The Longest Day: Chronicle Part 7

Thursday March 4th

Happy Birthday Kristen!!

Today was the day. Finally! Ryan and I woke up to a brilliantly sunny day in Napa, ready and raring to go for a FULL day of winery visiting, tasting, and fun. We hopped out of bed nice and early (ok, not too early) to get a jump on the day. We had a great breakfast, again, in the front room of the main house. Today was a really delicious egg, swiss, and mushroom dish with some homestyle Italian seasoned potatoes. This was the first morning I actually felt hungry for breakfast all week, so maybe I am biased about how delicious today's food was over other days, but I definitely had seconds. It was a big day and I wanted to make sure I fueled up! So, with plenty of OJ, eggs, potatoes, fruit and yogurt digesting away, Ryan and I finalized our plan for the day. We had a lot to see, so we got ready and out the door by 10:30. In Napa, people are actually encouraged to start their tasting/drinking early. All of the wineries open around 10 and you'd be amazed at how many people were already out and about checking out all the wineries and tasting wine before we even arrived at our first place.

We took our 2 for 1 coupon from Castello di Amarosa's tasting last night and called ahead to make a reservation for their 11:30 am tour. They book up pretty quickly, as we were told, so that helped us organize our day a bit. We decided to start about 10 minutes down the road at Franciscan, one of my favorite wineries. I was introduced to their wine at The Ocean Grille via my brother, of course, and was excited to get in for a tasting. We had a coupon for there too (you should be sensing a pattern, here). We arrived around 10:45 and saddled up to the tasting bar. We were served by a very relaxed, almost "dude-like" gentleman who had lots of fun information about the area and the wines he served us. He let us each taste from different menus and share each other's glasses so that we both got to taste all of the wines available. (Don't worry all, I spit most of mine out as I agreed to be the driver today). I think my favorites were the Sauvignon Blanc and the Clos Reserve. Ryan really loved the Merlot and I think has discovered that Merlots are kind of his thing. Our guy threw us a few extra tastings in there, including, both of our favorite, the Port. It was an amazing end to the tasting - a nice full fruit flavor with a twist of brandy on the finish. Yum!

We kind of took our time in Franciscan, so when we were getting back in the car we decided to just head over to Castello di Amarosa instead of make any more stops along the way. There was an Olive Oil Company that was tempting us to come in and try some of their, I'm sure, delicious products - but we had to resist and get on the road. On our way, Ryan said, "Are you sure you want to do this tour? I mean, there are a lot of other places to see and, truthfully, I'm not really a 'castle' kind of guy." I laughed and said, “Yeah, I really want to see it and I have a feeling you're going to enjoy it more than you know.” We got to Castello di Amarosa around 11:15, which was perfect timing to check in and get some shots of the landscape and the castle. Pulling up the long driveway, I hear Ryan in the passenger seat say, "Ok, this is definitely cool. Let's get out and get some pictures!" So much for not being a “castle kind of guy…”

Alright, so let me give you a little story about this place. This guy named Dario grew up in San Francisco in the wine business. His great grandfather was a San Francisco wine pioneer and taught his family everything he knew. Dario, though, was raised as Darryl; that's right, Darryl. Growing up, he always had a love of wine and architecture. So, when he was a big boy, he went to Italy, wandered around, learned more about wine and architecture, then came back and decided to latch on to Napa’s 1970's break in the wine business. He opened up V. Sattui, named for his great grandfather Vittorio. He put all of his money into building, growing, and starting the winery, that there was nothing left for advertising or marketing when all was said and done. He started selling the wine solely out of his winery, never shipping a bottle to a store or a restaurant. He even made his family and employees park by the side of the road to make his winery look busy, until people started flooding in, wondering why this new little place was so popular. This became sort of a tradition, and to this day, he still only sells his wines out of the winery - you can't find his wines anywhere out in the wide world. Well, after many years of running V.Sattui, he decided he wanted to open a 2nd winery and this time, make it smaller and more like a Tuscan villa. He started importing materials from Italy to build this small villa, while he began growing the vines for the winery itself. 14 years later, he ended up constructing a 107 room Italian Renaissance castle, made from hand chipped stone (done on the property) and Italian imported brick. He hired Italian painters to hand paint murals on the walls and ceilings. He included a dungeon, a torture chamber, and a series of caves and cellars that provide year round stable natural temperatures of 50-60 degrees for barrel storage. Even with its size, it's still a smaller winery, producing only a selection of wines that can only be purchased, of course, on the property. He throws Renaissance dinners where everyone dresses up, eats with their hands, and jousts. And he's present every day, overseeing the production and distribution of his wine to the masses of people that come see his 2 wineries, ranked #1 and #2 most popular in Napa Valley. This is how a guy grows up and gets to change his name from Darryl to Dario. In case you were wondering. Love it.

Needless to say, we had a blast at Castello di Amarosa. Our tour guide, Christina, was hilarious and a bubbly bunch of energy. The place is immense and once all of the information really sinks in and you see it all for yourself, you can't help but be impressed with this guy. We even got to meet him! He came down through the tasting room and said "hi" on his way through. I, of course, was busy petting Lancelot, brother of Guinevere - the two castle cats hired to find mice, but are currently just in charge of lounging in front of large fires and keeping the hands of most tourists busy by garnering attention. I was a total sucker. We tasted from each of their wine lists, much the same as with Franciscan. I'm not big into Merlots, so I left those to Ryan - I stuck with the whites and the cabs. They had some really great picnic and dessert wines - best we'd tried yet. I kind of wish we could have kidnapped Christina to tour us through the rest of wine country - she was so full of fun and vibrance. You can tell that she really does love her job and the company for which she works - it makes you realize how much that can change your whole outlook on work itself.

After many more pictures, and a little more exploration on our own, we decided we needed to hit the road if we were going to do anything else today. We headed up the road past Sterling to August Briggs, who offer a FREE wine tasting! We were psyched for that, as well as the fact that it was a much smaller and lesser known winery. The drive up was beautiful, as the mustard grass everywhere looks so striking against the deep browns of the not yet bloomed vineyards. A picture stop was definitely in order after this next tasting. We pulled into August Briggs, whose parking lot was just as big as I expected - about 6 spots. We parked and walked into the very small front room. Ryan did most of the tasting here, as they had a few Chardonnays and a Merlot. I tasted a sip of each, but they are my least favorite grapes, so I just looked around and then tasted some of their other offerings. I took the opportunity to hydrate while Ryan learned more about the wines. Turns out, this was his favorite Chardonnay so far this trip! A shocking revelation and one I intend to keep in my back pocket for later use...

As promised, we stopped just up the road from August Briggs for a little picture taking. It was so scenic and amazing along this back road; it really reminded me of the North Country and how breathtaking all of that untapped natural beauty can really be. Ryan got up close and personal with a slew of honeybees he kind of stumbled into, actually managing to capture one in a photo. It's been an effort on his part to get up close shots of small insects, like bees and butterflies, while on this trip. These were the first honeybees we'd seen yet, so of course, this was pretty important. The entire landscape was so amazing to behold, so we got plenty of scenic shots. Entries into the Napa Mustard Festival Photo Competition really might not be such a bad idea afterall. While Ryan practiced his budding photography skills, I researched some information on the wineries we still wanted to see. Our tummies were grumbling and when I looked at the clock and realized it was already after 2, I couldn't believe it - the day was so quickly slipping by us! I suggested that we stop and get a bite to eat and then head toward Grgich Hills, Miner Farms, and Louis V. Martini. It sounded like a lot to pack in, plus dinner later, but this was our last full day in Napa and we wanted to make the most of it.

