My One Night Stand at Occidental

Suppose, some special people in your life gave you a gift certificate to the Inn at Occidental, listed in the Select Registry of Distinguished Inns of North America 2008. Suppose, you crossed Occidental Road million times before, going abalone diving, but you’ve never dreamed of venturing into yet another ultimate little town. Running ahead let me tell you: I’m glad we did. Occidental claims to belong to Sonoma Wine Country, but is really pretty far from the motherload. Rewind that: Occidental is really pretty. It is surrounded by redwood and eucalyptus-covered hills, and it has a miniature park with benches and picnic tables. The Inn, family-owned and operated by Jerry and Tina Wolsborn, is located on a woody hill off Bohemian Highway (love the name!) on one end of the town, marked by a church, in a three-minute walk from its other end, also marked by a church. Of course, if you stop at every artist gallery and quaint little shop on your way, the walk can take all of half an hour or so. At the Inn, every room in a historic building has a name and is decorated in accordance with it. We stayed in Sonoma Lodge room, and liked the real birch tree canopy, with some dry leaves still hanging from branches, over the bed. The owners aspire to create a warm and fuzzy atmosphere of a delightful getaway—with original art on the walls, spa tubs in every room, a wine and cheese reception in the afternoon, and a full breakfast, made by the skilled house chef. For dinner, there is no better place than Bistro Des Copains, across the street from the Inn. Michel Augsburger, of Swiss-French descent, who opened the restaurant with a partner only a couple years ago, started with taking his staff on a trip to France to familiarize them with the original food-and-wine-as-a-way-of-life culture. Now, Melissa Gonyea, chef de cuisine, turns up some great dishes, among them duck breast in green peppercorn sauce, prepared the un-Americanized way without that fruit jam sweetness. Our attentive server, Allison Schermerhorn, and other crewmembers have been working for Bistro Des Copains (the buddies bistro) since day one. According to the owner, his goal was to create a cozy neighborhood restaurant, and judging from the amount of locals sipping their wine and chatting there on a Sunday night, he did. Now, about the locals. Some amazing artists live and work, and hold galleries there, or commute from Santa Rosa, Rio Vista, and other picturesque little towns of Northern California. Laurence Glass Work gallery features zoomorphic furniture designs by woodwork sculptor Fabrice Landa, adorned by Laurence’s own fused glass. The Art Collective Gallery of Mary Louise Perkins features rotating exhibits of local artists, and… we just scratched the surface… At the end of our less than 24-hour journey, just to add some icing to the cake, the AMGEN Tour of California was passing through town. Photo by Yuri Krasov. Overlooking the Inn at Occidental courtyard.