MG Fall Festival Adventures in California's Wine Country September 29 - October 2, 2011

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The nation's premier wine country, the Sonoma and Napa Valleys just north of San Francisco, offers a fantastic blend of scenery, climate, quiet winding roads, hills and valleys, coastline, redwood forests, and historic sites. With a large and beautiful hotel on the north end of San Francisco Bay, the MG Owners Club has your next great MG adventure planned for the perfect fall weekend. Arriving in the late afternoon or evening of Thursday, September 29th, you'll meet other MG owners in the Hospitality Suite and in the parking area at the Sheraton Sonoma County in Petaluma. At the gateway to northern California's wine country, Sonoma County offers fine and casual dining, quaint towns and villages, spectacular Pacific Coast beaches, art and antiques galore. Plus, with over 300 wineries in the county you're sure to find a new favorite to add to your collection. All this and much more await you just 30 minutes north of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.       Friday starts with a popular-vote car show held on the hotel grounds. Car wash facilities are available at the hotel to get your car ready for the friendly competition. If you need a little help with car clean up, a Friday afternoon detailing technical sessions may be just the thing, or take a dip in the hotel pool, go sightseeing, or whatever strikes your fancy. If you'd rather explore on your own, several self-guided tours of the area are available. Destinations include the Charles Schulz Museum in nearby Santa Rosa, Muir Woods and Mt. Tamalpais parks on the Marin coast, and the Sonoma and San Rafael Missions. Friday night, we take a scenic drive through vineyards and redwood forests to the town of Occidental for a wonderful dinner at the historic Union Hotel, located in hills just above the Russian River. A logging and farming community in the 1840's, Occidental began as a lumbering town but transformed to an artist colony and tourist destination over time. The Union Hotel has remained in the same family for five generations, offering hearty Northern Italian meals with the traditional red and white checkered tablecloths and wine bottle candleholders. The back bar was originally brought 'around the Horn' and remains, along with other antiques and a historical archive of local photographs.       Saturday is off on a scenic drive through the Sonoma and Napa Valleys before finding our way to Infineon Raceway. Here we will watch the Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) wind around the track. During their lunch break we will have an opportunity for a few 'supervised' parade laps on the track. For the adventurous ones in the group, hot laps with an experienced racer will be available in their car for an additional charge. After several hours at the track we will set off on a tour to a local winery. Those who prefer can make their way back to the Sheraton to get ready for the evening awards banquet. Later in the evening the group will adjourn to the Hospitality Suite to recount the weekend's adventures.