Camellia Inn, Accommodations for All in Downtown Healdsburg

(This story was previously published in Discovering Sonoma)

When you are looking for a place to stay, location is always an important factor, but you also want something clean, comfortable and with lots of amenities for a reasonable price.  Although that can be a tall order in a lot of wine country, Camellia Inn fits the description quite nicely.

Camellia Inn is located just a few blocks off downtown Healdsburg, the center of Sonoma. You can reach restaurants, shops and tasting rooms within a five minute walk.  Innkeeper Lucy Lewand and her staff keep the place running like as well as a major hotel, with a feel like you are visiting a friend’s home.

The nine rooms at the Inn are each beautifully decorated, varying a bit in size and shape.  You can find some with extras such as a Jacuzzi tub or fireplace.  There is even a family suite that testifies to the fact that children are more than welcome here.

 

I had the pleasure of staying at Camellia Inn for three nights recently. Everyone here goes out of their way to make you feel at home. The room was country-cozy. Lucy shared my love of chocolate and there were treats left for me.  In fact, the Inn has declared “Chocolate Covered Wednesdays.”

Complimentary amenities include an evening wine and cheese spread (a nice assortment) as well as a hot breakfast in the morning that offers a huge array of fruit, baked goods and cereals.  There is also internet available and a swimming pool available for guests to use. 

One of my favorite things about the Camellia Inn was the reception each night. Guests sat around and talked about the wineries they loved (and didn’t like) and the restaurants they discovered.  Everyone enjoyed sharing, but also felt comfortable to go off on their own as soon as they desired.  I would definitely stay here again.

The Camellia Inn also has cottages and apartments available outside the main inn. I had a chance to stay in one of those last year.  It was also in downtown Healdsburg, but offered two bedrooms with lots of room.

Exploring through Carmel and Pebble Beach

My friend Tracy picked me up at L’Auberge Carmel after I finished the delicious breakfast delivered to my room (included for all guests). We had a final full day of fun ahead in Monterey County. We were actually remaining in Carmel by the Sea, but moving to an adorable inn a few blocks down.

The Lamp Lighter Inn is actually a group of adorable cottages and guest rooms just a few blocks walk from both town and the beach. While it is called a bed & breakfast, it’s a lot more than both, with cute gardens, flowing wine and a deluxe continental breakfast in the morning.

We stayed in the Bluebird Cottage which looked like it belonged in a fairy tale (there is also a Hansel & Gretel cottage, so I think I have the right theme). It has a king bed and bathroom downstairs with an electric fireplace, and twin beds upstairs (witha teddy bear on each). The upstairs became Tracy’s domain.

There wasn’t long to spend admiring the room as we were soon off for our full day. After watching some of the Carmel by the Sea Halloween Pet Parade, we headed over to Wrath Wines, which has a tasting room located right downtown. The title of this winery came from a Led Zeppelin song and it seems to fit right in with the wines, which are a bit different from the norm. 

I loved their 2009 Wrath Syrah Doctor’s Vineyard and Syrah is far from my favorite wine. It was much more fruity and complex than most and I felt as if I was still tasting it five minutes after the sip.  Their 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Late Harvest was like no other dessert wine I had tasted from this grape. It was a combination of sweet and spicy and actually smelled like asparagus!

We took a drive down to the water for lunch at the Stillwater Grill at The Lodge at Pebble Beach, It is the location of one of the most famous -- and most beautiful -- golf courses in the world. It runs along the Pacific and we got to see both the ocean and the course as we enjoyed a great lunch. The fries and burgers (about the only things I could find on a menu full of seafood) were great and the Peanut Butter Chocolate dessert Tracy and I split was just incredible!

From The Lodge, we took the famous 17 Mile Drive along the Pacific Ocean. It was as beautiful as I had remembered. As much as I’ve gotten used to living in the Midwest, there is just nothing like a drive along the beach to relax me and put me in a great mood.

We changed quickly for dinner at a place where the owner is known for her good mood. Though Doris Day doesn’t get out much these days, she is still the owner of the Cypress Inn in Carmel by the Sea. As much as the wall shows tributes to Day, so do the policies. She is a dog lover and they are welcome here, with a “Yappy Hour” every day and a spot in the cocktail lounge when the lounge singer plays.