We jumped back in the car, as a lightbulb went on over my head - the CIA! I had completely forgotten about the Culinary Insititute of America at Greystone, right up the road! Luckily I also remembered that they serve lunch, so we headed in that direction. As we pulled in, I felt the spirit of Julia Child come over me and I immediately wished I could cook our lunch myself. The building was immensely beautiful and inspirational. It made me think that if I could do things over again, maybe I'd consider a career in the culinary field because who would be able to pass up coming to school here? We walked around the building a bit, poking around the enormous store in the front full of all sorts of amazing kitchenware that I would give my left set of toes for. Then we wandered through an interesting and elaborate collection of corkscrews, which seemed like an odd display, until I remembered that this school is located smack in the middle of wine country; so, maybe it wasn’t so weird. This wandering led us to a classroom that looked like it was straight off of Food Network. It was like a college lecture hall with a Kitchen Stadium (Iron Chef) set up at the front. We tried to take some pictures, but it was too dark and there were people in tall white chef hats eyeing us from afar. We quickly scurried away. We walked around the building for a few minutes, before setting off to find the restaurant. However, by the time we got to the front door and realized what time it was – almost 3 – we decided that maybe lunch at CIA wasn’t quite an option if we wanted to get to everything else on our list. I called it an even break since we got to spend a little time exploring the building; maybe having a meal could wait until our next visit. We jumped back in the car and headed off for a quick bite.

We ended up stopping to grab a sandwich in St. Helena at a quirky little place called the Giugni & Son Grocery Company. It was the first place we saw, it looked quick, and definitely had a lot of character – generally a key factor in our decision making process. The sandwiches were amazing – for such a little deli, they had so many amazing meats and cheeses from all over for such reasonable prices. They had a lot of custom spreads and fillings to add; it was incredible. We scarfed down each of our sandwiches, a bag of chips, and a big water, quickly hustling on our way. After getting back in the car, we reevaluated our course of action. By now it was a little after 4 and time was quickly ticking away. Some of the wineries closed at 4:30, 5, and then 6. We had to lay out our plan accordingly. We decided to hit up Grgich Hills first, since they were the first on the list to close. I really wanted Ryan to taste their Chardonnay, since he is such a fan of that grape and theirs is so historic. Grgich Hills, for those of you who might not know, is the winery presented in the movie Bottle Shock. That movie depicts the comeuppance of California as a world recognized wine producer, especially against France. A now historic blind tasting was set up in Paris in 1976 where international judges blind tasted the Chardonnay of Grgich Hills against the most famous white wines of France. Mike Grgich’s Chardonnay won the tasting, hands down, as the best white wine in the world and put California wineries on the map, so to speak. It’s just one of those wineries you should check out, even just for the story.

We pulled into Grgich with our buy one get one free coupon and saddled up to the bar. As we got into the tasting, we discovered a few interesting things – our personal favorite from Grgich wasn’t their Chardonnay at all, it was their Fume Blanc. Ryan’s solid favorite was still the August Briggs Chard. Grgich did have a nice Merlot, though, which was a pleasant surprise. We didn’t spend much more time there, except to decide that a bottle of Fume Blanc would be the gift I’d take home to thank Katie for helping out with the cats while we were away. As we got into the car, realized the time, and felt the weight of the whole day come crashing down on us, we took a deep breath and decided that maybe this should be our last stop. We still had two wineries on the list, but when it came right down to it, there is such a thing as burning the candle at both ends on vacation; something we definitely did not want to do. We decided to head back to Franciscan while we were in the area to get a few gifts and then go back to Lavender to relax, maybe get in on the wine tasting over at Masion Fleurie, then relax some more over dinner.

As it turned out, one winery that we drove past quite a few times, Alpha Omega, was the featured tasting at Maison Fleurie. We took a nice walk over there again this evening, had a few snacks and tasted their wines. Compared to some of the great stuff we tasted earlier in the day, these didn’t really compare. They were pretty decent, and definitely earned pluses for being free and delivered practically to our doorstep, but not something I would have been disappointed to have missed. I think the most entertaining part of the afternoon was the actual representative from Alpha Omega who, upon learning about our coming trip down the coast, absolutely insisted that we stop in San Luis Obispo. Apparently she is from that area, and although I didn’t read much about it in my research to lead me to want to stop there for any amount of time, this girl would have you believe that San Luis Obispo was where California began and ended. I’m pretty sure she may have been running for mayor, or at least the head of their tourism department. It got to a point of hilarity that we began counting how many times she said the words “San Luis Obispo.” I think we lost track after 16.

On our way back to Lavender, we discussed our plans for dinner. After such a long, activity packed day, getting dressed to sit in a restaurant for dinner sounded less than appealing. We decided to order out for pizza and watch episodes of The Mentalist in bed. It couldn’t have been a better decision, as we came to find out. Kicking our feet up and reliving the day was great and I am always grateful for a delicious slice or 2 of pizza. We enjoyed the comfort of our room, had some cookies and hot cocoa for dessert, and snuggled in before part 3 of our journey would commence in the morning.

Come Rain or Come Shine: Chronicle Part 6

Wednesday, March 3rd

The one great thing about any vacation is that you can plan all you want, but truthfully, you never know really how any one day is going to turn out. Yesterday was a great example of that, for sure, but today was even better. Today, even more than yesterday, I was bound and determined to get out there and see some of Napa’s sights. My body was fighting me every step of the way, though. I woke up several times during the night with that headache I fell asleep with, which was a full blown migraine by the time Ryan rolled over and announced it was time to get up. He figured out the problem pretty quickly and quietly slipped out in search of medicine while I, unknowingly, fell back to sleep. What felt like 5 minutes later, he was back, with a little halo around both himself and the brown bag containing the cure for my ailment. I took three ibuprofen, chugged a glass of water and slowly got dressed while the drugs took hold. When Ryan and I walked out to breakfast, we were pleasantly surprised to see a clear blue sky and sun streaming over the front yard. We strode into the inn for breakfast, feeling great about this start to the day. I was still feeling under the weather, but not nearly as much as when I woke up. I had more energy and, although the sore throat was still present, it was not nearly as bad today. We saddled up to some breakfast in the main room: mushroom and swiss eggs benedict, breakfast potatoes, fruit salad, breads, yogurt and, of course, more Emergen-C. Delicious! We finished up with some hot beverages and, minus one throbbing headache, we headed back out the door to our room, ready to face a wonderful day. When we opened the door, we were greeted with temperatures that were at least 10 degrees lower than when we came in for breakfast 30 minutes earlier as well as grey skies and lots of cold rain. Awesome.

