Day 4: Wine Tasting

Day 4:

Vineyards--Ferrari Carano, Martineli, Arnot-Roberts

My dad was so great to set up tours and tastings at each one of these. He has some wine brokers he gets his wine through out here so they were gracious enough to help us out and arrange some VIP tours.

1. Ferrari-Carano....

If you are going for the gardens, great--they are worth the drive over there. If you are going for customer service, aahh...not so much. We were 10 minutes late to our tour and they pretty much said--too bad, so sad. Fine, no biggie but isn't customer service what you are suppose to be about? If they had good customer service, they would have taken us to meet up with everyone (which they were not far because we saw them). So we just toured the gardens on our own-the main part of this stop. We tasted their wine and moved on. Gardens, a total positive to the place and I recommend stopping for the gardens.

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures of their gardens. Guess you will have to go see for yourself :)

2. Martineli...

So worth the drive over there!! We loved them. They are fabulous. We had a VIP tour set up and clearly we are not the VIP wine drinkers. Yes, would love to fine tune the pallet for wine tasting and learn more but...again, clearly we are not your high end nightly wine drinkers that should be receiving these VIP tours. But the lady, Linda, was sweet enough to engage in conversation with us teaching us about the vineyards and the story behind Martineli. They are fabulous, I recommend them to anyone. Their wine is fabulous as well. One of our favorites-Sonoma Cutrer, which we were turned on to by Michele and Tyler, buys their grapes-fun fact for us since we love Sonoma Cutrer wine. We loved them. Go taste if you are out there. Combined with Silver Oak, this was my favorite. One of Andrews favorites too.

The barrel was from the first batch of wine they made way back in the 1900's.

3. Arnot-Roberts...

Totally off the beaten path in terms of your typical vineyard but great wine. Its a total 2 man show going on behind these doors, in a 5000 sq foot building. I do admit--I was a bit worried that we were going to get kidnapped or robbed when we pulled up bc I was so not expecting this. Here come 2 preppy white kids in their rental convertible....I mean we had tourist written all over us. However, it ended up being one of the coolest and one of Andrews favorites. The owners--Duncan Arnot and Nathan Roberts were there when we arrived. Nathan was on his way out so Duncan took time out of his day to let us taste their wines and tell us a bit about their history--how they got started and the process of making wine. Very intimate-I mean we had the owner, 1:1, giving us our tasting. Pretty cool. They like wine and they make wine they like. Can't go wrong with that right? They are laid back, the dogs come with them to the shop daily, dressed in boots, shorts, and a t-shirt. Not too shabby for a job huh?!? Wine was great. Buy their wine and support them. They are not in your grocery store or your local wine store. You have to get on their email list and they take orders about 2x/year...unless you know, you are someone important. They are soon to move their shop to Healdsburg and be a little closer to everything. I imagine they are going to be big...soon. But it was a perfect ending to a delicious dinner.

As you can see--cottage massage, thats what first tipped me off. Little scary.

I mean the cottage for the cottage massage--not where you want to get a massage.

The 5000 sq ft building where the wine is made. Very good wine.

Dont judge a book by its cover. I learned my lesson. They owners are so nice and humble. Go buy a bottle and support them!

Dinner: Zin Restaurant and Wine Bar

They were recently featured on the Food Network with Giada. So of course we had to try them out. Conclusion: best meal of the trip. Amazing food, fresh, perfectly made. YUM. Highly recommended. In Healdsburg town square. We had fried green beans with a mango salsa for an appetizer. They were fried in a beer batter, salty--mmm, goodness. Then we shared a caesar salad and for the entree we had their braised short ribs with mashed potatoes and a corn salsa. Can I have it again tonight please? yes! So great. Dessert was a smores, chocolate creme burlee with roasted marshmallows on top and a ginger/graham cracker on the side. I will admit that the dinner ranked above the dessert.

Day 3: July 4th! San Fran to the Vineyards

Day 3

Happy 4th!

On Monday, we took our time driving to Sausalito, Napa, and then on to Healdsburg where we stayed in the cutest little B&B.

