Ginny Prior

HILLS NEWSPAPERS: January 20, 2012 Spring hasn’t sprung — but wedding season has already begun in one of the Bay Area’s most romantic destinations — the Sonoma Valley. And it’s not just because the hit show ‘The Bachelor’ is being shot there this season. The mild weather has couples flocking to the Sonoma wine region [...]

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HILLS NEWSPAPERS: January 6, 2012 It’s January — time to hike off those holiday pounds in our vast network of green belts and parks. A good way to bring fitness and fun front and center is to  download the new 2012 East Bay Regional Park calendar. The free photo calendar features some of the region’s [...]

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HILLS NEWSPAPERS: December 23, 2011 It’s Christmas by the Bay … There’s much to be said for a white Christmas. It’s the stuff of carols and cards and Currier and Ives paintings. But singer Tom Hockenberry had it right when he proclaimed the best Christmas is just across the Bay — in San Francisco. It’s [...]

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HILLS NEWSPAPERS: December 8, 2011 What is it about holiday lights that we can’t resist? Like moths to a flame, we’re drawn to big, splashy displays of bobbles and bulbs and all things that glitter. Perhaps it’s a way to counter the low natural sunlight of winter, but there’s no doubt a tree or a [...]

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CONTRACOSTATIMES.COM: November 25, 2011 It’s become a bit of a tradition. Whenever there’s a birthday, my gaggle of girlfriends heads to the wine country. “Big deal — what woman doesn’t like wine,” you say? Well, this is where the story gets interesting. We’ve found a little wine region where tastings are free, the farms are [...]

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HILLS NEWSPAPERS: November 11, 2011 When you think of autumn leaves, New England’s fiery maples and brilliant birch come to mind. But here on the West Coast, we have our own fall color. It peaks more toward winter and is every bit as beautiful as Maine or Vermont. I’m talking about the Bay Area wine [...]

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HILLS NEWSPAPERS: October 28, 2011 The oysterman’s face was ruddy — the color of Georgia clay or the leaves of an oak tree in autumn. He motored up to our group and tied his boat to the dock. “Y’all ready to go out?” he asked in a drawl thick as Tupelo honey. Captain Doug had [...]

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CONTRACOSTATIMES.COM: October 14, 2011 Last night I slept in a tree house. It was a sumptuous sleep on a bed of soft clouds at the base of a magical mountain. Lest you assume it was “spirits” that somehow spawned my dreams, let me explain that the tree house was actually a spectacular cedar lodge called [...]

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