Over breakfast, Ryan and I had decided on a path to follow today to the wineries we had in mind. Yesterday, we had asked at the front desk if there was any good way to get around the valley without driving, so we could drink more at the wineries and see more places. Aside from spending money on a private bus, tour or driver, though, we were out of luck. However, Ryan remembered seeing a bus in town yesterday on our bike ride, and wondered if maybe there was a bus line that went up and down the valley. When we got back to the room, I started researching this idea, finding that there was indeed public transportation for the entire valley and that it would be very cost effective for our budget. That said, with the new rain having come on, I was more a fan of the idea that we drive to the wineries today and maybe I would just sip a couple and spit so that we could get around more easily and efficiently. Ryan was eager to pursue the bus, though, hell bent on getting us both to drink AND stick as much under the budget as humanly possible.

Now, I haven’t really talked much about our budget up to this point, not really because I have been avoiding it, but because I somehow keep forgetting about it. I don’t know how that’s possible, considering Ryan and I refer back to it almost every other hour. Well, the story is that before we left, Ryan did a 24 hour duty at his squadron. Over the course of the night, he put together an excel document, laying out our expected expenditures for the trip, setting goals for each day and the trip at large. It’s something we’ve talked about doing a thousand times for a thousand different things, including the wedding, but never end up doing. Well, with all of his time at work, Ryan put together an exceptional document for us to track our spending. Every night, before I write in the journal, Ryan’s been updating the budget, which is laid out by day with categories for each meal, entertainment, lodging, drinking, gifts, fuel, etc. I was really quite proud of his creation and we have been diligently keeping to it. We decided that our goal budget for this trip was to keep our expenses under $2500. Now, when you think about it, for an 11 day trip, including lodging, 3 meals a day, entertainment, and the kinds of places we were going to visit, this seems like quite a feat. It’s become like a game, though, sticking to the budget. It’s been fun and has actually enhanced our trip more than anything. So, anytime I refer to a budget, this is the thing about which I speak.

Now, back to the scene at hand. I figured out the bus schedule and, after much insistence from Ryan, I agreed that we would forage the countryside by bus instead of car. We packed a backpack full with mittens, Nalgene bottles, camera, batteries, and other necessities for a successful day and set out to catch the first bus. I grabbed a big umbrella from the front room just in case, even though the rain had let up, not grabbing one for Ryan who insisted his windbreaker was enough protection for him. We made the short walk to the bus and got on. We were going to pay $4 each for a day pass advertised on the bus’ website, but about which the driver had no idea. So, we just paid the regular fare and got a transfer ticket for the next bus. We decided to start at Sterling Winery, right smack in the middle of our route, since there was also a winery up the road from it with free tastings as well as Castello di Amorosa just up the road in the other direction. The ride was nice, because it gave us a chance to really look around at the landscape and see what other wineries were nearby, as well as what the distance was from place to place. After about 35 minutes, we arrived at our stop and jumped off. Our stop put us at the end of the road, so we still had about a mile or so to walk to the winery. The weather was cloudy and cool: perfect walking weather. When we finally got up to Sterling, we were pretty much the only people around. We walked up to the ticket booth, bought our two for one tickets, and got on the tram that carried us above the vineyards to the top of the hill, where the tour and winery are located. Even with the fog and clouds, it was a beautiful ride; however, halfway up, the skies opened up and it started to pour. No problem, we still had a long tour and tasting ahead of us.

The winery, itself, and tour at Sterling were both really great. It was a self tour, so we started at a wine tasting station where we had their Pinot Grigio – delicious! We walked around, watching videos and observing the wine making process, really just taking it all in. It was probably the best place to start, in retrospect, because Ryan had so many questions about the process of making wine, and this tour really broke it down for him. I tried to explain, but I could sense him spacing out after about 5 minutes of explanation each time I attempted it. We ended up on the top terrace of the winery, overlooking Sterling’s vast landscape, taking pictures of the view, and enjoying the fact that the rain had let up just like we figured it would. We walked up to the wine tasting room, sat by the fire, and enjoyed the rest of our 5 tasting wines before our continued walk through Napa wine country. We reboarded the tram, for the ride back down to the driveway below, when the skies opened up in full force, once again. I looked at Ryan and said, "So, only one umbrella seems like a great idea now doesn't it?" His response? "Hey, thank God I thought to buy those gloves in San Fran and bring them today! We'd freeze without them!" Totally missed the point.

We got off the tram and began our walk down the driveway, huddled underneath our one umbrella and watching cars pass us with passengers craning their heads in disbelief to look at the odd couple who chose to walk through Napa today. The driveway was so long, that by the time we reached the end of it, we had talked ourselves out of the other wineries in the area. We were soaking wet, freezing, and far from our hotel room - not to mention, I was still sick and developing a great cough from my illness already. It would have been certain death to continue any further. We walked to the end of the road, as I cursed the capillary action that was occuring on my pants and applauded Mr. Schultz, my 8th grade Earth Science teacher who taught me that term so well I remember it all these years later. We stopped to photograph a picturesque egret in the field near the bus stop - a possible entry for the upcoming Napa Valley Mustard Festival Photo Competition. When we got down to our bus stop, we still had about 10 minutes to wait for our bus. We stood in the rain, huddled still under our umbrella, planning out the steps between the bus and our warm bed and fireplace. I won't even elaborate on all of the "I told you so's" that were running through my head, between the lack of umbrella to my insistance that we drive today. It didn't feel worth it and I knew I'd just feel worse to pursue it. But, nevertheless, they were there, taunting me at the back of my throat to let them out.

When we got back on the bus, we looked ridiculous and all of the passengers didn't withhold their looks of astonishment at these two, obvious tourists, soaking wet and freezing from a lovely Napa walking excursion. Turns out our transfers were no good for this route and we had to pay the full fare again. We sat down, defeated, and rode back to town. After the walk back to Lavender Inn from the bus stop, we immediately turned on the fire, jumped into fleecy pajamas and socks, and leapt into the bed with hot beverages and cookies to thaw out. We spent the next hour or so thinking about our options for dinner and relaxing in our room. We decided the day wasn't over yet, and after a good thawing session, we should at least try to hit some more wine places in town. The sister inn to Lavender was hosting a tasting with Alpha Omega at 4:30 and Jessup Cellars, a place we'd been desperate to try in town, was open until 6. We got all dressed and hit the road. The sun had come out by this time, of course, so we walked down to Maison Fleurie for the free tasting hosted there. When we arrived, we were surprised to find out that the tasting schedule was moved around and tonight, instead, we were tasting from Castello Di Amarosa - ironically, one of the wineries we had wanted to see today anyway! We tasted a few of their wines, but weren't too impressed, grateful still for the free tasting. We enjoyed Maison Fleurie's hors d'oevres, some orange mint water, and then some more wine, before walking back to get our car. On our way, just two doors down from Lavender, we met one of the neighbors: a very California type guy, outfitting his Vanangon to be his and his wife's vacation on wheels. They had a pull down bed in the ceiling and he was installing a full on kitchen with butcher block and stove. We chatted with him for a few minutes about his rockstar vehicle, before jamming over to Jessup Cellars for THEIR free tasting before 6. We were super impressed with Jessup, who had an amazing selection of wines. They also hooked us up with a few extra tastings of some of their reserve wines and ports, which were also super delicious. I kind of regret not having bought some, now that I think about it. We snuck in under the gun, too, because a couple came in about 10 minutes after us but couldn't get served because it was closing time. Bummer for them. Oh well, it was time for us to head to dinner anyway.

