From Hwy-1 south of Mendocino, Hwy-128 cuts diagonally across to US-101 through the lovely Anderson Valley, home to numerous fine wineries (including Husch, Navarro, and Kendall-Jackson) and the Anderson Valley Advertiser, one of California’s most outspoken local newspapers. Anderson Valley also has its own regional dialect, called “Boontling,” combining English, Scots-Irish, Spanish, and Native American words into a lighthearted lingo created, some say, simply to befuddle outsiders—or “shark the bright-lighters,” in the local lingo.
To find out more, stop in the valley’s tiny main town, Boonville, at the “All That Good Stuff” gift shop and ad-hoc information center, alongside the Horn of Zeese coffee shop. Fans of local food and wine will want to cross the highway to the Boonville Hotel ($85 and up; 707/895-2210), a wonderful restaurant (dinner only, alas) and wine bar. The historic building has upstairs rooms filled with art and furniture made by local craftspeople. Beer fans can make a pilgrimage east of town to the solar-powered home of the Anderson Valley Brewing Company(707/895-BEER), 17700 Hwy-253, where you can sample some of the world’s best beers, including the legendary Boont Amber Ale.
