passanisi name has been in
Penngrove since 1985 when Passanisi Nursery opened a few miles down the road.
Unfortunately it’s closed now, but the downtown store is a wonderful eclectic
mix of nursery, home decor and seasonal specialty items. I buy all my
poinsettias there and may try one of their Christmas trees this year. I just
finished buying out the store of the Halloween decorations—they carry the best
selection around. I also buy my cymbidiums and metal-crafted flying pigs there.
Everything is fairly priced and affordable.
We’re jumping back in the car and heading north to 1400
Valley House Dr. in Rohnert Park, the former site of Agilent Technologies. Now
the long under-utilized business park has been transformed into a shopping
destination with tons of free parking. Welcome to Sonoma Mountain Marketplace,
a Street Fair reminiscent of a 1900′s Main Street housed in an indoor shopping
mall with food, interactive kid’s activities,
patio seating and picnic areas. It’s a great place to ride your bike, walk your
dog, catch a live performance and enjoy the weekend. There’s plenty of
shopping, too.
Brainchild
of the Crossing the Jordan Foundation, Inc., a local non-profit founded in
2011, the marketplace was started as a way to raise funds and give employment
to victims of human trafficking and domestic violence, homeless mothers and
women addicted to drugs who are ready to transform their lives. Find out more
about this local grown organization at www.crossingthejordan.org.
Maybe a donation in Mom’s name would be the perfect Christmas gift?
I
attended the opening on September 27th and was greeted inside the
door with the enticing odor of tri-tip sandwiches calling my name. I ignored it,
deciding to checkout the shopping.
Setting
out along the northeast row of vendors past Kindred Free Trade, I made my way
around the perimeter discovering antiques, collectibles, used jeans,
second-hand clothes, barn wood art, handmade soaps, BPA free water bottles.
Then I crisscrossed through the east-west rows and found DIY in a Box—a clever
stall with the fixings to make your own terrarium, handmade quilts, Cookie Lee
jewelry, Javita coffee co-diet products, cowboy boots, barrel stave furniture,
whimsical handmade toddler jackets, Rodan and Fields skin care and much more.
Here
are some of my favorites: first, Jane Irvine presided over a collection of
crafty art for home and garden. I fell in love with a suspended silver teapot
pouring silver saltshaker tops. It’s a chime and was offered for only $45, but
alas, I hadn’t carried enough cash or a checkbook. Be aware that not all
vendors accept credit cards. Don’t be like me and miss-out on a treasure for lack of a payment method.
| Pinyon Pine Seed Opening -Chalk Pastel on 140# Water Color Paper | © Dale Englehorn |
I
next met Dale Englehorn, a local artist and North Bay Made (made local) member,
and enjoyed a conversation about her work and her market stall. Besides her
lovely natural themed note cards designed from her paintings, she’s selling Seed-‘O-Sphere Wild Flower Seed-Balls, a
clay nugget containing 60+ seeds that will germinate in lightly scratched,
weed-free open soil. The packaging is 100% green and the seeds are locally
sourced non-GMO seeds embedded in the same Southwest terracotta clay used by
Native Americans. If you have open sunny spots in the garden, wildflowers are
colorful, drought-tolerant and self-sowing. Find Seed-‘O-Sphere on-line and see
some of Dale’s artwork at www.daleenglehorn.com.
Keep your eyes open for Dale’s open studios.
Did
I mention there’s a farmers market too? I bought the most delicious Korean hot
peppers, which I shared with the Korean women working at my cleaners. Sebastopol
grown, organic and spicy, I got the thumbs up from Sony and Jung Soon. I gave
the thumbs up to Tres Sorrelle, a local chocolatier, selling delicious
chocolates in the farmer’s market. I sampled everything. I’m dragging Linda O
to their booth first.
And while we’re strolling along the penstemon-lined walkways
back to the car, we’ll watch the afternoon shadows creep up Sonoma Mountain and
bask in that glow of a successful shopping trip.