We headed back to Lavender, driving by The French Laundry on our way to take a picture of the ridiculous place. We mocked them and announced to the building that we ate their cookies (given to us at breakfast by the couples we met yesterday who went to dinner there the previous night) then drove away. We had decided earlier to venture further into Napa for dinner tonight, choosing a highly recommended Indian restaurant called Neela's. We had an amazing dinner and stimulating conversation. It was really quiet in the restaurant, grante it was 7:30 on a Wednesday night. We were seated by Neela, herself, (<-- that's her) and she came and checked on us a few times. She was really sweet and we were definitely glad we decided on this for tonight. Ryan had a lamb dish and I decided on some creamy tomatoish curry with chicken and naan. Delicious! We stopped by the general store on our way back into Yountville, Ryan picked out a bottle of wine for us to enjoy, and we headed back to the inn. We settled in for some hot tub, wine, cookies, and warm beverages for the rest of the night, determined to make tomorrow a day full of exploring wineries come rain or shine! No weather or illness will get the better of us tomorrow, mark my words! We will drive, we will taste wines, we will see everything we want to see! And, with no stress, of course.

Sometimes It's the Simplest Things: Chronicle Day 5

Tuesday, March 2nd

I’m sad to say that there isn’t too much to report today. When Ryan and I woke up this morning, the rain was pouring down and the temperatures were definitely more than chilly. I was loving this, though, because it made everything about the bed and breakfast feel so warm and cozy. I didn’t really describe this place too much in the last entry, but, I think it warrants some definite attention. It’s called The Lavender Inn and is a 7 room bed and breakfast on the edge of Yountville, about 10 miles north of Napa. The setting is so picturesque – beautiful flowering trees out front, with gardens all around. We are one of two rooms that are part of the main house, which is great because we don’t have to walk far for breakfast or to get any of the hot drinks, cookies, snacks, or any of the beverages available in the refrigerator just inside. There is a great living room with a fire always burning, a dining room where they serve breakfast and snacks in the afternoon, and a back patio where you can get bikes to ride around the area. This was all pretty easy to get used to, I’m not going to lie. I have a feeling it’s going to be hard to leave it all at the end of the week. The room itself is awesome – nice and big with a fireplace and a flat screen. We got up in time for breakfast, which was pretty difficult this morning. I’d say this was the worst day of my sickness – it was so hard to drag myself out of the amazing bed, aside from the fact that my sore throat was beyond belief. I was so excited about our first morning at Lavender Inn, though, so I willed myself up. I got dressed and we went into the main room for breakfast. The chef had laid out a delicious spread of quiche and potatoes and delicious breads, fruit, and yogurt. I drank a full Emergen-C and had as much breakfast as I could stomach. Ryan read the paper to me while we had some warm beverages, watching the rain outside and the warm fire in the living room.

I was determined to stick to our plan to see a few wineries today, but Ryan had other ideas. After breakfast, we went back to the room to get ready, but he made me get back in bed. He insisted that it was too cold and rainy outside for any sightseeing and we would both be better served by hot showers and resting in bed for the day. I was pretty resistant, as you can imagine. I had an idea of our vacation packing as much in as possible, but he had other ideas, and boy was I relieved. Of course, I put up a fight. But, ultimately, he started me a hot shower, set up my towel and robe, and turned down the bed. He tucked me in with my book and played with my hair until I fell asleep. I’m pretty sure I was out for a few hours, which turned out to be a very good thing. When I woke up, I felt worlds better, the sun was out, and I was raring to go. We went back into the main house, signed out a couple of bikes, and decided to go for a ride.

It was an amazing day in the Valley – perfect for bike riding. As we rode down the main street in Yountville, heading into more of the country part of town, the sun was shining and it really felt more like an autumn day in New York. We biked about 4 or more miles around the area, checking out everything that was in and around our inn. Of course, wouldn't you know that on our first venture around wine country we left the camera at the inn - so there are no pictures to speak of of this beautiful biking tour. Lesson learned, there will be plenty more for the rest of the trip to make up for today! At any rate, we headed down some back roads and wound around the back part of town, through some fields, and in front of some immense and breathtaking mountains. It was one of those bike rides that makes you wonder why you haven’t been on a bike in a while; the kind that makes you feel like you could pedal forever and never feel your legs getting tired or your back giving out. The air was crisp, the sun felt so nice, and the combination of these things rushing over my skin and head was all the relief I could have asked for. We started to make our way back to the inn, though, because at 4:30 one of the local wineries was scheduled to do a wine tasting in the living room. Free tasting and snacks? Sign us up!

When we got back, the lovely rep from Cornerstone Cellars had already begun serving some of the other guests. Ryan and I made some plates full of snacks and found two comfortable seats near the fire. Cornerstone is located right here in Yountville, just a block or so away, and had some really great wines to offer. We talked for a bit with some of the other guests, who had reservations at The French Laundry (oohh la la) later this evening. For those of you who haven’t heard of The French Laundry, it is, what many argue, possibly the best restaurant in the country, if not the world. You have to make reservations at least 60 days in advance for one of the two seatings they offer each night. It’s a prix-fixe menu made up of 9 courses for which you pay $250 a person. Apparently these people we were sitting and sipping with are wealthy planners. At any rate, we spoke to them for a little while, then decided to go make some dinner plans of our own. We bought a bottle of Grenache from the wine rep, took some advice from her and Marion (the amiable front desk lady) and made a reservation at Hurley’s right here in town. We went back to the room, put on some nicer attire, and walked down to the restaurant.

Dinner was amazing. First of all, this restaurant doesn’t charge a corkage fee for any Cornerstone wines, so we didn’t have to pay anything extra to drink our own wine at dinner. We also decided that since we had such a quiet day, we’d make up our empty budget with a great dinner. Marion had made the reservation for us and had apparently ordered two complimentary glasses of Domaine Chandon Champagne, which were promptly delivered to our table. We then ordered the Butternut Squash homemade Ravioli and the Braised Wild Texas Boar for dinner. Both were exceptional, but I think we both agreed that the Boar was the most impressive – it was like the most elegant and decadent pot roast I’ve ever eaten. We finished with their signature ice cream sandwich – hazelnut praline cookies and vanilla gelato, topped with raspberry coulis – and an after dinner martini with Chambord, Vanilla Stoli, and Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur. The service was excellent and Ryan had fun racing the busser for who was quicker – him to finish the water or the busser to refill the glass again. Ryan had an unfair advantage since he didn’t have any other tables or glasses of water, but his own, to worry about.

