I absolutely love, love, love Peanuts! Not the peanuts, but the cartoon strip Peanuts by Charles Schultz.  The one with Charlie Brown, and Lucy, Lionel, Snoopy, and the gang. I don’t know what it is about this cartoon strip that has me smiling even thinking about it 😊😊.  Maybe it’s the simple story lines that convey meaningful messages or maybe it’s because the stories are just that – simple life lessons conveyed humorously through the trials and tribulation of a bunch of young kids in their daily lives with their friends. Or maybe I like Peanuts because the comic brings a sense of nostalgia when kids played outside and worried more about which friend to invite to their birthday party, or what games to play.

For over thirty years now I’ve enjoyed watching Charlie Brown cartoons on TV. In fact, I religiously watch every year It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Christmas. I’ve even gotten my daughter Anjali hooked on the Peanuts gang. We love the Peanuts cartoons so much that we make a ritual out of these cartoon specials. We make hot chocolate and cuddle up with a blanket and settle in to watch our favorite Charlie Brown holiday specials.

We even have the Peanuts hardcover book which has the entire collection of all the Peanut comic strips ever written by Charles Scultz. When I saw a Peanuts inspired Christmas wrapping paper at a thrift store recently I bought it immediately to use for Anjali’s Christmas present this year!

It goes beyond saying that given how big a fan Anjali and I are of the Peanuts gang, I was surprised that the museum dedicated to the creator of the Peanuts cartoon strip Charles M Schultz is right here in the Bay Area!  The museum is in Santa Rosa, in Sonoma California, about an hour north of San Francisco.

The Charles M. Schulz Museum pays tribute to the cartoonist himself Charles M. Schulz who created the Peanuts and drew and wrote every one of the Peanuts comic strips.  Since we were on a short 2-day holiday in Sonoma Wine Country over the Thanksgiving weekend I made sure we had time to stop by the museum on our way back home. Let me share with you our experience at this very unique museum.

The Charles Schultz Museum is so different from other similar museums we have been to that are dedicated to a well-known personality.  This museum is more about the Peanuts characters than it is about the author himself.  There are a few stories here and there about Charles Schultz but those stories are more related to the inspiration he had when creating the various cartoon strips, rather than about his life. This is a refreshing approach to a biographical museum, as this museum is really more about the Peanuts characters than about Charles Schultz himself.

The two-storey building showcases a selection of Peanuts comic strips and provides background stories that go with it. But really, mostly what the museum does so eloquently frankly is just bring a big smile to adults and kids alike. Because each and every comic strip is so hilarious and relatable your family will be smiling and laughing together in a joint sense of camaraderie.

In our house our daughter Sri is the Psychology Major and Hitesh is the family therapist 😀, so this was very appropro 😀

If you are a dog lover you will love these comics about Charlie Brown’s beloved dog Snoopy. As it turns out the inspiration for Snoopy was Charles Schultz’s own beloved pet dog.

If you are a Jeapardy lover you can probably relate to these comics 🤔🤔😀

This comic strip below really made me nostalgic as it reminded me of my younger days when we had only one TV and limited shows on TV to watch.  My two sisters and I would fight as to who got to watch what show, and it was always these words that we would relay “ I got here first so I get to watch what I want.” 😀😀😀

This little cartoon strip which I didn’t take a picture of but my daughter Sri remembered so vividly is positively funny. Lucy was supposed to turn in a 1000-word essay for history class but instead what she turned in to an unhappy teacher was a paper and this is what Lucy told the teacher 😃.

“I’ve heard a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is my essay with a picture.”

A showstopper of an art piece in the main lobby of the museum is this giant 2-storey high artwork made up of 3588 tiles! Each little tile is a replica of a daily Peanuts comic strip that were published from 1956 till the last comic which was published in 2000. The tile mural is the brainchild of Japanese artist Sheteru Otani. Speaking of Japanese artist, did you know that the only other museum in the world dedicated to the Peanuts gang is in Tokyo, Japan? Japanese people are HUGE fans of the Peanuts characters!

The Charles Schultz Museum also has an ice-rink, just like in the Peanuts cartoons! Called Snoopy’s Home Ice, it is open to all. The girls went skating for a few rounds for a fun ending to a fun museum experience.

Attached to the ice-rink is also a small cafe called Warm Puppy Cafe where they serve typical ice-rink food – meaning it’s nothing special – heck even the cashiers were honest and told us their food sucks 😀.  I saw the coolest flier however outside the cafe and forgot to take a picture, but this is what it said. Don’t you just love the feel-good words on this flier!

Now Serving:
Pumpkin Soup – $7
Grilled Cheese – $6
Happiness served all day – Free

The Charles Schultz Museum can be covered in 1-hour making it a feel-good detour and a nice respite from the adult-oriented wine tasting in Sonoma Wine Country.

Next time you head to Sonoma, stop by the Charles M Schultz museum and get a good dose of laughs from the Peanuts gang.

Charles M. Schultz Museum in Santa Rosa, California