The Once-Secret Heart of Petaluma

#75, September 5, 2006

Dear Bruce:

I had tell you what a fabulous time Shelly and I had in Petaluma last week. I'm sorry you were out of town, but the information you sent-- the brochures, maps, and of course your "top ten tips for digging Petaluma" -- was invaluable. My firm will be hard pressed to justify going anywhere else for our sales meetings, for years to come, I'm sure.

The Marina Hotel conference room was a lovely spot; nice to be looking out at the water and the golden hills during the meetings. But the truly great part was how you could get up and down the river without driving. We were hoping to have the entire team stay at the Marina Hotel, but they were booked thru October. Lucky for us though! Following your tip, I "commuted" to the day's meetings once in a rented kayak, once on the "Electro-Duck" water taxi, and once along the River Walk. On the kayak day, I was treated to a sunrise through the mists while gliding behind a flock of mallards!

Shelly spent Monday "shooting" birds at the Marsh while I was at the meeting. Per your advice, that afternoon we watched the sunset over the ocean from the top of Lafferty Park. We had the grand overview of the Petaluma River watershed and especially the Petaluma Marsh. It's amazing how prominent the River and Marsh are from up high, especially as seen in the afternoon light. You really don’t see much of either from the freeway. We came down to an exquisite meal of grilled Eel River salmon at one of the little restaurants perched over the river downtown.

On Tuesday, Shelly stayed downtown, went on the walking tour of historical buildings, shopped the galleries and antique stores. At around five we met at the dock by our hotel, grabbed some deli fare, and rented bicycles for a ride up to Corona Reach Park. We enjoyed views of the huge grain elevator, and chatted with locals along the paths. After joining the birds who were plundering a vast blackberry bush, we cruised the Factory Outlet mall until dark, then rode that "cute" little trolley back to the hotel (nice that it had a place for bikes.)

Shelly spent Wednesday exploring the loop trails at Lafferty while my colleagues and I wrapped up business at the Marina. We ended the day at McNear Peninsula Park. Lot's of potential there, especially as it is so close to your future "Town Plaza" by the light rail station.

I reserved my two days off for the new Petaluma Marsh Park. After a hotel breakfast we loaded our rental kayaks onto the Duck for a ride down the river.

The Marsh Park is truly amazing. To be honest, the literature calling a "wastewater treatment facility" a destination for boaters and birders sounded like Chamber of Commerce hype. But the "serious" treatment part is well concealed, and visitors are left to explore an artistically designed network of freshwater marshlands interlaced with levee-top trails. It's ingenious the way these marshes, which function as algae filters in the last stage of water treatment, step down and eventually merge with the natural salt marshes along the river -- the mixture of fresh, brackish, and salt water creates a Mecca for migratory birds. We've never seen anything like it on any coast. And we weren't alone; the parking lot at the new visitor center was nearly full (mostly tourists, but a lot of the workers from the adjacent business park had walked in during the lunch hour.)

Thursday afternoon we paddled around the estuary, exploring some of the snaking backwaters. Shelly exposed a mile of film, got some great heron and egret shots. Friday we biked the River Walk from our hotel to the Marina Hotel, then hoofed via a boardwalk across the Van Der Werk marsh, through Schollenberger Park to the new Marsh Park, where we spent the afternoon birding and just hanging out.

All in all, a great visit. Petaluma's doing it right. Can't wait to come back.

Your buddy, Sam (to be continued)