Page 173 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SPRING 2025 GRAND VOYAGE

The garden is home to one of North
America’s largest temperate climate Asian
gardens as well as a mélange of native
California vegetation. It’s a warren of un-
dulating paths embellished with ponds and
waterfalls. “And it’s fenced, so you won’t
get seriously lost,” said staffer Kristina
Lindh. “Just head downhill.”
As I strolled, leaves fluttered, littered
my trail. I listened to the quiet, interrupted
only by the flow of water, the twitter of
birds, the crunch of my boots on dry earth.
I found a bench near a secluded lily pond
and listened to my own breath – a Zenlike
sound bath, a brain massage.
A few miles away I was transported to
yet another realm: the world that Jack Lon-
don built. It’s where the larger-than-life lit-
erary legend worked and wrote, schemed
and suffered, played and prayed, died. It’s a
place of august beauty – and profound
heartbreak. Hallowed ground.
At the turn of the 20th century, when ad-
venturer, journalist, novelist (and interna-
tional celebrity) Jack London was in his late
20s, he wanted more. In 1905, two years af-
ter “The Call of the Wild” was published, he
bought an abandoned Glen Ellen winery. He
planned to become a gentleman rancher.
The plot grew. Set on the eastern slope
of Sonoma Mountain, London’s ranch is
now 1,565-acre Jack London State Historic
Park. It officially opened to the public in
1959 and today welcomes thousands to
ramble the structures where London and
his wife, Charmian, played, worked, and
dreamed. Visitors can meander 29 miles of

Opposite: Jack London State Historic Park.
Top: Pushpak Tours Sunset Cruise. Right:
Jack London’s grrave at Jack London State
Historic Park.

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