We had confirmed reservations for a premium rental car--you know, a malibu or something along those lines. Andrew inquired about how much more it would be to get a convertible for the few days that we had a rental car and the person said it would be an extra $100/day. No thanks, no biggie, we will pass. Well the lady at the airport said the premium package allows you to pick a car with leather. So she said you can pick any car up here except the SUVs. Right away-so we can have the inifinity? No, thats a speciality car. Ok, just thought I would ask-all the can say is no, right?!? So she said we could pick from this silver VW or a red volvo. Sweet, better than a malibu, we will have the volvo. Not too shabby for a the price we paid. Then she checks with her manager just to confirm its ok. When she comes back, she says to us that we can actually have the one next to the red volvo. You mean the brand new, black Saab convertible?!? Yes, thats what she meant. So I think dealing with 2 or 3 rides of public transportation on Sunday was worth the few days in a brand new Saab convertible. Love!!! We loved it. Andrew loved driving it. We named her Trixie :)

On the way to Sausalito

We loved being able to drive across the golden gate bridge with the top down. It was the most perfect, clear day to drive across the bridge. It was the 4th and right as we drove over the bridge, 4 fighter jets flew over as well. Pretty neat.

Fighter jets

The Golden Gate Bridge

We arrived in Sausalito and immediately fell in love. If we moved anywhere near SF, it would be Sausalito-thats if we could afford a house on the cliffs. Amazing. We had lunch at Spinnaker. As angie says, it reminded her of a 1960's country club. They ate there the day before. So true but really great food. It was quiet and sat out on the water with the most amazing views of SF, the bay, the bridge, sailboats. After lunch, we drove around the town of Sausalito. You can look up and all you see are houses up in the hills/mountains. So neat.

Leaving lunch to go drive around in Sausalito

The view from below.

The view from up there.

(i know, bad picture but pretty view)

After our little Sausalito self-guided tour, we headed to Napa. I had talked about wanting to go taste champagne from Domaine Carneros but it wasn't first on my list. So we were headed to Silver Oak to make sure we got there before they closed. We didn't have any appointments on Tuesday so we thought we would just wing it and do whatever we felt like doing. It was nice not having a schedule for the day. We enjoyed our leisure drive and being slow. So anyways...we did stop at Domaine Carneros because we passed it on the way by surprise. It was one of those--hey theres the champagne place I was talking about lets go, skkkrrttt...turn right. So we ended up having a little taste of champagne. It was nice. Quick. But nice.

our champagne flight tasting

bubbly

And look who we ran into :) I told Andrew that they were coming today but didn't know what time because they had other vineyards on their schedule for the day. Well...only one person in California has a volvo with an auburn sticker and Davidson county tags. We walked up behind them and surprised them. It was fun to run into them again. Loved it--twice in 2 days!

Happy 4th from the Vineyards!

Angie, Missy, Carla

Can you tell its the 4th? We are all in some sort of navy and red.

So patriotic!

So on to Silver Oak. Silver Oak was by far one of the best we went to. Customer service was fabulous and well...the wine, you can't go wrong with Silver Oak. It was not busy so we got a little behind the scene tour with the lady who was giving us our tasting. We loved learning about the Silver Oak story. Silver: bc they are located off the Silverado Road. Oak: bc they are located in Oakville, Ca. One of the many facts we were told that I actually stored away.

The Silver Oak tasting room.

They have gorgeous grounds.

$3000 12L

Santa, please?!?

Andrew loving the Silver Oak vineyards

So after our tasting it was onto our B&B. The grounds are covered with beautiful flowers and it's just so fresh there. The owners, Tom and Brenda, are very nice and helpful. We enjoyed getting to know them and getting to know the 2 other couples that we ate breakfast with while staying there.

It was like this everywhere-beautiful flowers. Why can't my backyard look like this?!

Little pathway to our cottage.

When you first drive in, you see this barn (it was the big room in it) and then Tom and Brenda's house is to your right.

We ate at Rustic at the Francis's Coppola Vineyards. It was great food. The views were spectacular-kinda made us feel like we were not in the US.