We floated back to the room with a little wine left over to finish back in the room. We filled the Jacuzzi and took advantage of the inn’s amenities. We ended the night with hot chocolate, cookies and a lot of tipsy laughs back in our comfy bed. I felt the beginnings of a headache coming on, but resolved that some water and a good night’s sleep would take care of any ailments. I guess we’ll just try again for the whole sightseeing thing; for now, I’m more than happy with how we spent our day ;-)

Transition to Phase 2: Chronicle Part 4

Monday, March 1st

Well, I’m sorry to report that the sickness did not relieve itself overnight. As a matter of fact, I think it’s worse. Tough break, I guess – catch strep the weekend after Ryan gets home, then he gets the flu, and gives it to me. We decided that we would get up earlier this morning, to get a better start on our day. We wanted to get out, get breakfast, then have time to pack up leisurely and without stress. Today is the day we’re moving on to Napa, so we want to make our last day in San Francisco worthwhile, but do so without feeling rushed. We managed to get up at a reasonable time, around 8:45 or so, got ourselves ready and out the door. I was definitely under the weather, but bound and determined to not let the sickness hamper my ability to enjoy our vacation. A positive attitude was my only weapon – well, that, and lots of Theraflu.

We headed down a few blocks to a diner called “Dottie’s” that Ryan had found online. He saw a line out the door and down the block yesterday when we were passing by, so figured it must be good. Our guess was that on a Monday morning, the line might not be so tragic. Turns out there was a short line, mostly due to the fact that the place was teeny tiny and their servers weren’t great at bussing the tables quickly. A few times, there were empty but dirty tables that sat empty and dirty for at least 10 minutes, with the line out the door, before someone came to bus them. Ah well, it gave us plenty of time to labor over what we were going to eat. The food looked so good and it was not your typical diner fare. We started with some amazing cinnamon coffee cake and warm beverages. There were also some pretty elaborate dishes, including the one we got – a proscuitto, basil, and roasted tomato scramble with potatoes and homemade buttermilk dill toast. It was pretty much delicious. We sat at a table near the window and Ryan proceeded to take artistic shots of all of the tables, which boasted enlarged photographs of the diner’s namesake – Dorothy Dandridge. A cool little place I’m glad we stumbled upon – made for a great picture series (see the rest of those pics on facebook when I get around to posting them :-).

We headed back up to the hotel, packed up the room with little effort, and checked out around noon. We decided to load up the car then repark it to take advantage of the last few hours of parking we’d already paid for. We hadn’t walked around Union Square much and had been wanting to walk over to the Swatch store to exchange a watch that Ryan bought me for Christmas. It was a little big and the battery was dead, so we took advantage of the opportunity of having one within walking distance to remedy the situation. I picked out a really nice watch and we were back on our way. We walked back up to the car and decided to hit a few more stops before we exited the city

I really wanted to hit up Golden Gate Park and the Japanese Tea Garden before we left the city, so we drove in that direction. On our way there, we saw a viewing spot of the Golden Gate Bridge that we hadn't seen before. It had a great view of the bridge, so we stopped to get some better pictures than the ones we took the other day with Suzie. We got some great shots and then carried on our way to Golden Gate Park. We parked the car and proceeded into the park, which was a lot like Balboa Park in San Diego, as it turns out. I see now why Katie told us it would be more fun to hang out in Dolores Park yesterday – that one was much more our speed: unique, quaint, and full of character. This one was structured with lots of museums and “things to see.” We made our way to the pagodas, where we found out it was $7 a person to enter the Japanese Tea Garden. I decided that I’d been inside, I’d seen it, it wasn’t worth $7 in our budget to walk through the place. We wandered over to the Botanical Gardens which happened to be FREE!! We love Botanical Gardens, but unfortunately we didn’t have time to see the whole thing as it turned out to be QUITE large. We decided that is a must do on our next trip to the city. We wandered around it for a few minutes, though, and got to see a few really neat trees – the New Zealand Christmas Tree as well as the Monkey Puzzle Tree.

By this time, we were starving. While walking around the Gardens I researched some places to grab a sandwich before leaving the city. I found a place called Ike’s that boasted some unique and decadent sandwiches for inexpensive prices. Of course, knowing how much Ryan loves this sort of grub, I immediately pointed us in this direction. As has been the common thread in this trip, it seems that we consistently end up where there is a line, and you know what that means – a line equals a popular and sure thing. Such was the case with Ike’s. It wasn’t a huge line, mind you, and I’m sure it’s typically much longer, but this was one of the smallest sandwiches places I’ve ever seen. You couldn’t even get in the door – there was a girl sitting on a stool outside the door, with a cash register on a table and a pad of paper for orders. Behind her and through the door was a tiny kitchen with about 5 people inside, quickly making sandwiches and handing them up to the front door. We ordered a ham, turkey, and brie on French bread. It was, as expected, amazing. We split one, planning on a bigger meal once we got to Napa. We sat in the car and ate while we planned our route; then hit the road.

I decided to call my mom during the hour long drive to Yountville, just north of Napa. I hadn’t talked to her in a while and decided it was the perfect time to update her on life since Ryan’s been home. We made it to the Lavender Inn in Yountville around 5:30 or so, met by our gracious hostess Marion, a lovely, stout older English woman with a lot of character and a lot to say. She talked at a much more rapid pace than I imagined anyone in Napa Valley would, but made us laugh and feel right at home at our first bed and breakfast. We felt really lucky to have gotten a spot at this inn, especially with the stay one night get one free deal I found online, which allowed us to be in Napa for 4 nights. The room is awesome, especially since they upgraded us, without my knowledge, to the room with the private, enclosed patio, two person Jacuzzi and sitting area. Um, stoked? Yes. Between the fireplace in our place, the warmth of the atmosphere, and the complimentary everything every time we turned around, I was beginning to like life in Napa Valley. Ryan and I sat and talked with Marion for about an hour, enjoying the complimentary wine and cheese offered each evening from 4:30 to 6, as she never let our wine glasses get past the half way point. It didn’t take long for us to get tipsy or to remember that we had only shared a sandwich for lunch and desperately needed sustenance.

We went to our room, settled all of our things in place and headed out for a walk about the town. We stopped at a little diner like place called Pacific Blues, pretty much the only “diner” like place in town. Ryan and I decided to share a pulled pork sandwich and chili cheese fries – don’t judge us, we’re on vacation. Yeah, you’re jealous ;-) We strolled back to the room, relieved that we had no other obligations for the day and could just lay back and enjoy our room. I was still feeling pretty under the weather, and just wanted to relax and rest. We got back to the room when I realized that I couldn’t wait any longer – I’d been denying the level of my sore throat and was avoiding cough medicine. It was time to accept that I needed some cough drops and Ryan made us go to the store to get some. I picked up some Emergen-C while we were there, then headed straight back to the room for pj’s and medicine. Ryan drew us a hot Jacuzzi bath and we enjoyed our first evening at the bed and breakfast bubbling in the hot tub, then watching t.v. in bed with hot chocolate and Theraflu while wrapped in our spa robes. I fell asleep shortly thereafter, leaving any and all thinking for tomorrow.

Venturing Abroad: Chronicle Part 3

Sunday February 28th

Today did not exactly start out as well as I would have liked. Apparently, since having Strep Throat, my immune system has been weakened and is more susceptible to disease. I think I may have gotten a flu like illness Ryan was suffering from before we left. I’ve been feeling it a little in the background for the last couple of days, but this morning it hit me like a ton of bricks. I woke up with a terrible sore throat again, feeling achy and very tired. Not a good set of signs. Needless to say, I wasn’t about to let my sickness ruin my vacation. We did sleep in a little bit this morning, getting comfortable quickly in our new digs. This hotel has a complimentary and beautiful continental breakfast up in the same restaurant we had our amazing meal at last night. On Saturdays and Sundays they extend it until 11am, so Ryan and I put on some decent clothes and made our way upstairs.

