by Lisa Trottier, Sunset travel editor

Tomales Bay is a standby escape for Bay Area dwellers who in just over an hour can find themselves slurping oysters on its shores or hiking along the crashing Pacific in Point Reyes. It’s a place that gets overlooked a lot by out-of-staters, but that’s something I expect will change.

Finding the right place to stay here can be tricky—your choices are few. Development is notoriously difficult—just ask Pat Kuleto, who fought for a decade to get the cozy/schmancy Nick’s Cove reopened a couple of years ago.

But one of my favorite sleeps has been around for ages, hidden on the edge of the town of Point Reyes Station. The Old Point Reyes Schoolhouse Compound is a cluster of four artfully decorated mini-retreats with kitchens, private patios, and homey touches like window nooks and chicken coops. 

I stayed in Jasmine Cottage, the smallest of the lot, recently, and loved our little garden and how easy it was to stroll into town for breakfast at Pine Cone Diner or cheese shopping at Cowgirl Creamery.

Book it: From $185, oldpointreyesschoolhouse.com, 415/663-1166

Get Sunset’s take on exploring Point Reyes and Tomales Bay, and our advice on where to find the best oysters.

by Lisa Trottier, Sunset travel editor

I’m not the turkey-baking type, so for me Thanksgiving means one thing: four full days to get out of town. Last year, I soaked up the sunny skies and 70-degree weather in Monterey, California, at the just-opened Clement Monterey.

Choosing the Clement broke several of my own personal rules. First of all, it’s on Cannery Row, a tourist haven of souvenir shops and candy stores. Plus, it’s part of an international hotel chain—the Intercontinental.

But, what can I say? I loved my stay at the Clement. Mostly for its back deck right over the crashing waves of Monterey Bay. From the fire pit, where cocktails are served under the moonlight, we could see seals peep out of the water. Plus, the hotel is literally next door to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, eliminating any parking or traffic hassles for the town’s biggest attraction.

Best of all, every day my husband and I loaded our kids into their bike seats and cruised along a path that crosses right in front of the hotel, skirting the edge of the bay all the way to the Pacific Ocean. After that, we’d dig in to the fish and chips at locals’ favorite Sea Harvest. And I have to say, we didn't miss the turkey one bit.  

Book it: From $199, (831) 375-4500

Plan your trip: Read Sunset’s advice on where to hike around Monterey and a great bike ride in nearby Pacific Grove.

By Rachel Levin, Sunset senior editor

I was happy to see an ode to Sunset’s favorite little Apple Farm in the Times magazine last Sunday, as part of its series on Slow Food. With a scattering of cozy-quiet cabins, acres of heirloom apple orchards, hands-on cooking classes, and a roadside stand that operates on the honor system, the Apple Farm, in Northern California's Mendocino County, was the haycation before haycations were cool.

You can read about our favorite farm weekends in our November issue, now on newsstands. (Yes, our article includes the Apple Farm, too.)

Book it: Cottages are $175/night midweek; $250 on weekends, including breakfast. Cooking classes are booked for the rest of the season, but start up again in February. Call now to reserve.

Plan your trip to the Anderson Valley

by Lisa Trottier, Sunset travel editor

I have a soft spot for Costanoa. I can’t help it. When it opened a decade ago, a cluster of stylish tent bungalows, cabins, and lodge rooms along an otherwise undeveloped stretch of coast south of Half Moon Bay, it was so completely unlike anything else in that tech-happy era.

There were no phones, no TVs. Trails led into the grassy hills and across Highway 1 to a pair of deserted beaches. Tents with robes, comforters, and pictures on the “wall” had you hoofing it across a field for middle-of-the-night bathroom runs. But when you got there, you’d find heated floors, a sauna, a crackling fireplace with a pair of adirondacks. This was glamping before the term had even been coined.

I liked the place so much I got married there nine years ago—spoke my vows on a grassy bluff where we could hear the elephant seals calling, then hiked down to Costanoa’s lodge for a barbecue and s’mores in the slanting November sun. So, when the place changed hands once, then again, I was worried.

