Monte Rio Trip

Dress: Free People (I’ve been living in it), Jacket: J.Crew, Sandals: Steve Madden, Bag: Marc Jacobs

As I previously mentioned in my Tahoe Mini Getaway post, my family decided against doing our typical week long vacation in Tahoe over 4th of July this year in case it was too crowded and we weren’t able to go to the beach (which doesn’t leave too much else to do). We decided to try somewhere different that would be quieter. Back in June we had searched for vacation houses in the Sonoma area and stumbled across this one in Monte Rio near the Russian River. I had been to a friend’s vacation house in Monte Rio before but other than that none of my family had been to this area for more than a day. Since we did not really know what to expect, we did not go in with super high expectations, but they were definitely exceeded! We enjoyed getting to explore a new area, and overall it was pretty quiet and we felt very safe. It was almost hard to believe we were only an hour and a half from home because the area is so different from San Francisco or even other parts of Sonoma and Napa. It’s very rustic and the little town kind of looks like something out of the past, but it’s also very cute. Another plus side is that the house (and really the entire area) was dog friendly so we were able to bring our dog. We arrived on a Thursday evening and didn’t leave until the following Saturday, so we had plenty of time there to relax and not feel like we had cram everything we wanted to do into just a few days.

Since we were there for such a long time and our days weren’t exactly jam-packed, I decided to organize this post into “highlights” rather than a day by day breakdown:

The House: The house we stayed in was super cute and had an expansive outdoor area surrounding all sides of the house. We spent a lot of time sitting out on the couch in the backyard, ate dinner at the table on the patio, and went in the hot tub every night. The house and outdoor area were entirely fenced in, so they offered a lot of privacy. Inside, while the house was small, the owners made very efficient use of the space and it did not feel too cramped at all (the indoor-outdoor living concept helped with this as well).   

Monte Rio Beach: Another major plus side of the house was that the Monte Rio Beach was extremely super close by (.2 miles to be exact - it was basically just across the street). We went to the beach almost everyday, except for the weekends when it got a bit crowded. On the weekdays it was super quiet. You wouldn’t exactly go in the river just to swim as it’s a bit murky and rocky, so most people go in with floaties or kayaks. The house included 2 single-person kayaks, so we got a fair amount of use out of those. We also brought our own paddle board and bought a floatie in town one day. Since it’s rocky under the water, it’s a good idea to bring some rubber flip flops you don’t mind getting wet. The weather was gorgeous all week, in the mid-80’s, and it stayed hot pretty much all day, so some days we ended up at the beach until almost 7pm.

Surrounding Towns: There isn’t too much to the town of Monte Rio besides the beach and a couple of convenience stores, but the town of Guerneville is less than a 10 minute drive away. Guerneville is pretty small as well, but it is very cute and has several local restaurants, gift shops, and a Safeway. There are several other towns south of Monte Rio, including Jenner, Bodega Bay, and Occidental. We took a drive through Jenner and Bodega Bay on the first Saturday we were there. Since both of these towns are on the coast, they definitely get the marine layer, so they were a lot cooler than Monte Rio. We weren’t exactly anticipating this and were dressed for sunnier weather, so we just stopped at a few beaches and lookout areas to walk around rather than sitting out at a beach, but we still saw some beautiful scenery. Bodega Bay is known for its seafood and there were huge lines at all of the stands and restaurants. The following Saturday before we left we actually went back to Bodega Bay and sat out at Wright’s Beach for the afternoon. It was foggy again, but we came prepared this time with our jackets and it was actually a nice change after a week of intense sun in Monte Rio! One evening we drove down the Bohemian Highway, which is a beautiful 10-mile scenic drive. We passed by Occidental on that drive, which also looked very cute and quaint.

Other Activities: One morning we did a hike at the Armstrong Redwoods, which came recommended as a must-do in the activity. It’s definitely very impressive. There are several different options of hikes/walks of varying lengths and difficulty levels you can do, and it’s also dog-friendly (dogs just have to stay on the paved paths and can’t go on the dirt trails). We had booked to do Burke’s Canoeing on the Saturday before we left and were really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, they called us the day before and explained they had decided to shut down for the rest of the summer due to COVID. Obviously this was disappointing, but it gives us a reason to come back another time!

Coffee: While we mainly ate at home, we certainly made it to several local coffee shops in the mornings, including Gold Coast Coffee in Duncan Mills, Big Bottom Market in Guerneville which had the best Equator coffee, Lightwave Coffee which was within walking distance of our house and had delicious pastries, Baked on the River where we got fresh-baked cinnamon rolls, and Bia Café which had Irish soda bread.

Restaurants: We usually barbecued at home for dinner, but we did pick up pizza from Main Street Bistro one night and ate outdoors at Boon Eat + Drink another. Pretty much all of the nearby restaurants (including these two) are on one strip on Main Street in Guerneville. Boon has an adorable outdoor patio area that they set up in their fruit and vegetable garden. They don’t take reservations, so we went early (around 6pm) and were seated right away. Their tables are small and only seat 3 people at the most, so we needed 2 tables for our family of 5. We got 2 tables near each other and were in our own little corner of the garden which was perfect. They only have about 10 tables total and they all filled up while we were eating, so we definitely got there at the right time. The food was delicious - my sister and I shared the heirloom burrata to start and both got cod as our main dish. After eating at Boon we got ice cream from Nimble and Finn’s in the Guerneville Bank Club around the corner, which was also so good.

Overall it was a great trip and we will definitely be back in the future!

Monte Rio Beach

Bodega Bay

Part of our outdoor area at the house

The outdoor garden at Boon

Still thinking about this delicious burrata salad from Boon

Our dog Rambo enjoying the beach!