4 Fun things to do as a Family in Santa Rosa, California
(This trip was hosted by Sonoma County Tourism, but the Views and Opinions expressed are entirely my own. You can read my full disclosure here.)
Did you know there are a lot of fun things you can do as a family in Santa Rosa, California?
Santa Rosa, California is found in the Beautiful Sonoma Valley. While most people who visit this valley on their vacations focus on visiting the many lush Vineyards. However, if you don't drink alcohol or are visiting with kids (like us) no worries there is still a lot of fun to be had. When we were invited out by Sonoma County Tourism to do a brief last-minute visit to Santa Rosa we jumped at the opportunity. My husband was mainly excited to visit the Charles Shulz Museum (one if his favorite Cartoonists) however thanks to Visit Sonoma County Tourism we found out some other fun things we could do as a family.
Unfortunately, due to unexpected weather conditions, we were unable to visit the beach, go hiking or some of the local vineyards. However, we really enjoyed the things we were able to check out and now just want to go back to see more. Here are our favorite things we did during our brief visit (in addition to enjoying our stay at the fabulous Flamingo Resort. --> Read our Review Here <--)
1-Charles M. Schulz Museum & Research Center
For those who don't know, Charles Shulz is famous for his beloved Peanuts Cartoons (with Snoopy, Woodstock, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Sally, Linus, Shroeder, Peppermint patty & more) Inside the museum, is filled with large Peanut cartoons, the evolution of Snoopy, Charles Schulz Office, and even art rooms where you can draw your own cartoons. One of my favorite parts was this huge 17x22 foot mural made with 3,500 individual Peanuts Cartoons.
2- Snoopy’s Home Ice at the Redwood Empire Ice Arena
As my husband learned in his Autobiography of Charles Schulz was his love of Ice skating. Which is why right across the street from the Charles Schulz Museum is the famous Snoopy Ice Rink. This beautiful Ice rink makes for hours of family fun throughout the year. Inside you can enjoy Ice Skating, Yummy food (at the Snoopy Cafe) and the fun tributes to Charles Schulz Peanuts cartoons.
As part of the Snoopy Home Ice, right next to the Skating Arena is a Peanuts Gift shop. The kids had a blast looking through all the Peanuts memorabilia downstairs and sat to watch a Charlie Brown, movie upstairs as well as check out the fun Peanuts Lego scenes.
3- Shopping
Since the weather turned cold and rainy as we were leaving the Charles Schulz campus we opted to check out the nearby mall that was a favorite haunt of Charles Schulz according to his biography. We snagged some food there, looked through some shops and let the kids play in the indoor playground. In addition to the Mall, all around Santa Rosa are fun stores that are just dying to be explored (which was the perfect activity for cold rainy days.
4- Artesian Cheese Trail
Did you know that Sonoma Country has an Artesian Cheese Trail with Dairies, Farms & Factories specializing in making various Artesian Cheeses? There were a few located in Santa Rosa so we had to check them out. After all, my family adores Cheese. You are recommended to call ahead to schedule tours and cheese tastings (though a few allow you to just stop by.)
For our next visit, we would love to check out the Sonoma County Children's Museum, Historic Railroad Square, as well as get in some hiking and beach time. Really there is soo much fun awaiting your family in Santa Rosa. Hey, maybe we will also be able to check out a Vinyard or two. I hear some of them are very family friendly.
If you liked this post then check out these: (click on the photo to go to the post)