More than I needed to be, it turns out. I stayed in a tent bungalow here with my kids this past summer, and while the place isn’t maintained to the exacting standards of its early days, it’s still a great way to spend a weekend outside in a glorious spot. We hiked to the beach, ate pancakes under the sun, and trekked to the nearby Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

The only thing I will say is that summers along that stretch can be foggy and windy, and it often was the July weekend we were there. Today, though, the forecast is 75 degrees and calm. Perfect. Plus, off-peak rates started yesterday, and tonight is a full moon. So what, you say? Costanoa celebrates full-moon nights with a 50 discount. If I had nothing pressing going on, I’d be on my way right now.

Book it: costanoa.com, 877/262-7848

Plan your trip: Get Sunset's tips on what to do in nearby Pescadero and, north of that, Half Moon Bay.

by Lisa Trottier, Sunset travel editor

It's news to no one that people...just...LOVE...San Francisco. For the 17th year in a row, Conde Nast's readers have just voted it the country's best city to visit. Yet, when I see visitors clustering where so many of the city's hotels are—between Union Square and the Tenderloin—I cringe a little. Of all the city's corners, this may be the least lovely.

So, when you visit San Francisco (and by all means do), I say get away from downtown and stay out in the city's neighborhoods. That's what I do. There are lots of small inns around, but my favorite is the Hotel Drisco.

 
This is not only because it's perched above the bay on the tippy top of the city in an absurdly scenic, fantastically pricey neighborhood bordered by Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights, and Cow Hollow. I love how from the street it nearly passes as an apartment building. There's no vast lobby to cross, no maze of hallways. It makes me feel at home. And the shops and restaurants along Fillmore and Union streets are a short (if sometimes steep) stroll away. I've spent more than one happy weekend here without once touching my car.

Plan your trip: Click here for my favorite walks, shops, and restaurants in the Hotel Drisco's neighborhood. And get many more ideas for a trip to San Francisco here.

Book it: from $169, www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/drisco. Get a third night free by booking here and typing in "joie"

What about you? Do you have a favorite city sleep? We'd love to hear what it is.

It happens to me every fall. Right about now. Something about the changing leaves, the crisp sunny days, that late-afternoon light... I suddenly have the urge to make like a J. Crew catalog cover and wear wool and wander country roads, lounge by the fire and drink red wine...  

The thing is, so does everyone else. And Napa knows this. And exploits this, by raising what are already ridiculous room rates to astronomical levels. I mean, who can blame them? When people, yes, even In These Times, are willing to pay $600, $800, $1,000 a night. 

Well, high season-shmigh season. It's time to get clever, folks. Forget about how amazing it would be to stay in Napa right now. Instead, plan ahead. Give yourself something to look forward to: Winter in Napa! Green. Cozy. Uncrowded. Sure, a little cold, but—get this—affordable. 

One of my favorite places to stay is near Yountville, two miles from the Michelin-star mecca: The Cottages at Napa Valley. (Which, at $455 a night peak-season is almost a bargain in these parts.) 

But come winter, rates plummet at these private, Provencal-style cottages: Eight cute-as-a-button (but not irritatingly so) colorful cabins scattered around a grassy lawn, complete with Adirondack chairs and indoor and outdoor fireplaces, French-press coffee and supercomfy beds, baskets of flaky croissants from Bouchon delivered to your front porch in the mornings and complimentary wine hour in the courtyard in the evenings.

And December 1st through February 28th, you can stay three nights for the price you'd pay for one this very weekend. So bust out your wool, winter in Napa isn't so bad.

Book it: Winter special, three nights for $495; or two nights for $495, including dinner for two at Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc restaurant, a private owner-led tasting tour at O'Brien Estate, and s'mores fixins for roasting marshmallows outside your cottage; www.napacottages.com. 

