Over the Border without Passport -- in Just one Day!

We journey by automobile, following a full night’s sleep and a light breakfast. We take time to admire the countryside and hum along to the car radio. We have no timetable and almost no itinerary. It’s exotic and eerie! However, in almost no time at all – forty-three minutes, to be precise – ZIP! – we’re crossing the border into Sonoma County.

We make similar excursions at least twice a year, but this one’s different. This time, we’re going to stay overnight, move slowly and see what’s been missing.

Our central destination is Santa Rosa, but it’s still too early to check into our hotel. No problem; more time to meander around. Instead of watching the clock, we motor back to the Coddingtown Mall to have lunch at Narsi’s, a hofbrau-style place we remember from years past. Both Narsi’s and the mall are showing their age now, but the food is as good as we remember, and for Marinites, a great bargain.

Refreshed, we return to Hwy. 12, which takes us out to Sebastopol. Once we spot the rustic cow statue standing in a dairy and pass the big metal dog with the lolling tongue in front of the Humane Society, we know we’re getting close to Florence Avenue, home of the world’s best fun collection of junk sculpture.

These creations represent the quirky inspirations of French Canadians Patrick Amiot and wife Brigitte Laurent, who assemble their art from rubbish and discards of all kinds. The Amiots have their studio on Florence, and it’s easy to spot. But almost every neighbor along the street – and many off the street – reinforces this outdoor exhibit. For instance, we park our car in front of the Mad Hatter standing on a teapot. Then within a short stroll, we encounter Batman, a cow in a pickup truck, vacationers in a VW, a large and peculiar totem pole, a sharkmobile, big puppy dog, fisherman in his boat, fire engine with firemen clinging to the back, wolf driving a hot rod, reclining mermaid with wavy metal hair and giant quail. And besides looking like a fun place to live, Florence Avenue in Sebastopol is a pretty old street with beautiful gardens. Who knew this great stuff was here, so close to home? Why haven’t we explored it before?

By now, we could get into our hotel, but we continue our commitment not to hurry. Early summer will be prime time at the Luther Burbank Garden, right across from Santa Rosa City Hall. The garden is also convenient to Peet’s, where visitors can cool down with an icy mocha freddo, and investigate a clean and organized used book store called Treehorn.

Burbank’s garden is educational and free. It holds live exhibits of the horticulturist’s experiments, including high-yielding grains that he developed during World War I, examples of his 800 hybrids, and an edible landscape. Burbank’s striped corn and slicing tomatoes will be on exhibit later in the summer, the literature says. This garden is situated in an old neighborhood with plenty of two-hour street parking. We spend some of that time just smelling the flowers.

Our hotel has a fine restaurant right on the premises. When we tell them we have theatre tickets, they supply us with a superb dinner and get us out exactly in time, without rushing.
Both the play and its performing space are a short drive away and allow another discovery. We’ve never been to the 6th Street Playhouse before. Formerly the 6th Street Warehouse at Railroad Square, The Playhouse has two theatres in it, and we’re going to the GK Hardt, a big space, almost full on this Thursday night. Another surprise is tonight’s show, In the Mood, a 40’s musical version of Much Ado about Nothing. Remarkably, it works! Shakespeare’s returning soldiers are now American troops on leave in Italy, and the set is a USO center. When they dance, they dance swing. The audience loves it. In the Mood will close June 28, but there’s also a Studio Theatre here and an intriguing new season planned.

No worries about the drive home, of course. We’re staying in town. And tomorrow, we’ll stop off in Healdsburg, where we’ll find more bookstores, art galleries, wine tasting rooms, wine tasting rooms in art galleries, non-chain coffee shops, two great bakeries and antique stores.

Healdsburg is only fourteen minutes down the road, so we can sleep in. We’re local, after all – just over the border in Marin.