On Tuesday, as soon as they got in, I took them to lunch downtown with Mitchell at Cafe Bernardo. After lunch we dropped off their stuff at the house and had a little meeting to discuss a change in plans because of the weather. We were supposed to spend Wednesday in Tahoe but I was worried we would not be able to get over the Sierras because of all the snow that was dumping up there. We decided to head down south on Wednesday and go visit the Hearst Castle and spend the night in Monterey, much like I did with Mom and Memom.
Lunch at Cafe Bernardo with Mitchell
So we loaded in the car and decided to drive up into the Sierras on Tuesday afternoon to see some snow and mountains before it got too bad up there. There was no snow. I really don't know how that was possible. Luckily, the little town of Placerville is really cute so we stopped for olive oil tasting and coffee. We drove back to Sacramento, picked Mitchell up from work and made dinner at our house.
Toast to the start of a great vacation
Wednesday morning, we woke up early, hopped in the car and headed down to central Cali. Once we passed through Paso Robles, we had to stop at a winery and do a quick tasting. We stopped at Aron Hill and really enjoyed all the wines they had to taste. We hopped across the highway and had lunch at Farmhouse 46. Then on the way to Hearst Castle!
In front of Aron Hill Winery
Aron Hill tasting room
This picture is just too cute!
Beautiful scenery and beautiful skies!
At Hearst Castle, we did the upstairs rooms tour and I like that one more than the downstairs rooms. Side note: I have now been to Hearst Castle twice while some Californians have never been. I think I'm done with that trip for awhile. The weather was beautiful once we got down there though!
In front of the entrance to Hearst Castle
After touring Hearst Castle, we drove up the coast, battled car sickness and made it to Monterey for the night! The next morning we took off for the 2 hour drive to San Francisco! Once we got there, we headed straight for the Golden Gate bridge. It was raining and quite a let down compared to what it looks like when it's sunny.
Golden Gate Bridge in the rain!
We parked in Ghirardelli Square and walked to Pier 39 to see the sea lions and get lunch. After lunch, we jumped on our double decker bus tour for our hop-on, hop-off tour of San Francisco! Super interesting tour with lots of cool facts. At one of the stops, we got off and walked a few blocks up to take a pic in front of the Painted Ladies. It was raining and we had no umbrellas so that was a quick pic and then back to the bus. We finished the tour and made our way back to Ghirardelli Square and stopped in for some Ghirardelli ice cream. Oh man, it was good!
Ghirardelli Square
Pier 39
The Painted Ladies!
Hubs with her espresso ice cream from Ghirardelli
So excited for Ghirardelli ice cream!
Once we tried to get one more pic with the Golden Gate bridge, we took off for our bed and breakfast in Napa. The B&B in Napa was so perfect (thanks SB & Cody for the recommendation!). We chatted with the lady who owns it for awhile and then walked to downtown Napa for some dinner. We made our way back to the B&B and crashed for the night.
Friday, we woke up and had an amazing breakfast at the B&B before taking off for our tour of Castello di Amorosa. We woke up to rain and it literally rained all day. Oh well, we are still making the most of it! Our tour was awesome. I definitely recommend this one because you get to walk through a castle and go down deep into the ground to see all the barrels. We tasted some great wine, made some purchases, took some pics and then departed for the next winery!
Breakfast at our B&B in Napa
The second winery was Dutch Henry based on the recommendation from the lady at our B&B who had coupons for us (awesome!). I have decided that the experience of the tasting makes the wine. If the tasting room isn't cool, the wine isn't as good. Castello was underground at a fancy bar after touring around learning all about their wine. Dutch Henry was in a barn at a table. Their wine may be fantastic but I didn't enjoy it as much.
Castello di Amorosa castle
Dutch Henry Winery tasting room
We stopped for lunch and a breather and then went to our third winery, Arger Martucci based on the recommendation of the people who sat across from us at lunch. Once again, the wine was good but the tasting room wasn't that neat. We felt like we were sitting in someone's kitchen. But the guy that was there was knowledgable and we learned a lot from him. He even took us into the vineyard for a bit to show us how the vines are just starting to grow again.
Our last winery of the day was Cakebread Cellars. This was probably our favorite tasting because we chatted with the guy who was pouring the wine and with the other people in the tasting room. Plus you get to keep your wine glass and the tasting fee was only $10. The experience of the tasting definitely trumps the taste of the wine.
Outside Cakebread Cellars in front of the vineyard
After learning about the art of winemaking, because it truly is an art, we headed back to Sacramento. That night we went out with Mitchell for tapas at Tapa the World and came home. We were all pretty tired, even Mitchell, so after some funny late night conversation, we all went to sleep.
Early the next morning, we woke up and took Meagan and Hubs to the airport! We were sad to see them go but are so thankful for their time here! I really just wish California would have put it's best foot forward for them and not rained! I guess they'll just have to come back! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment