Traveling with the Jones

Mr. Jones and I are both childhood fans of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the Peanuts gang created by cartoonist Charles Schulz. We associate Santa Rosa, California – gateway to our favorite Sonoma County wineries — with Mr. Schulz and the Peanuts comic strip.

Santa Rosa, after all, is the home of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center and the Redwood Empire Ice Arena, home to  the beloved Warm Puppy Café that features a “Snoopy’ s Special” kids lunch served in a red dog dish.

Peanuts Began In St. Paul, Minnesota

On a wintertime visit to St. Paul, Minnesota, we were delighted to find bronze statues of Linus and Lucy as well as other Peanuts characters in the Landmark Plaza and Rice Park in downtown St. Paul.

Charles Schulz, we learned, was born in Minneapolis but moved with his family at age four to St. Paul, living at 1680 James Avenue and later at 473 Macalester Street.

Schulz started his lengthy cartoon career in St. Paul, with Li’l Folks, his first regular cartoon published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press between 1947 and 1950. Schulz’s Peanuts cartoon strip debuted on October 2, 1950.

Move to Northern California

In 1958 Schulz moved to Sebastopol, California, before moving to Santa Rosa in 1969, the same year that he opened the Redwood Empire Ice Arena.

Despite Schulz’s moves and lifelong association with both figure skating and ice hockey, he created the Peanuts cartoon five days a week for nearly 50 years. Schulz only took one five-week vacation from the strip, to celebrate his 75^th birthday.

St. Paul’s Tribute to Schulz

The city of St. Paul hasn’t forgotten its favorite cartoonist native son.  In 2000, the city started Peanuts on Parade, a tribute to Schulz that placed 101 five-foot-tall statues of Snoopy throughout St. Paul.  “Charlie Brown Around Town” was the 2001 theme, while 2002 was “Looking for Lucy“, followed by “Linus Blankets St. Paul” in 2003. The parade ended in 2004 with Snoopy on his doghouse.

At the end of each summer the statues were auctioned with the proceeds funding artists’ scholarship and the permanent bronze statues of Peanuts characters that are now located in Landmark Plaza and Rice Park in downtown St. Paul.

Fittingly, in the winter time, there is a temporary ice rink for skating in the same area.

Iconic Restaurant Ideal Stop for Lunch or Drink

The historic Saint Paul Hotel overlooks Rice Park and the Peanuts statues.

Inside the Saint Paul Hotel, we enjoyed having hand-crafted cocktails at the beautiful mahogany and brass bar in the St. Paul Grill.

The next time we are in Sonoma Wine Country, we plan to continue our Snoopy memories by visiting Depot Park in downtown Santa Rosa, home to another bronze statue of Snoopy and Charlie Brown.

Are you a Peanuts fan?  Who was your favorite character?

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Words of Wisdom from the Bear Creek Winery near Homer, Alaska

Happy Friday!  We like wine and visiting wineries when we travel.  This is the northernmost winery that we’ve visited.  They make the wines using grape juice sourced from around the world, in combination with Alaska berries and fruits.

Learn more about Bear Creek Winery and other places to eat and drink in Homer, Alaska here.

Some other Photo Friday posts that you might enjoy:

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Last week we decided to break our loyalty to the Marriott and Hilton families of hotel brands and stay one night at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Denver.    

We were lured by the Four Season’s convenient location and special rate for TBEX conference attendees.  Here’s a quick look at what we found.

Room 1003 featured a comfortable luxurious bed equipped with stylish-but-functional lighting and multiple power plugs on each side of the bed. Like most business travelers, we crave power sources within reach to accommodate our phone and iPad chargers.

An oval-shaped glass desktop came with two chairs allowing both of us to work comfortablyat the same computer workspace.

The Essenza Nespresso machine was a nice addition to the mini-bar area.  We rarely use in-room coffee makers but we enjoyed two espressos here.

The room featured floor to ceiling windows allowing for city and mountain views.  Even better than the views, the room sported well-designed window coverings and other  touches that ensured complete darkness for a better night’s sleep.

While we appreciated our room’s darkness, we also appreciated the unique low-lighting in the bathroom sinks.  This feature helped us find the bathroom without having to turn on overhead lights.

In addition to a huge tub, shower stall, private toilet and double sinks, the bathroom mirror featured a square in its center.  With a click of the remote, this part of the bathroom mirror turned into a television screen.

On the hotel’s third floor we found a user-friendly business center, the hotel pool, spa and health club.  The pool area features Level 3 bar.

On Thursday nights in the summer, the pool area becomes one of Denver’s hottest night spots.  One note: if you are visiting on a Thursday night, try to avoid arriving at the hotel around 10 pm when the weekly “pool party” is ending. The first floor bar and restaurant are overrun with those wanting to continue the party at this hour.

What’s your favorite hotel in Denver? 

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• Photo Friday: The Infinity Wedding Chapel

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