Spring Break, Y’all

Nothing says spring break like a road trip, whether by car, plane, boat, or train.

This year, consider keeping your travel local, or at least regional, by exploring your own backyard with a visit to the nearby and beckoning Wine Country of Napa and Sonoma counties. Half a year after October’s horrific fires, the area is rallying, and from many accounts, the spirit of tourism and hospitality of today is as buoyant and enthusiastic as pre-fire days.

That’s not to say the wildfire devastation — the worst in California history — has been erased and forgotten by any means. But Wine Country wineries and restaurants, natural and man-made attraction operators, and innkeepers and hoteliers are putting a positive spin on the Wine Country’s rise from the ashes and looking to the future as spring blankets the valleys in bright, vibrant colors.

This month’s travel issue spotlights Wine Country wining and dining, what to do when you get there, and where to stay in Napa and Sonoma counties, where there is a lot on tap for Bay Area travelers to enjoy and experience. Turn to page 34 for a spring Wine Country tour. If it has been a while since you’ve headed up, make some new Wine Country memories today.

For those Bay Area residents who want to travel farther afield, how about Hawaii? There may be

no better way to explore and absorb the Aloha State by taking in its vivid culinary culture, so get ready for a spin through the islands full of helioforaging and interactive eating with some food truck and organic shave ice action tossed in for good measure.

And if Hawaii just isn’t exotic enough, the world is easily your oyster: Travelers from Oakland International Airport, or OAK, can get practically anywhere these days via nonstop flights, making getting there from here that much easier. More airline carriers out of Oakland are flying nonstop to destinations as far flung as Barcelona, Rome, Oslo, and Copenhagen. Airlines also have upped the number of nonstop flights they offer from Oakland to major and not-so-major U.S. cities, including metropolises like Baltimore, Detroit, Orlando, and even Wichita.

There’s reason to wait; book your travel plans today, then buckle your seatbelt, and take off for adventure, wherever it takes you.