Although it was the 4th, we actually were so tired that we didn't stay for them. We dined on the patio and it would have been a perfect place to stay and watch but we were exhausted, to say the least. We watched some of the Macy's Fireworks from D.C on TV..so at least we got some fireworks in. Wednesday...it was onto vineyards, tours, and wine tasting.

Day 2: San Fran

Day 2:

Not nearly as busy as day 1...still lots of walking but not nearly as much. We took full advantage of cable cars and the public transportation (ew). I was trying to be a good sport-it paid off and you will see how on day 3! But riding cable cars was on my San Fran Bucket List. We ate breakfast at a diner on Sunday morning. What did I get? Pancakes and Oreo milkshake. I was famished and it was deliscious! YUM! After breakfast we went down to Union Square and walked around. On saturday we passed the headquarters for William Sonoma. That almost kept me in San Fran--along with the weather. Surely they need a dietitian right?!?! We went into their store in Union Square-amazing 4 floors of pure goodness. Ah, love at first sight.

I wouldn't mind having this in dallas.

Beauty of William Sonoma.

Typical cable car pic

Typical Full House shot

Andrew admitted that day 2 was pretty much missy day. He was right :) He was a trooper.

After the full house scene was done, we meandered around haight-asbury, hippie town. Major hippie town. It was fun to see a different part of the city.

Dinner at Boulevard.

End of day 2.

Our San Fran To Do List (Bucket List):

• Fisherman's Wharf-check, day 1
• Ghirardelli Square, eat sunday-check day one (no sunday yet...to come)
• Golden Gate Bridge-check, day 1
• Go across Golden Gate Bridge
• Lombard Street
• Haight Ashbury-check, day 2
• Segway Tour-check, day 1
• Painted Ladies (Full House)-check, day 2
• Alcatraz (view)-check, day 1
• Ride cable car-check, day 2
• Union Square-check, day 2

Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay

We just got back from San Fransisco, Ca. We said this trip was by far our favorite. We did a segway tour, ate great food, saw some sweet friends, and drank lots of wine!

Day 1:

We arrived in San Fran with temperatures of 55'ish (we got there around 9am). We left 100 degree heat so it was a nice surprise. First surprise of the trip: the hills! Holy Hills! I have never seen so many hills in my life. I learned they were called "staircase stairs" which now we know why. We had our first experience of the hills by walking from the train to our hotel. Why did we not take a taxi--we asked the same question. I guess we were just in for conquering the enormous hilly walk to our hotel. We didnt realize how far it was until the day we left and we drove our car down those hills! We stayed at the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel. It was fabulous and we highly recommend it. We had a corner room with big windows and a great view of the city. Im very picky on hotels and their beds and this one I definitely approve :)

our trek UP

may not seem as UP as it was, but it was steep to say the least

View from hotel room

The entrance to the hotel

View of Fairmont Terrace, next door, from our room

After we dropped our stuff off at the hotel, we made our way towards Fisherman's Wharf-I know its so touristy but we had to check it off the list. We ate at Boudin Bakery-not too bad. Very touristy but tasty.

After lunch we just walked around the Wharf, peirs, and Ghirardelli Square. We had a 3 hour segway tour scheduled a little after lunch so we just walked the streets. It was a clear and perfect first day in San Fran. The fog was less than normal and you could see further than normal-per the locals. Which, we found true on the way Wednesday, on the way back from Healdsburg.

Alcatraz

We took a 3 hr segway tour of the city--kinda like getting a tour of the city, cliff notes version. We absolutely loved it and it ranks as one of our favorite things we did on our trip. We recommend it. Not hard to learn either. Small world-we had a family of three in our group from Nashville.

On the segways

Off the pier, Alcatraz in the background

I hear on a normal day, you can't see this far.

Golden Gate Bridge

After the segway tour, we went back to the hotel and rested for a few hrs. Once we had a little cat nap, we went to the Top of the Mark for a drink before dinner. It was truly a sight to see. On the 19th floor, on one of the biggest hills in the city.