Plan your trip to Napa

Got a--gasp!--affordable lodging recommendation in Napa? Tell us! Please!

By Rachel Levin, senior editor, Sunset magazine

One of my favorite places in all of Northern California—heck, in the world— is Point Reyes, a refreshingly undeveloped paradise of a peninsula about an hour-and-a-half north of San Francisco. And one of my favorite times to be there is now. September. How come? The summer fog has lifted. The sun is shining. And there is wildlife All. Over. The. Place.

Want proof? Check out these pics from last weekend:

Tule elk

Where can you seem them? Hiking the Tomales Point trail: a gorgeous, windswept 10-mile out-and-back that follows the Pacific the whole way.

Pelicans

Where can you seem them? Everywhere — usually skimming the surface of Tomales Bay. Or lined-up like schoolchildren along the sand like, they are here. Aw.

Seal lions

Where can you seem them? On Tomales Bay—and the best way to play with them is to rent a kayak from Blue Water Kayaks in Inverness, and paddle around. Cuties.

And more elk

Okay, sorry. It's nature! But, I know. Not as cute as the seals.

Photographs by Matt Krumme

More on Sunset.com: Great fall getaways

by Natalie Jabbar, Sunset editorial intern

If you're visiting Yosemite National Park's Tuolumne Meadows on these crisp fall days, don't cruise through without getting out of the car to explore a bit. Even if you're in a hurry, try to set aside a bit of time for Twin  Bridges. You'd think a spot this idyllic, and just a 10-minute walk from a major road, would be packed with people, but, oddly, it isn't.

When I ventured to Twin Bridges recently, I couldn't help snapping way too many photos (two pictured below), before simply lying down on a flattened rock, basking in the last rays of summer and in the quiet beauty of those mountains.

To get to Twin Bridges, just follow the easy trail from Tuolumne Meadows Lodge, where parking is also  available.

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For more tips on what to do and where to stay in Yosemite, check out Sunset's Yosemite National Park Guide.

by Emily Chow, Sunset editorial intern

The New Children's Museum in San Diego
Photo credit: Matthew Jaffe

Looking for something to do Labor Day weekend? If you are a Bank of America cardholder, check out their Museum on Us program, which offers free general admission into more than 100 participating museums nationwide on the first full weekend of every month.

• Portland:  Check out the Portland Art Musuem's "Virtual Worlds" exhibit highlighting M.C. Escher's spatial illusions.
• San Francisco: Stroll around Yerba Buena Gardens and stop by San Francisco's Contemporary Jewish Museum.
• San Diego: Visit The New Children's Museum in San Diego, where the entire family can engage and create art in three floors of interactive galleries.

Where will I be this weekend? If it's not too crowded, you'll find me at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, learning about innovative technology solutions in their permanent exhibit that is opening tomorrow, "Technology Benefiting Humanity."

Flash that piece of plastic at the ticket office for some free fun during the upcoming long weekend. It can't get any better than that.

Check out their Web site to locate participating museums near you.

By Rachel Levin, Sunset senior editor

We’ve been so busy putting out our recent print issues, we’ve been abandoning our poor little travel blog. But, fear not dear readers (we do still have readers, right? Hello… Anybody out there?) we are BACK!

And we aim to be better than ever with a new focus: We'll be reporting on places where we are literally just back from. And, of course, being the busy travel editors that we are, where we are headed next. We'll give you the honest scoop on everything from glamping in Montana to kayaking in Las Vegas of all places to our favorite apres-work restaurants in San Francisco.

Lets start with something simple. Like, where I’m going… tonight: To Nopa, one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants in SF, for the cocktail I’m craving now:

The Wash House. It’s a pretty, late-summer sip made with organic rye vodka from Square One, fresh basil, and squeezed-to-order lime and adorned with a delicate sprig of thyme. Sounds easy enough to mix up at home, doesn’t it? (Maybe I’ll try it this weekend). In the meantime, I’ll happily pony up $9 for one this eve. Maybe even two.