After some food and hot tea, we came back to the room, showered and relaxed a little bit more. We didn’t really have a set plan for the day and I was feeling a little weary still. We decided to lay low for a little while, which turned out to be really nice. We just sort of watched t.v., I worked on the blog a little bit, and we figured out a plan for the rest of the day. After a short power nap, we decided to get going around 2pm. Our plan for the day? Taking some of Katie’s long awaited advice and hitting up the Noe (pronounced No – ee) Valley in a more residential part of the city. Katie is one of my best friends from San Diego and she lived in San Fran for a little while. She had a lot of great advice and suggestions for non touristy places to check out. We made a list of the places we wanted to hit, figured out the BART (Bay Area Rail Transit) schedules and locations, and hit the road.

I have to say, I was worried about not doing Pilates for the next two weeks, but a few days in this city will cure that worry. Walking these hills has made my legs feel like a daily hard core pilates session with my trainer Kelly. I don’t worry about keeping up with my training at this point…We decided to hoof it up some of the hills to catch a trolley down to the metro. This killed two birds with one stone – transportation and a cure to Ryan’s cable car anticipation. It was a beautiful, sunny, and almost brisk day, so I was excited to get outdoors and see a different part of the city. This city’s metro was FAR more confusing than DC’s, but we managed to get where we needed to go.

We ended up on Mission and 24th in Noe Valley, which was smack in the middle of an Asian and Latino market haven. This was lucky for us, because we were in desperate need of socks and some sort of backpack on the cheap. I’d forgotten to put socks on today and we failed to bring a small sack to carry our necessities around the city. No folks, no fanny packs were purchased, but we did joke about the consideration of one. Ryan was in charge of this purchase, since he’d be carrying it, but I can’t even explain to you how much of a project this turned out to be. After 40 minutes we hadn’t made it more than half a block, but after much deliberation we had finally found the perfect backpack, socks, gloves and a ridiculous hat for the appropriate price.

We proceeded on our way up 10 blocks to our first stop: Bernie’s, a coffee shop near where Katie used to work. She knows the lady who owns it, Bernie, and encouraged us to get some delicious beverages and to say hi from her. It was a fun walk through a very different part of the city. Lots of character and neat houses built into the slanted sidewalks. We made our destination, but unfortunately, Bernie was nowhere to be seen. I guess she had the day off. We did get some delicious coffee, some much needed leg rest, and a casual encounter with an adorable scruffy mutt. I put Ryan in charge of the camera at the beginning of this trip, and he tends to photograph EVERYthing he finds worthy – this usually turns outs well and in some sort of artistic fashion.

After our warm beverages, we headed over to Xela, Katie’s old work, where those owners weren’t around either, and then to Noe Valley Bakery, where they didn’t have any of the treats I was hoping for. Although this does sound like a lost cause for our goals, it really was a fun way to walk around this part of San Francisco and get to know the area. Each of the places we went were quaint shops that we probably would have ignored otherwise, and each of them really gave a certain quirky perspective to such a different part of the city. This area was full of these kinds of shops – holes in the wall; tiny rooms with fascinating people and interesting offerings. We decided that it had now been long enough since our last meal and went in search of food. I was dying for pizza (shocker) and remembered Katie had recommended a pizza place that was several blocks away. In order to get to it, we’d have to pass by a park we’d been wanting to see, so we immediately turned and headed in that direction.

On the way, we stopped for a few artistic photo opportunities as well as some park enjoyment. This was Dolores Park, recommended to us by Katie, which is right up our alley. Ryan and I love finding parks to hang out at in each place that we live, so the enticement of a fun park here was too much to resist. Dolores Park did not disappoint. We did a little swinging, a little walking and a little people watching. This guy was hilarious, entrancing all of the little kids with a few pieces of string and some water with soap. It was like the perfect park moment. After about a half hour, we decided to move on to our destination, as the grumbles in our stomachs were growing quite loud and impossible to ignore.

We headed a few blocks more to Pizzaria Delfino. Of course, it would have helped to know that this was a different place than Delfino, next door, where we first stopped, got a table, and gawked at the ridiculous menu and prices before figuring it out. We had to wait about a half hour for this tiny little pizza place to be ready for us, but it was MORE than worth the wait! The atmosphere had such a great vibe, we got to sit at a counter that overlooked the kitchen and chefs, and the food was amazing. While we waited, Ryan took the liberty of artistic photography again – I have to say, he’s getting really good at this little hobby of his. Makes me relieved I put him on picture duty. We’d be lucky if we got more than 5 pictures if I was in charge. We now have more than we know what to do with. At any rate, we ordered a Sasiccio pizza, with fennel sausage, tomato sauce, carmelized red onion, red pepper and buffalo mozzarella. Some of the most simple but incredible pizza I’ve ever eaten. Thanks Katie!

After dinner, we decided to head back to the metro and downtown for dessert and some more cable car riding. While in Walgreens buying Theraflu, Ryan had a stroke of genius and remembered that we still hadn’t had an ice cream sundae at Ghirardelli! We immediately jumped back on the metro and took the Powell Street cable car from one end of the line to the other, all the way to Ghirardelli Square. We walked to the lower store, which, unfortunately, closed at 6. There were two women inside, working on the books and cleaning the place up when we arrived, looking like defeated puppies panting outside the window, desperate for ice cream and hand made chocolate sauce. They didn’t even glance at us. We decided to go upstairs to use the restroom and decide a course of action for treat retrieval. When we came out, we both simultaneously remembered the second

shop on the second level and wandered into the glowing light of it’s brilliance in a trancelike but elated state. A brownie sundae with milk chocolate sauce was within our grasp. And oh my goodness, was it worth the calorie intake? Abso-freaking-lutely. Amazing.

We jumped back on the cable car to head back to the hotel, as Theraflu was calling my name. Ryan got another ride in as well as an opportunity to shoot some pictures of trolleys at night. When we got back to the room, it was an easy decision to call it an early night, crawl into pajamas and drink some warm beverages. Although we got a late start, we had quite a full day. I drank a not so delicious Theraflu, Ryan rubbed my aching legs, and we watched some t.v. I was relieved for the rest and love, hoping that the medicine would cure the throat, cough, and aching overnight.

My Boy is Wicked Smaht: Chronicle Part 2

Saturday, February 27th

Crawling out of the bed this morning proved a bit more challenging than I had anticipated. I thought when I went to sleep last night that the excitement of the day would propel me out of the blankets and into the streets of San Fran. Not true. Around 9:45 Ryan finally coaxed me awake and we agreed that getting up was in our best interest. Plus, we had an 11 o’clock check out time and still needed to pack everything up, go get the car from the garage and load everything up for our hotel transfer. A little stress ensued, but we managed to keep it at bay. No pun intended. We were out of the room on time and Suz walked down to meet us for our driving tour of the city.

