The Gardener

There is one on Fourth Street in Berkeley. There is one at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. But my favorite is the one on Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg because it is set in a garden.

It is high style meets whimsey. Practical meets improbable.

On a recent bike ride we stopped by the Healdsburg store, and I found myself imagining their tall pots as a modern-ish fountain (with apologies to the architecture snobs and language police).

I would show you photos but they won't let me, so you'll just have to click the links and look for yourself. But the bike ride -

 was fantastic. Perfect weather, rolling hills, grapes almost ripe, whimsey along the road...

Coppola is a great place for lunch on a hill overlooking the valley - 

...even a flat tire couldn't ruin our day. 

Go. Stay at Hotel Healdsburg. Shop at Susan Graf. Eat at Scopa or Dry Creek Kitchen. Have lunch at Willi's Wine Bar and order the peel and eat shrimp. Have one of the weird and wonderful cocktails at Barn Diva. It's as beautiful as the cycling trips we take to Europe, the food is as good, and it's a lot closer. If only they had ancient hilltop towns built of stone...