Spring 2011 Santa Rosa Gem Faire

I just returned tonight from hanging out hte past several days with my friend Dave Richter and helping him do the Gem Faire in Santa Rosa, CA, this past weekend. The show was held at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds Friday, April 29 through Sunday, May 1, 2011. Due to the local "passport weekend" wine promotion event occurring the same weekend as our show as well as the weather making it the nicest weekend of the calendar year thus far so that fewer people wanted to be indoors and the local economy still lagging somewhat the foot traffic into the show was distinctly down from last year's Spring Santa Rosa Show. In spite of all that Rocks and Relics rolled like always. The passport weekend event caused all the good hotel rooms to be taken and as a consequence we slummed it in a Motel 6 in Rohnert Park, CA. That turned out to be the same one I stayed in back in November 2008 when my truck broke down in Santa Rosa as I drove home from visiting my then-girlfriend in Willits, CA. Given how much money we saved on lodging we splurged a bit on our dining by having breakfast and dinner downtown Santa Rosa in the hip historic district of Railroad Square. All three mornings there we started our day with killer coffee from Aroma Roasters and took it over to Omelette Express and had it with their wonderful breakfast. On Thursday and Friday evening we hung out at Cellars of Sonoma and sipped their wines with pizza (The Dad Pizza) from Jackson's Bar and Oven next door. On Saturday evening we took a couple of the young gals (Amber & Roya) who work the Realm of the Goddess booth at Gem Faire out to dinner. We started the evening at Cellars of Sonoma and then had our dinner at Sushi To Dai For down the street. Both the food and the company were first rate and the evening was a delightful break from the grind of Gem Faire. The ladies looked fabulous and are are entertainingl conversationalists and generally a real hoot to hang out with. Roya is a former resident of Atascadero, CA (like me) having attended elementary school through 10th grade at Atascadero High School.

Dave got a hug from Roya (left) and Amber (right) as we all left Sunday.

Photo credit: Kim Patrick Noyes (All Rights Reserved)