Taking the Kids: Kid-friendly California wine country this winter

Eileen Ogintz, Tribune Content Agency on Jan 6, 2022

There are options to stay from the Best Western Dry Creek Inn — with winter rates starting at under $100 a night, perhaps the best bet for those on a strict budget – to vacation rentals to charming romantic Bed & Breakfasts, including The Four Sisters collection, complete with gourmet breakfast, afternoon wine and cheese, and mini picnic. There are also deluxe kid-friendly (and dog-friendly) resorts like the Montage Healdsburg on 258-acres of vineyards and oak tree groves (a third of each of the 130 rooms is dedicated to outdoor living) with packages that include substantial resort credits, free bike rentals and more.

Those seeking getaways with kids, especially college-aged or grown kids could enjoy a spa getaway at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, with its famous thermal pools and Friday night music. People here have soaked in these springs for hundreds of years. (There are other pools at the pooch- and kid-friendly resort too.) The thermal mineral waters flow 1,100 feet beneath the resort. There’s a Roman Bathing Ritual with different temperature pools that also includes an herbal steam room, mineral soaking baths and more.

Today the resort is an oasis in the heart of wine country — 10 acres in the heart of the 17-mile-long Sonoma Valley and just 40 miles north of San Francisco. All guests get a complimentary bottle of wine — for every bottle of Trinity Oaks purchased by the hotel, a tree has been planted.

“Sonoma is more laid-back than other wine country towns,” says Trevor Blake Anderson, the executive chef of the new Taub Family Outpost on the historic Sonoma Plaza. The Outpost is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner five days a week, much of the food sourced from a co-op representing some 40 local Sonoma farms and it offers a patio just steps from the bustling Plaza.

Mac and cheese for the kids — and a glass of wine for you?

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid’s Guide to Philadelphia, the 13th in the kid’s guide series, was published in 2020, with The Kid’s Guide to Camping coming in 2021.)