We decided to park down near the ferry station, where, as it turned out, there were vendors, tents, and street performers everywhere! It was Chinese New Year today and everyone was preparing for the parade scheduled for 5:30. We meandered through the crowd and the lines for the various vendors to make our way inside the ferry station. The station was a lot bigger than I thought and there were just as many people inside as out. I’m pretty sure we could have had a complete lunch on all of the samples that were out in the aisles. We found some amazing olive oils and balsamic samples, but I figured it’d be a better idea to find some real food somewhere. We settled at a little walk up café called Il Carne Rosso. Suz had to fight a guy off to get a table, but we landed at one while Ryan ordered our lunch. This place was great – they had about 5 or 6 options available, that they change every day, and each thing was amazing. We had a porchetta sandwich with pickled cabbage and some parsnip soup.

We left the ferry station and decided to head around the bay and see some of the sights. We stopped along the bay to see some of the crazies who swim laps all year round and we took a few pictures of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge from afar. We then jumped on the bridge and drove over to Sausalito. We got a few great pictures just off the other side of the bridge and got to see Suz’s friend’s overpriced residence with a great view over the bay. We both agreed that no house or view was worth $4000 in monthly rent! As we gawked at some more of the houses and properties, Suz suggested that we keep driving to see John Muir Woods State Park. At first Ryan and I weren’t that interested, but once Suzie mentioned it was a Redwood forest, we were absolutely on board! That was one of the things we were most excited to see in this part of the country. We drove up and down some pretty Californian winding (understatement) roads to get to the park. The terrain was incredible and breathtaking – so much green and rolling mountains. We finally reached the park and the sun came out. There wasn’t as much of a chill in the air as when we started out this morning, so it was definitely perfect walking weather. We took a trail into the park and proceeded to feel overwhelmed. You can imagine all you want about what seeing a redwood tree will be like, and you imagine that looking at pictures is enough. If it’s on a list of things you want to do and you keep putting it off because you figure there are other things that will be more impressive, move it closer to the top of your list. The trees are magnificent and don’t come close to anything you’ve imagined. You might think that seeing one or two of them is enough, but I felt about these trees the same way I felt about seeing the mountains of Alaska. You walk in with the notion that you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all – and then you actually see them and realize that you’re an idiot. Every single one I saw was more different and amazing than the next. I’m pretty sure I could have spent the whole day there, but, eventually we agreed we had to get back because we had an important night ahead of us.

On our way back into the city, we made our way over to Lombard Street – the only winding street in San Francisco. It meanders down one of the hills and is made up of sharp curves in a snakelike format, all the way down the hill. It was neat to drive down it and definitely one of those things you have to do when you come into the city. After this, we drove up and down some ridiculous hills on our way to drop Suz off at her hotel. We had to check into our new hotel, the Marine Memorial Hotel. We made our way, at last, and checked in. Once I got into the room, I immediately wished we had been here all along. The room was at least twice the size of the last one with a lot of sweet little details. At the front desk we found out that Happy Hour was free from 4-6 for hotel guests and that there was a complimentary brunch served every day until 11. Love it already. It was about 4:45, though, and Ryan and I had still not made a reservation for dinner. Tonight was really his responsibility, because he wanted to take me to dinner and a show. In the hullabaloo, we kind of forgot to make a reservation, though, and started to get a little worried that our delusions of steak grandeur just might not make it off the ground tonight. As I curled my hair, Ryan searched around town for a steakhouse that would be able to get us in at 6:15 on a Saturday. He gave up after about 3 calls and remembered that the restaurant on the 12th floor of our hotel was a steakhouse. We both agreed it was our only option, so called up and reserved a table. I was just relieved that we had a place to sit at 6:15 and some guaranteed food.

After we got our selves all spiffed up, and might I say, we looked GOOD, we headed upstairs. When we got into the restaurant we were more than pleasantly surprised. The sun hadn’t yet set so we had an incredible view of the entire city and even the bay. We had a table right at the window and the restaurant was quiet, except for the lovely piano being played several feet away. Perfect. We ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio, a couple of steaks, and had ourselves an incredible meal. We kept remarking, all the while, how perfect this had worked out and I really couldn’t get over it. The view was spectacular, the food was great, and it was the perfect pre-show steak dinner. We finished up, not worrying too much about the size of the bill, and headed downstairs to grab a cab to the show.

I should have thought ahead of time that cabs in the city were going to be scarce, what with it being Saturday night AND Chinese New Years with the big parade taking up half of the city’s streets. We trotted down the hill, thinking we would just walk until we found a cab, but it soon became apparent that all the cabs in the city were occupied. Foolish us for not calling ahead…again. About 2 blocks away from the hotel, though, when we were just about accepting our fate, I glanced across the street to a hotel where a couple of people were exiting a cab. I sent Ryan over, immediately, to steal it from the hotel. The guy thought we were pretty sneaky, and, appreciating the fact that we had small bills and big cajones, so he accepted our fare. We pulled up just as the lights were ringing the 5 minute curtain call, and we found our seats just in time. Really, this night could not have been working out more beautifully.

Wicked was a blast. We were a little miffed at first that Glinda and Ephalba were being played by the understudies, but once we heard the first few songs, we put our concerns to rest. The performance was great and we had a blast. I was so relieved that I had someone sitting next to me who was actually into the show and not bored to tears, wondering when he’d be able to escape to a more entertaining Saturday night adventure. This was exactly where we both wanted to be and we soaked up every second of it. After the show, we were supposed to meet up with Bernie and Suz for one last drink. We were dying to show them the 12th floor view from our hotel, but, as it turned out, the bar closed at 11. We hoofed it up 5 blocks and over 3 back to our hotel, through some pretty sketchy streets. Ryan kept pulling his iPhone out and I thought for sure we were about to be mugged a time or two. That’s all I needed, was another reason to dislike that $300 excuse to be mugged. When we got back, Bernie and Suz weren’t answering their phones, so we decided to come back up to the room for our own champagne and bed relaxing. Ryan popped the cork and we sipped on a glass before he succumbed to the alluring draw of the hotel bed and pillows. I stayed up for a bit, thinking about our day and working on some of this journal. As it turns out, these entries are a lot longer than I had originally anticipated. As I keep writing, though, I realize just how packed our days have been and why we are so wiped out every time we come back to the room. I think tomorrow will be a bit lazier of a day, but boy oh boy, today will be hard to top. You don’t want your vacation to peak on the second day, but if this was any indication of how much fun the rest of the trip is going to be, I say “bring it on!”

A Californian Coastal Experience: Part 1

Good Lord, but it's been a while since I've written. I actually have a few postings in the works that should come before these next, but c'est la vie. Ryan and I are officially on our tour of the Californian coast and I have decided to chronicle our journey each day. Since this is the longest vacation either of us have ever been on, I already know that by the end of it we will probably look at each other and wonder, "what exactly did we do with all of that time?" So, lengthy or not, take it or leave it, this is our chronicle of our journey. I will be trying to post them by day, so say a prayer that I can keep up...I'm already behind ;-)

Friday, February 26th

Today was our first full day in San Francisco! It’s been quite a day and we actually were able to fit in a lot more than I thought we would. We got here a little later than I had hoped, around 4 this morning, but we got here safely nonetheless. Driving into the city at that time was so odd – almost surreal. It was kind of like showing up to a party before the host got home from the grocery store. The streets were so empty and quiet, there were no trolley cars running, and there was no one else driving around but us. We checked in without much incident and came up to our room in the Villa Florence. We were relieved and pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the hotel as well as the friendliness of the staff. We came upstairs and went straight to sleep, as the drive left us with an air of exhaustion from my full day of work and trip prep as well as Ryan’s 24 hour duty and consequential lack of sleep.

