River communities have a way about them.

We took a break from Eating in Oakland this past weekend to take a quick trip to the Russian River. We stayed just outside Guerneville at the very nice and cozy bungalow at Rio Nido. It was walking distance from the Rio Nido Roadhouse, which is a trip and a half as we used to say. The Roadhouse has a bar and grill, an outdoor patio, a pool, lawn seating and a stage for live music. Yup. All that. They made very tasty (and large!) drinks. The crowd was a great mix of locals and tourists from the Bay Area. Listening to the band outside on the grass on Saturday night without a jacket made it feel like a real summer getaway!

Guerneville is a great little town. It’s been a summer destination for bay area people since the late 1800s…many of the buildings were built then which gives the town a quaint feel. The town has been up and down economically several times since then and you can still find the older traditional places as well as the more modern (hipster approved) places. One of our favorite spots was the Big Bottom Market.

It’s a light and airy space with friendly staff. Nice to spend some time eating great sandwiches and planning our next move. They specialize in biscuits, which looked totes yummy. If they were more meaty I would have tried one instead of my tasty roast beef sandwich.

It was a great getaway. Now back to the difficult job of eating my way through Oakland…

More of the Big Bottom Market