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North Bay Recs
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The Great Outdoors
17w
North Bay Recs
Children's Museum of Sonoma County
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Small but mighty kids museum in Santa Rosa, CA. Lots of fun stuff but the outdoor area really shines. Interactive farmers market, edible garden, repurposed full size helicopter, and fun water features and mini "river" to cool off on a hot day. Bonus: Snoopy's Ice Arena and the Charles Schulz Museum is right next door!
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20w
North Bay Recs
Lair of the Bear Family Camp
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For those of us that never got to experience summer camp vibes (and those that miss them) there is Lair of The Golden Bear, U.C. Berkeleys Alumni (but you don't have to be one!) Camp. Do you want to work on pottery? Friendship bracelets? Lanyards? Tie-Dye? Yoga? Do you like to hike? Swim (Lake or pool)? Mountain bike? Sloth around in a hammock? Do you enjoy sportsball (we don't)? Do you want your kids to be free range and feral, running in packs of kids they meet up with every year, or have structured camp activities like age-group itineraries, campfire shows, bingo nights and movies at the lake (both are readily available)? Do you not have kids but want to happy hour and do all of the above anyway? Also possible! Do you not want to worry about food? It's covered! This is the place. This is the vibe. Become a member of the alumni association and you can book a tent at one of their three camps on offer (Gold, Blue and Oski - but be warned, Gold cheats) on one of the many weeks (7 days, from Saturday to Saturday) over the summer. If you have heard of SF's Camp Mather, it's very similar. But unlike Camp Mather, it's not a crapshoot if you'll get a tent any particular year. The staff are pretty accommodating and want to make it work for you! Once you have a tent, it's yours that week, at that camp, in perpetuity until you decide otherwise. The reward is meeting up with the same folks year after year - finding your people, your kids finding their people, and having a built in community you come back to again and again. Our kids would mutiny if we stopped going. They legit have said they'd pick it over Disneyland. If the idea of hanging up in the Sierras around a bunch of kids wants to make you poke your eyes out, there are adult weekends! If the idea of a whole week with young kids seems daunting, there are family weekends! Check it out, it is legit the part of summer we look forward to all year.
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20w
Some Lovely
Picking Huckleberries
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The best berry, IMHO- I had a huckleberry pie in lieu of a wedding cake. Like a wild blueberry but better, found on evergreen shrubs all over Marin, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties. They tend to be found under the shade of redwoods but the shrubs that get more sun produce the most berries. Many of the campsites in the Azalea loop in Hendy Woods are ringed with huckleberry bushes - another great reason to visit. They usually ripen August - October.
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20w
North Bay Recs
The Junction Beer Garden
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Family and group meetup-friendly hang spot in Mill Valley and newly opened in Santa Rosa as well. Play structure for the kiddos - why don't more beer gardens have this?? - and can vouch that the Mill Valley location pizza c/o Pizzahacker is solid. Both are great places to soak up our beautiful NorCal weather.
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20w
North Bay Recs
Jumbo's Win Win
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Excellent burgers, fries, hot dogs, and more in the blink-and-you'll-miss-it little town of Philo on Hwy 128. Hit it up if you're coming or going to Mendo or if you're staying locally (Hendy Woods, perhaps?)
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20w
North Bay Recs
larry spring museum of common sense physics
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Such a delightful, quirky, quintessentially NorCal/Mendo experience. Do go and explore it if you have the chance.
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20w
North Bay Recs
Hendy Woods State Park
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Gorgeous park and campground tucked back in the Anderson Valley. You might drive past and never know it's there, but you'd be missing out on a kid-friendly campground and park with lots of stumps and logs to play in, a great swimming hole, and the lore of Petrov Zailenko, the Hendy Hermit, which you can learn about while exploring the remnants of his "hermit huts" he built and lived in once upon a time. HMU if you want my recs for the best campsites there ;)
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