Wohler Bridge

With my brother as an ally, I managed to pry OilMan out of his garden for the day, for what turned out to be a rather interesting architectural tour of the Alexander and Dry Creek Valleys.

We started with a stop at Tierra Farmstand for some chili jam and heirloom dried beans. The white barn was in the path of progress in the form of a redesigned freeway off-ramp and was rescued from certain destruction by the Tierra folks (brother and sister) who carefully rebuilt the barn one numbered timber at a time.

On to Diavola in Geyserville for lunch, where I ate so many of their thinner-than-a-pencil breadsticks, that I thought I might not have room for my smoked trout salad. No worries there.

The restaurant and bar are inside a hundred year old unreinforced brick building (with a sign on the front wall warning of earthquake vulnerability). The bar is some kind of old barn board, the walls are the same exposed brick and the ceiling is antique pressed tin squares. The pizza oven in the back produces a lot more than pizza, including perfectly fried eggs and the aforementioned breadsticks. We went out to admire the outdoor patio, and Rick peered through the fence at the truck sized smoker where they make all their own cured meats and sausages.

On to Medlock-Ames to pick up our quarterly shipment and admire the one-time gas station repurposed as a tasting room and speakeasy. Their oversize light fixtures, understated finishes, and windows that open completely to the outdoor deck, all contributed to OilMan's comment that he"could live there".

Our final stop was the Hop Kiln Winery which we drove past last month and decided to go inside today. I love this old building, a registered historical landmark, with its well worn floors, kiln chimneys and view over the Dry Creek Valley. We bought a few bottles of sparkling red wine for Thanksgiving, and headed home over the Wohler Bridge, one of many old bridges which cross the Russian River.