We met Suz for breakfast at 9:30 at Sears’, which was brilliant. Such a great breakfast spot and somewhere I definitely wanted to hit while we were in town. I emailed Katie for some other must see spots, but still have yet to hear from her. After breakfast, we hopped on our first Trolley up to Suz and Bernie’s hotel, The Fairmont. Suz bought us day passes, I think because she felt bad that she had led us to believe it was free before we decided to hop on. It was pretty neat to ride on the cable car – there wasn’t enough room to sit, so we even had to stand and hang on. We adjusted pretty quickly, especially since we were on the inside edge and almost clipped ourselves with a car on the other side of the yellow line. The Fairmont was impressive, but nothing unlike what I expected. Truthfully, The Biltmore in LA was more impressive aesthetically. It was still a neat place to see and apparently Bill Clinton was there only 12 hours or so before we came to inspect it. Bernie wasn’t around, but we were able to see their room which had a great view of the city.

Ryan and I came back to the room after we left Suz to her wine group. It was getting windier and greyer by the minute and I was definitely feeling the lack of sleep setting in. I couldn’t wait to lie down, read some Wicked, and maybe catch a few zzz’s before we proceeded with the rest of our day. We did just that. The TV was fixed while we were at breakfast, but we dozed off within a few minutes. It wasn’t even noon yet, so I didn’t feel bad about wasting away some of the dreariness in bed. We got up while it was still raining and decided to hit up Chinatown for lunch and sightseeing. We walked all the way down there – it was chilly and still spitting rain, but a nice walk nonetheless. The sights were incredible – so many different shops all crammed together in a tight little space. We had a destination for lunch in mind, Brandy Ho’s, as recommended by the computer as well as both tour books. The lunch crowd had long since cleared out, so we were grateful for a quiet restaurant, no wait, and quick service. The food was amazing – freshly woked right before our eyes in the open kitchen and within minutes of ordering. I had the General’s Chicken and Ryan had the Sweet and Sour Pork. I have to say, I was way more into mine, thankfully ; ) After lunch, we walked around some more, scouting out for some previously read about alleys with interesting shops. A tour down Ross Alley brought us to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Shop for some free samples and a tour down St. Louis got us a whole lot of flies and boring grated doors. We decided one alley was enough to get the idea and headed for a tea tasting.

The tea tasting was something Ryan was super excided about but about which, I have to admit, I was a little more skeptical. I had a feeling nothing in the city was free, but thought it would be a fun thing to have done, so jumped on board. We picked a place that Ryan had a good vibe from and strolled over. It was quiet, with one southern gentleman already saddled up to the tea bar. We picked a few teas to try, after some consideration, and saddled ourselves up to watch the process. To be honest, it was a little less exciting than I expected and the tea was much blander than I would have liked. After our second tea, we realized just how awkward it was now that we didn’t really like the tea AND we weren’t sure of the protocol. Do we pay for the tasting? Are we expected to buy tea? How do we cut and run without being guilted into some tea. I suddenly wished for some more patrons to take the heat off of us so that maybe we could just leave some money and head out. No such luck. Turns out, the tasting is only free if you buy some tea at $30 for 4 ounces. $6 later, we strolled into a Chinese bakery and got some treats: chocolate covered fortune cookies and a chocolate covered moonpie to celebrate the New Year. Unfortunately, I left them in the car, so we still have yet to nibble on them.

On our way back to the hotel to get ready to meet Bernie and Suz for our night out, we decided to take a tour of the trolley system with our free tickets. While waiting for the first one, who do we see roll up on the oncoming car? Bernie, Suz and their entire crew! We jumped on, of course, and joined their ranks. In the hullabaloo, Ryan lost his free day trolley ticket and was sorely disappointed that not only had we lost out on our time to tour the trolleys but now he had also lost his means. We were glad to run into the group, though, and followed them on their treasure hunting journey. After a brief expedition in various modes of transport, we ended up at Buena Vista for some famous Irish coffees. They were quite stout, but now that I’m off of medications, this felt more than acceptable. We wandered around the pier area for a bit, taking in the sights, then headed over to Ghirardelli Square for the results of the scavenger hunt and some free wine and cheese. I helped solve the word jumbles while Ryan partook of the hors d’oerves. It was interesting to see all of these business men and women from around the world in their element, but after about a half hour, we were ready to go. With a good buzz on and dinner in our sights, we set back out, stopping only for some cupcakes at this famous little cupecakery called Kara’s Cupcakes to take home for dessert.

I have to admit, I had other plans for dinner attire than what I had been wearing all day. I felt a little out of place wearing my jeans and shirt, but Bernie and Suz didn’t change either and insisted that “This is San Francisco, this is how you do it.” Alright then, I can’t argue with that. After a few cab trips and dinner decision dilemmas later, we ended up at Nob Hill Café, a small, quaint, but packed Italian restaurant. The cabby who drove us there was a riot, cursing and spitting at all the pedestrians and, ironically, drivers from Illinois that were in front of us. “Get out of my way and go back to fucking Chicago you ignorant…..” and on and on, to the point of hilarity. He felt a bit awkward when we explained the laughter was due to the three Midwesterners, 2 actually from Chicago, sitting in the cab with him. It’s kind of an interesting experience to make a cabby uncomfortable…

Dinner was amazing. We had to wait about 35 minutes, but we walked over to The Fairmont for a couple glasses of wine in order to pass the time. On our way up to the room, we were put in our place by a fellow elevator rider about the beauty of San Francisco. Suzie has a habit of talking up strangers in situations such as these, and after a conversation in which one of us mentioned that San Francisco was one of the most beautiful/fun cities in the world, she asked this passenger where he happened to be from. “Paris,” he spit over his shoulder at us, as if to say, “Stupid Americans and your inability to understand the beauty of cities outside of your silly little country.” Suz, not able to resist the awkward conversation, pursued the topic by asking about how long he was visiting San Fran. Again, practically spitting it over his shoulder he held out his hand and, with all five fingers extended, said in a thick Parisian accent, “5 days, 5 whole days.” We all chuckled and breathed a sigh of relief as he, with perfect timing, exited the elevator on his floor.

At any rate, the food at the restaurant was so delicious – Suz had some pesto gnocchi that literally just melted away right in your mouth. My penna ala vodka wasn’t too shabby either. After dinner and a few more bottles of wine, we accompanied Bernie and Suz back to their room for the aforementioned cupcakes. They were delicious as well, but after consuming them all and sharing a few more laughs, it was clear that everyone was exhausted, so we took our departure. Ryan and I headed back to the hotel, enjoying a nice evening stroll and the relief of pulling off our sneakers and crawling into an inviting bed. I tried to finish this entry at that time, but the draw of the pillows was too great. Day one in San Francisco, officially a success.