A rollicking California road trip

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The Farmhouse Inn and Restaurant in Forestville received a one-star Michelin rating for the second consecutive year.

From mud baths to Michelin-rated dining, radical road trip covers California in style.

By Pamela Price / Special to the Malibu Times

It all started with the latest California Find Yourself Here Official State Visitor’s Guide and Travel Planner, a one-stop magnet for those who realize a week-long road trip exploring California’s newest and oldest inns, restaurants and landmarks can be a rollicking journey.

While the Euro eats up the American dollar faster than the speed of light, it means a week crisscrossing California by car can cost far less than a weekend in Paris. For $30 you can enjoy a three-course autumn dinner at Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen at the Hotel Healdsburg, or for a special rate starting at $225 a night, you can spend time at the Farmhouse Inn and Restaurant in Forestville, prouder than ever with a one-star Michelin rating for the second consecutive year.

The Farmhouse Inn just announced its “Winter Wine Country Escape,” which includes a divine breakfast with freshly baked scones, gingered grapefruit and a scrumptious omelet blended with cream cheese served with freshly squeezed orange juice. The $225 rate can be used for any three nights and when reserved with two 90-minute spa treatments, guests receive a $100 gift certificate.

Exploring a mere fraction of California’s diverse 58 counties, from Plumas, home to 100 lakes and sky blue waters, to Calistoga, a healthy hideaway in northern Napa Valley known for hot springs, legendary mud baths and massages, it is obvious the gifts of the Golden State offer an endless journey. And you can avoid fast food altogether by tuning up your itinerary. We heard about the opening of Solage Calistoga from friends who raved about the resort’s “mud bar” and more, such as the “Make Mine a Double” treatments designed for two.

You can’t get much better than the “love shot,” a private outdoor aphrodisiac soak for two that promises to “melt into a massage.” We headed toward the Cambria Pines Lodge, sprawling over 26 acres of gardens and cottages. Now through Feb. 19, rates range from $69 to $99. Combine that with a body treatment or facial at the Sojourn Healing Arts Center, housed in a private cottage at the Lodge, and you have a real value vacation.

This cozy cottage, replete with a fireplace in the treatment area, is where you will find a mother-daughter duet gifted with true healing hands. My therapist asked about any special aches, which was a good thing as I had spent 2,500 miles scrunched in the front seat of our Munchkin size car far too long. Sojourn’s 60-minute Swedish ($85) was the perfect solution. Another top spa stop was Harbin Hot Springs, near Middletown, where Watsu or water shiatsu in warm pools originated. Today, a one-day pass here is $25.

From the Alley Cat Café on Grover Alley in Quincy serving a hot pot of Jasmine Yin Hao tea to a $9.95 hamburger at the Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant in Coalinga, there was never a reason to waste a calorie on fast food. Raptures ran rampant in dining on a deep dish chicken pie discovered at Linn’s of Cambria, and super market dining reached its zenith at the Nugget Market in Davis; how about 4-inch thick sandwiches with bread made from fresh from the oven?

We heard about the Black China Bakery in Santa Cruz, home of some of most the seductive vegan chocolate cupcakes yet invented. Brace yourself for a cupcake dipped in vegan chocolate ganache with a swirl of mint, raspberry, mocha or, if you dare, more chocolate. Their vegan raspberry vanilla bean cake with a touch of lemon zest was equally irresistible.

That detour to the Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg for their complicated but ethereal dessert they call Pecan Waffles with Pomegranate Mousse accentuated with Maple Syrup, Anglise Carrot Gelee, and Micro Cilantro validated the trip for all of us.

Resources:

California: www.visitcalifornia.com

Solage Calistoga: www.solagecalistoga.com; 800.942.7442

Nugget Market: www.nuggetmarket.com; 530.750.3800

Farmhous Inn: www.farmhouseinn.com 707.887.3300

Harbin Hot Springs: www.harbin.org; 831.457.2086

Sojourn Healing Arts Center: www.SojournHealingArts.com; 805.927.8007

Cambria Pines Lodge: www.cambriapineslodge.com; 800.966.9490

Pamela Price is the co-author of “Fun with the Family in Southern CA” (www.globepequot.com)