Day 2 Napa Valley/Sonoma Valley

Neither Eric nor I slept well the first night of our trip. Our air conditioner was not working so it was very warm in our room. On our way out in the morning I requested that maintenance get the problem fixed while we were out for the day. Leaving Fairfield we headed west on Highway 12 until we reached Sonoma. We parked near the city square and walked around Sonoma to get a feel for the town. We went inside Sonoma Cheese Factory. They had free samples of assortments of cheeses. Everything I tasted was delightful. Eric and I considered purchasing items for a picnic lunch (meat, cheese, olives, and wine). After some more thought we decided against it since we would need plates, knives, glasses, and a corkscrew. That all was going to add up. Instead we walked down the block a little further and had lunch at The Girl and the Fig. We each had a glass of Hahn Syrah and a salami and brie baguette. The baguette was served with red onion confit, sherry mustard and a side of delicious bean salad. The wine was outstanding.
Following lunch we hit the road heading north out of Sonoma toward Glen Ellen. We toured Benziger Family Winery. The tour consists of a tractor-drawn tram ride through some of the vineyards, a walk through the cave, and a wine-tasting. We stopped several times on the ride for information about the winery, to pick grapes from the vines to taste, and to check out the area where the grapes are fermented. The cave is where the barrels of wine are stored. Wine needs to be stored at a constant fairly cool temperature, so caves are a cheaper alternative for storage for the vineyards. We tasted six different wines, and I found a chardonnay that I really liked (2006 Reserve Chardonnay). With our purchase of the tour we were given a coupon for free tastings for two at Imagery Estate Winery just down the road. It was not on my list of stops, but I am not one to pass up a good deal so we decided to check it out. I was happy that we did because we were able to taste eight different wines and they were all wonderful. Some of our favorites were Wow Oui, Viognier, Sangiovese, Malbec, and Dragon’s Leaf Red.
There were so many places I wanted to stop, but was unable because of the vineyards all closing between 4:30 – 6:00. We made quick stops without going in at Chateau St. Jean and Ledson Winery and Vineyards. They were both beautiful. We then left Sonoma Valley and drove east into Napa Valley. The drive over the mountains was stunning.
Our next stop was in the town of St. Helena (pronounced Saint Hel-een-uh). Our stops in this charming little town included: Beringer Vineyards, The Culinary Institute of America, and St. Helena Olive Oil Company. After checking out CIA, Eric thought it might be a good idea for us to head out west for him to attend school there. At St. Helena Olive Oil Company we tried an assortment of olive oils as well as marinara and barbeque sauces. Just south of St. Helena was V. Sattui Winery. We sampled some fantastic wines while Eric solicited advice from the pourer. It worked well for us, because we were able to try several of the reserve wines that we had not paid for. Unfortunately, V. Sattui does not sell their wines in restaurants or shops – the only places to get them is at the winery so we purchased a bottle of 2006 Syrah. Before leaving we stopped at their gourmet deli for a late-afternoon snack of salami, smoked Gouda, smoked cheddar, and a fresh baguette. We ate our snack at the picnic tables located in front of the winery beside the vineyard.
On the road again we drove on in to Napa and walked around parts of the town we had missed the night before while looking for dinner options for the evening. As we contemplated our decision we went back to Downtown Joe’s for some beers. We sat on the patio again and after a while we ended up having dinner there. Following Joe’s we drove to our hotel to try to finish the movie we started the night before. When we got there we were disappointed to find out that our air conditioner had not be fixed so I had to call the front desk and request a new room. We packed everything up and moved to a nice cool room. After getting settled we started the movie. Eric made it through this time around, but I did not.

Day 1 Napa Valley/San Francisco

Eric and I were in Napa/Sonoma and San Francisco October 16-19. I did not have classes on Thursday or Friday so we went on a short vacation. Thursday morning we got around, dropped the kids off at Mystic Acres, and headed to the airport. It seemed like we got to the airport in plenty of time, but by the time the bus picked us up from economy and dropped us at the terminal - our flight was already boarding. While checking our bags we were told that our chances of them making it were 50/50 because they were so late. That's is always wonderful to hear. On the plane the flight attendants were making their announcements and kept saying the correct flight number, but for the destination they said Los Angeles. We weren’t too concerned because we figured we must just have a connecting flight. The closer we got to California the more nervous we became that maybe somehow we ended up on the wrong flight. At no point had anyone said anything about a transfer. I just kept thinking that the trip was going to end up being a disaster. Finally (I think we might have even landed in L. A.) a flight attendant made an announcement that anyone headed on to San Francisco should stay seated because the flight would be on the same plane. I was so relieved. The flight from L. A. to San Fran was short. After we landed in San Fran we found out it actually was our lucky day. Our luggage made it. We collected our bags and picked up the rental car. I was the navigator and Eric was the driver so I directed him towards Napa by way of the Bay Bridge. It was around 4:00 so traffic was not pleasant, but not terrible. I was hoping we would make it to the Napa area in enough time to visit a vineyard and start some wine tasting (most of the vineyards close at 5:00). Much to our dismay we came to a stand still just a few miles out of Napa. There must have been a big wreck. The funny part was after we sat in traffic for probably 30-45 minutes (just as we arrived to the intersection that was full of fire trucks, police cars, an ambulance, and tow trucks) it was our turn to cross and all of the vehicles pulled away. I had to laugh. Although that was some bad luck, I figured we had probably used all of our good luck for the day on making our correct flight and getting our luggage. We walked around Napa and I consulted Frommer’s to find location for a tasty libation. We decided on Downtown Joe’s. Eric and I sat outside on the patio so that we could enjoy the beautiful evening. He had some IPAs and I had some Black and Tans. After a few beers and an appetizer of spinach dip we walked across the street to have dinner. Frommer’s recommended a tapas place called ZuZu. The restaurant was very small and had a cute little balcony dining room where we sat. Eric and I ordered a carafe of sangria and five different types of tapas. Two of the dishes we enjoyed were: Moroccan Barbecue Glazed Rack of Lamb with Mint and Red Curry Oil and Niman Ranch Grass Fed Flat-Iron Steak with Roasted Jalapeno Chimichurri. The other three dished featured: duck confit, albondigas, and peppers with garlic cloves. Our dining experience was enjoyable. After dinner we wandered back to the car and drove east to Fairfield where our hotel was. Our hotel room overlooked a pretty courtyard so we decided since it was still fairly early it would be a good idea to go purchase some drinks and have them in the courtyard. Eric’s phone had GPS (which saved us several times) so we looked up a liquor store and followed the directions. Before we went up to our room we stopped in the lobby of our hotel and rented a movie, “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.” We didn’t make it down to enjoy our drinks in the open air; instead we decided to watch the movie and have a drink in our room. I guess we were pretty tired because we fell asleep shortly after we started the movie.

No phone, no phone

Effective Tuesday, October 7th Eric and I will no longer have a home telephone. We rarely use that phone so we have decided to have it disconnected. If you would like to reach us by phone please try us on our cell phones. If you need the numbers, just send us an email and we will get them to you.