View from Top of the Mark.

Its a must when in San Fran for a good cocktail and a great view.

After much discussion and a thousand emails between carla, angie, and me.....we had finally decided on a restaurant. Well this only took weeks to decide on before finalizing with reservations. We went back and forth on places to eat..I thought someone was going to defriend me for in decisiveness. I think we all have a problem with that! haha. We decided on Beach Chalet. Until I get a call saying that we are not eating there anymore. Carla said for our first time to San Fran, she wasnt going to let us eat there. So Angie, Carla, and Whit got in a taxi and headed back over towards us. We ended up at a seafood restaurant off the pier. It had great views, it was quiet, and pretty good. I loved seeing some favorite friends from home, its been too long and I love how it worked out that we were in San Fran at the same time. Little did we know it would not be the only time to run into them during our trip (dinner was planned!).

Sweet friends at dinner.

Thats day one. By the end we.were.exhausted.

Our San Fran To Do List:

Fisherman's Wharf-check, day 1

Ghirardelli Square, eat sunday-check day one (no sunday yet...to come)

Golden Gate Bridge-check, day 1

Lombard Street

Haight Ashbury

Segway Tour-check, day 1

Painted Ladies (Full House)

Alcatraz (view)-check, day 1

Ride cable car

A Surprise Ending..

They started off the night as an engaged couple at an engagement party and ended the night as married, Mr and Mrs.

So it was a surprise to most people attending the engagement party but the family knew they were gettin' hitched about a week ago. This weekend has been a whirlwind and a celebration of many sorts. Henry and Laulie's wedding weekend started off with catered mexican at Henry's house. Delicious food was enjoyed by all the family, both sides. The Morgan clan got to meet her family -brothers, sisters, parents, cousins, aunts, nieces, nephews. It was fun to meet her family and to see where she came from. They are a sweet addition to the family (or we are a crazy addition to her family...we will leave it somewhere in the middle). Saturday I baked with a friend all morning (5 hr to be exact) for a baby shower I was hosting with 2 other co-workers on Sunday. So it was baking to the extreme (we baked oreo balls, cookies on a stick, and brownie pops). After baking I showered up and we all met at the house where the engagement party was for a little run-through on the wedding (surprise!) and family pictures. We stood up on the balcony while Henry, Laulie, and John (friend who married them) stood on the front stairs. I dont want to see pics from the ceremony bc i boo-hoo'd the whole time--im sure those will be real pretty. Nothing like red eyes, tears, snot, and a red face to make some pretty wedding pictures. It was sweet and it was fun to watch peoples expression as they announced there were about to become Mr and Mrs. Some of their closest friends did not know so I zoned in on them to watch for fun expressions. After the party we went to Sevy's which is a nice steak restaurant here in dallas. It was just Henry, Laulie, and the kids. She has two daughters so its now a total of 8!

I kinda feel like the brady brunch on these mugs below.

:)

As we walked into the private room at Sevy's we found these cute mugs at all our place settings in addition to prayer/devotion book with our names on them. Such sweet gestures.

Ty even made the mug! Sweet Tybuds! Henry encouraged us to pray for each member on the mug when we drink from it. I think tybuds needs some prayers for good behavior :)

The rest of the family.

Andrew and I at dinner after the wedding.

Katie and I waiting on the newly married couple to arrive.

Sades and I at dinner.

Laulie's daughters, Francesca and Bailey.

These are some of the products Karyn and I baked (and wreaths) on saturday before the wedding.

I made this wreath to go over the mirror in the dining room at the shower. A yarn wreath-so fun and adds a good touch to the baby shower decor.

I made this burlap wreath for the front door for the baby shower. I think I might just keep it up for a little while to enjoy. It looks cuter on the door hung up properly :)

The cookies I made with a B for Baby Barraco. They turned out cute.

Oreo balls Karyn made--so cute and so so yum! We put all the fun baked goods in mason jars filled with pink and white gumballs, a cute touch for a baby girl shower!

I didnt take any more pics of the baby shower but hopefully Ill get them from a friend soon.