The evening started from cocktails from a menu of classic drinks with the motto “The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind.” Each page was dedicated to a spirit and an actor, with drinks named (and explained) after others, such as the Mary Pickford:

Leblon, Bacardi Superior Rum, pineapple juice, Maraschino Liqueur and Grenadine-Created for Pickford in the 1920s by Fred Kauffman at Hotel Nacional de Cuba

After sipping a French 75, I sat down with Tracy for dinner. We started with the Roasted Vegetable Soup, which was just perfect on a night that was starting to get chilly. I then enjoyed the Penne Salsiccia, pasta with Italian sausage and onions in plum tomato sauce. Tracy really liked the Pan-Seared Scallops, with baby spinach and red truffled potatoes.

We retired early after a very long day and spent our final day slowly making our way through Monterey County toward San Francisco Airport.  We started with a walk down at the Carmel by the Sea beach and continued with a drive along the ocean until I was at the same airport I would return to a week later for my Sonoma trip.

A word of caution…. Dogs rule Carmel by the Sea this town and they are welcome in nearly every hotel, restaurant and store. I happen to love dogs, but I was a bit overwhelmed by day three. I started to have dreams that I was the only human left on earth (especially after the Halloween Pet Parade)!

You will not find a better place in the world for pet lovers who can’t stand to leave their pooch home. However, if you are coming without a pet, stay in Carmel Valley and take a drive to Carmel by the Sea for a day trip -- it's definitely worth checking out.

Enjoying a Haven in Oak Park

It’s been way too long since I’ve had a quiet getaway, the type where you shut off the IPhone, don’t turn on the computer and actually engage in conversation with someone you don't get to talk to often enough. It was time for me and despite the schedule of two workaholics, I made it happen this week.

Harvey House Bed & Breakfast is easy to miss when you drive along the quiet Oak Park street it’s located on, but it’s in the middle of a different world that's just 15-20 minutes outside of Chicago. It’s a town Ernest Hemmingway once lived in and I could certainly see the inspiration.

It was also rather nostalgic for me when I spotted the bunny in front of the door. Harvey isn’t just the last name of owner Beth Harvey, it’s the name of a play (and then a movie) starring the iconic actor, Jimmy Stewart. The story has Stewart’s character with an imaginary rabbit. I had the pleasure of seeing the play – with Stewart – in London when I was a teenager on a family vacation. It was an incredible experience I will never forget. That memory immediately made me comfortable at Harvey House, not that you need help feeling relaxed here.

Our room was the Garden Suite (there are a total of five rooms)  was soft and comfortable, with an oversized Jacuzzi and a three sided fireplace. We would enjoy that quite later (with a bottle of Perrier Jouet Champagne), but first we checked out downtown Oak Park, which is a combination of quaint and modern, offering a nice selection of restaurants.

A recommendation from Beth Harvey led us to Maya del Sol. This contemporary Latin restaurant has a nice patio, but the evening was a little chilly and we decided to stay indoors. We enjoyed the salsa, not too spicy, but with a bit of zing. The main courses we chose were Chicken Enchiladas and an Acorn squash stuffed with Rice, Wild mushrooms, Yuca and asparagus, and covered with a sweet corn-butter sauce. I was a bit disappointed that there weren’t more options that were safely cooked for my seafood allergy, but the squash turned out to be delicious, though not quite as spectacular as breakfast.

Beth Harvey really takes the breakfast in B&B serious. You won’t find any egg casseroles here. Instead, she makes individual breakfasts for each guest, using farm fresh vegetables, fruits and cheeses. We enjoyed ours on the patio and it was quite a feast --- oven baked pancakes (light and fluffy like popovers) with fresh fruit and a banana caramel sauce; scrambled eggs with shredded parmesan; and freshly cooked bacon.

It’s the little touches to detail, as well as the feeling of being in a home away from home, that makes Harvey House a popular place for everything from romantic getaways to business trips. Beth explained how business travelers love having a well-appointed room with the comforts of home, fresh coffee and wine always available in an inviting living room; a kitchen open to them for self-serve at all hours, while breakfast is prepared to their individual taste each day; and the necessary amenities of Wi-Fi, flat screen televisions that can be hooked to your computer, are there when work needs to be done. There are also two train lines that run right into this Oak Park neighborhood to get you in the middle of Chicago within minutes.

I have to admit that I was tempted to leave my cell phone and computer off and hibernate at Harvey House for a few more days, but it had to wait as I had an appointment in downtown before I headed home. It was time to trade the suburban quiet for the hustle and bustle of Chicago, as I had to get back to "work" to check out a new burger and wine bar, 25 Degrees.