At the northern edge of the county, the little town of Calistoga has natural hot springs for mud baths, mineral baths, relaxation and massages. The town also has a St. Louis tie with the excellent Wappo Bar and Bistro, where Michelle Mutrux is a chef and owner. Her father, Paul, ran the glamorous Three Fountains in Gaslight Square. Her uncle, Richard, named the neighborhood with his Gaslight Bar.

Produce and “Peanuts”

Sonoma County is mainly agricultural; its southern end produces delicious livestock and cheese, along with an amazing array of vegetables and fruit. The ocean provides rich, delicious oysters from the chill waters.

Grapes take over as state Highway 12, known as the Sonoma Highway, moves west from Sonoma to Santa Rosa, home of the Charles M. Schulz Museum, and then west to the ocean at Bodega Bay. Between the towns are Glen Ellen and Jack London Historical State Park. London lived at his Beauty Ranch from 1905–1916. His wife, Charmian, lived in the cottage until her death in 1955. It was her wish to preserve the ranch in her husband’s memory.

Healdsburg on U.S. Highway 101 has an old town square with several fine inns and hotels and a number of fine restaurants. The Downtown Bakery and Creamery offers fabulous wares.

Eucalyptus and mineral springs

A few miles north at Cloverdale, state Highway 128 intersects with U.S. Highway 101, curving and wandering into Mendocino County through small groves of eucalyptus trees and spectacular redwoods. There are cattle, grapes, gorgeous wildflowers and the pungent aroma of eucalyptus.

There’s also the Buckhorn Saloon in Anderson Valley, which makes its own beer in several styles and grills sausages and hamburgers. A few miles to the north, dug into the hillside, is Roederer Estate, another offshoot of a French champagne house. Its sparkling wines have the flash and pop of the sparklers we light on July 4. Handley Cellars is another excellent winery.

The coast offers the sound of the surf and the colorful, dancing waves. There are gardens and state parks. In the right season, whales migrate past.

The town of Mendocino stood in for Cabot Cove, Maine, when Angela Lansbury was Jessica Fletcher in “Murder, She Wrote.”

South of Fort Bragg, walk through the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, sample breakfast at Egghead’s, ride the Skunk Train into the nearby redwood forests and the town of Willits. That’s also where we join U.S. Highway 101 again for the journey south, but with an unusual stop–Vichy Springs, a few miles north of Ukiah.

Named for the famed French carbonated spring, Vichy Springs was popular in the 19th century when Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, John L. Sullivan, London and others visited and took the baths in the huge outdoor concrete tubs. Water constantly flows through the tubs; the carbonation keeps the bather afloat. It’s as relaxing a time as I have ever spent, a perfect way to end some wanderings through three magical counties.

Joe Pollack is a contributor from St. Louis, Mo.