Tag: Play

Friday Night Summers w/ Live Music: Napa City Nights

Written by Ryan Milani on . Posted in Napa, Napa County. Leave a Comment

If you plan spending weekend in Napa, consider taking an extra day and coming out to the waterfront for the Napa City Nights free music on the waterfront. It’s a fun low key event with fun acts and great scenery. Seasoned Napa folk bring blankets and snacks.

It’s Downtown Napa, along the waterfront, next to Downtown Joe’s and right across the water from the new Stone Brewing Co.; an easy walk from the Archer hotel and Oxbow. Lots of other options for drinks and food.

Here’s some details:

Time:

Friday Nights during the summer

July 1st thru July 22nd, 2022
Friday Nights
6:30 – 10:00 pm

Location:

Veterans Memorial Park Amphitheater
Downtown Napa
Corner of Third & Main Streets
Google Map

For Lineup & more info, visit: www.napacitynights.com

RFO-observatory

Robert Ferguson Observatory

Written by Ryan Milani on . Posted in Kenwood, Sonoma County. Leave a Comment

Coming up on August 11th and 12th is the Perseid meteor shower. I used to watch this shower every year and would bring my friends out to watch in the middle of whatever field was near us. As it rolls around again this year, I’m heading up to my local observatory for a stargazing party! 2016 is said to have the best show in the last 20 years, with roughly 150 shooting stars per hour.

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train town

Sonoma TrainTown Railway

Written by Ryan Milani on . Posted in Sonoma, Sonoma County. Leave a Comment

Located just south of the historic Sonoma Square is TrainTown, an amusement park that features a 1:4 scale model railroad that the whole family can ride. It’s a fun place to take the kids in the North Bay!

TrainTown features a 1:4 scale model railway that will take you around the 10 acre park with a destination stop in a little mini western town where you and the kids can walk through mini model schoolhouse, jail, general store, fort, and church. You can also feed goats, chickens and lamas at the stop. It’s all very well kept since it opened in 1968. It’s also still family owned and very much affordable.

TrainTown also has a handful of amusement park rides like their mini rollercoaster, slow moving spinning ride, carousel, circular flying airplane ride, and a ferris wheel. I like the little train depot/garage where they work on the 1:4 model trains. They also have some vintage boxcars that the kids and adults can climb on, a snack bar, and a little gift shop.

The real highlight at Sonoma TrainTown is the ride around the park. I still have memories as a kid going through the tunnels, and seeing all the little hidden stuff they decorate the 10 acre park with.

train-town-sonoma

train-town-sonoma-trains

After TrainTown

Stop downtown afterwards for some ice cream at Sweet Scoops on the square!

Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve

Written by Ryan on . Posted in Guerneville, Sonoma County. Leave a Comment

I have mixed feelings on posting about Armstrong Redwoods. Armstrong feels more like home than many of the places I’ve lived. After spending a few years living out in my uncle’s riverside cabin in the semi-remote town of Guerneville, I explored Armstrong Redwoods often. It became a quiet place of meditation to me, my own zen garden, and it’s also my favorite place in the North Bay to take photos.

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Weaver’s Winter Wonderland

Written by Ryan Milani on . Posted in Rohnert Park, Sonoma County. Leave a Comment

When my friend told me, “Hey, want to come with me to go see some Christmas lights in Rohnert Park?” I thought okay, I like Christmas lights. I did not expect this. This was crazy.

The Weaver Winter Wonderland is a thing here, but this was my first time out to go see it. They’ve won The Great Christmas Light Fight, featured on ABC, along with winning other awards locally.

  • Holiday Weavers Winter Wonderland
  • Holiday Genie Weavers Wonderland
  • Holiday Scene


    It’s spectacular. You actually feel as though you drove to Disneyland, and were walking through Toon Town or Main Street — Minus the huge ticket cost, hotel, parking, crowds (ehh, sorta), etc. So yeah, Disney is a huge part of their theme, but certainly not exclusive, they have characters from just about every Holiday movie, down to the details. We were looking at the Dalmatians on the front lawn and joked how there weren’t 101, but as we looked around it became apparent that there were dogs hidden all over the spread of stuff — so maybe we were wrong.

    I’d say that the 20-30 foot Genie from Aladdin was the pinnacle of the spread, but I can’t say that, there’s just too much well placed characters and subtleties here. Everything works and is balanced and doesn’t have a too crowded feel. I’m starting to sound like an expert on Christmas lights. I’m not, it was just a fun place to check out.

    Grab some hot cocoa and head out to the Weaver Winter Wonderland at 1190 Cielo Cir, Rohnert Park, CA. And check em out on Facebook.

    Top Of The Tam on a Birthday Hike

    Written by Ryan on . Posted in Marin County, Mill Valley. Leave a Comment

    • Mt Tam View From The Top

      Mt Tam View From The Top

    • Old Water Tank

      Old Water Tank

    • Path On The Top Of Mt Tam

      Path On The Top Of Mt Tam

    • Mt Tam Skywalk

      Mt Tam Skywalk

    • Mt Tamalpais Watershed

      Mt Tamalpais Watershed

      Mount Tamalpais, or Mt. Tam, is close to San Francisco and has some of the most beautiful views in the world. From the top of the East peak you can see the fog rolling in from the sea, contrasting with the Golden Gate bridge and an unexpecting downtown San Francisco laying in wait. There are miles and miles of trails and some amazing mt. biking.

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      Chillaxing at the Coppola Pool

      Written by Ryan on . Posted in Geyserville, Sonoma County. Leave a Comment

      A long weekend of tours had me ready to celebrate my Labor Day weekend, albeit a day late. So I headed up to Geyserville, a small town about 15 minutes north of Healdsburg (and a hour and a half north of SF). The iconic Francis Ford Coppola winery also hosts one of the best, and perhaps the most Las Vegas like, pool in the bay area. You can rent Cabines for a party of 4 or just purchase a pool pass for $35 and head to the lawn (there’s limited tree shade).

      You can wander around the winery when you’re there and check out the numerous awards and memorabilia from Francis Ford Coppola’s movies, but when I was there I just laid by the pool and took in the 95 degree heat. They played a good mix of mellow music while I laid under the shade of a nearby tree reading (Outliers: The Story of Success
      by Gladwell, and Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Vaynerchuk
      ).

      Highly recommended after a busy weekend of work! Of course the place is packed on the weekend, so good luck. Your best bet is to book ahead which you can do on their website. Oh and and did I mention poolside service and a full bar? Enjoy!

      Facebook.com/CoppolaWine |
      Tripadvisor |
      Francisfordcoppolawinery.com

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