Dedicated To The Ones I've Loved

**Just a note, this entry was written several months ago. However, in the spirit of new beginnings and the start of a new year, I stumbled upon it, deciding it was definitely something important to say.

I have been thinking a lot about old friends lately. This whole year, really. As 2010 speeds quickly by and leans into the holiday season, I have begun thinking about what I’ve really accomplished this year. I know, it’s a little early for New Year’s reflections, but I have been trying to really live in the moment this year and value what all of my time has gotten me so far. I’ve decided that this has been the year of destinations and reconnections.

I have done a lot of traveling this year, mostly because living on the West Coast has caused me a lot of longing for places and people from whom I feel furthest. The thing about traveling, especially to places of your past, is it lends itself to a lot of nostalgic undertakings. I can’t help but reflect on the experiences and people of my life up until this point, especially as they coincide with a particular place. After I leave a place, I inevitably yearn for those times that have long past when I bonded with different people as we shared that place. I wish I could reach back and reconnect myself with them to be as close as we once were. But, alas, such is life, is it not? No matter how many people we come into contact with and promise to not let go of, it happens, inevitably.

I think this has always been the hardest fact for me to grasp in my life. In middle and high school, I had a lot of friends from all over. Summer camps, retreats, clubs, sports, and any other variety of activities that link us from one person to another dominated my life. In a lot of ways, these activities, and these people especially, kept me afloat. The friends I made at Tanager Lodge, in the FFA, at Guggenheim, and even at college are the reasons I am who I am today. They are a large part of the reason I was able to survive my very rocky and sometimes traumatic adolescence. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts or intentions, I lost track of many of these people. Never leaving them far from my mind, though, believe me. I continue to tell stories, to this day, of late nights with my OG’s, creeping through the woods, or early morning dipping in monsoon conditions. I sigh aloud when I see anything corduroy, especially if it hints in hue to National Blue and how I used to savor the chance to don that beautiful blue jacket with the Corn Yellow lettering. I think reflectively on all of the lessons I learned from the people who shared these experiences with me and feel a lurch in my heart and my stomach when I realize just how far I’ve drifted from them. I gaze out on still lake waters in the summertime when I visit the Adirondacks and wish I could somehow rewrite the last 10 years to change how my relationships morphed; how I could get back to looking out over those waters with the people I love, to this day, because they helped shape who I have become.

But then I remember. We all made choices that led us in different directions. No matter how I could have tried to change it, I still wouldn’t be able to reach out and touch some of these people. That’s life, right? A constant cycle of movement, change, and progression. You go on to meet new people, who become part of your current reality. Maybe these new people catch the light a certain way or glance in your direction with a familiar look on their face and you remember someone who looked in a similar fashion at you 15 years ago. Someone hands you a slice of watermelon and as you reach out to grab it, looking them in the eyes to thank them, you see, just for a second, your best summer camp friend on the other end of the rind. You lie in a patch of grass in a park half way across the world, but when you close your eyes and listen to the birds and the trees you find yourself drifting back to a similar day when you laid on the grass holding the hand of a boy who you thought you’d love forever. What do we do with these moments and how do we rectify that these people, who held such an important place in our hearts and lives, are somewhere else barely remembering your name?

I’ve had a lot of trouble and sadness in my life. I’ve always struggled with goodbyes because of that sadness and, to this day, I have a lot of trouble and awkwardness around that part of a visit or trip. Call it abandonment issues, call it trouble coping, call it whatever you want. The truth is, as much sadness as I’ve had, I’ve had 10 times more love. I’ve been hugged and smiled at by some of the most amazing people on this planet. People I thought I’d be in touch with forever; who’d be my pen pals and who I’d honor by keeping up my end of the bargain; who I swore I would never forget. Every tear I ever cried during every goodbye I’ve ever said felt honest and real. As silly as I felt crying them, sometimes, over people I knew I’d see again, never stopped them from falling. I realize now that I was crying those tears because of the fears I held. What if I don’t see them again? What if something happens and I can’t come back to this place? What if they don’t come back? Even as a kid, I embraced an awareness of the very real fact that things don’t always work out the way we hope or think they should. Even though I planned on going back to camp to work, life happened. Even though I intended on going to State Convention every year I lived in New York, life happened. Moms get sick, people move, relationships get in the way, life happens. You can’t change it. I couldn’t change it. But, I could look back on those tears and be thankful that I cried them. Those tears were real for every person I cried them for. Those relationships were real every minute I was a part of them. Those people were, and are, important to me every day, even if I don’t see them very often.

So what’s the take away here? You got me. I am still trying to figure it out. I have done a lot of reconnecting over the course of this year. Some of which has been very spontaneous and unexpected and some anticipated and planned, but each one always welcomed. As I continue on my cosmic journey, trying to understand what all of these connections mean in my life, I continue to be thankful for them. I feel blessed to have known the people I have known in my life, so far, and know that I was introduced to them for a reason. I have lost a lot so far, but I have loved a lot too. Faded as some of these relationships may be, they have not tarnished in any way. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of those people I have met and loved; some of whom I hope read this posting and know I’m talking about them. I apologize for not being a better friend or a more attentive pen pal. But I do think of you often, even laughing out loud when I do, remembering the crazier days of our lives. I believe it is never too late to reconnect and we are often better for it. I got together a few weekends ago with several of my best friends from college, some of whom I hadn’t seen in 5 years and it was just the elixir I needed to replenish my spirit about friendship. It was so refreshing to jump right back in where we left off, laughing and making asses of ourselves, but being there together. I can’t even relate how good it made me feel to have that connection or how stupid it made me realize I’d been to think that it may have been lost. I felt blessed that weekend by those people and they are definitely included in my thanks. I love you penguins! So, I guess the take away is just that: it’s never too late. If you had a connection with someone or a group of someones, that connection was meant for a reason. It doesn’t just happen. There is always a meaning for it. So, don’t ever let yourself believe that you’ve lost it – chances are the other person is feeling that way too. Reach out, say hello, get a drink and catch up. Or, if distance is your enemy, thank Mr. Zuckerberg for giving us an outlet for outreach – despite all its many misgivings. Whatever your method, resend your friend request. I know I will.

Epic Fail

To all of you, albeit few, readers who once enjoyed my lengthly ramblings, I sincerely apologize. As so many who have gone before me have done, I fell out of touch with my blogging. I could blame time, or life, or the cats - but who wants excuses? I've thought about writing a lot, but just didn't bother sitting down to record any of it. Unfortunately, because of my neglect many interesting thoughts have been lost; however, on a positive note, there will be more to come, I swear! Although I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, I have sort of made just one: commit to my writing in one way or another. Thinking thoughts, as a writer, is pretty much a moot point if you don't commit them to paper. As the brilliant Lucas once said, "Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear." Well, that may be true, but honestly, at least in this brain, they appear and then evaporate quickly while new ones take their places. So many great thoughts have been lost over the last months that could have been wonderful pieces of writing. Epic Fail.

I know where it started. I can pinpoint the moment when the failure began. I will preface by stating this is not an excuse, merely an exploration of where I went wrong. Back in the spring when I was posting my travel journal, I had an epic computer failure. I contracted an evil virus which I had to have wiped from my hard drive. This kept me away from my trusty keyboarded companion for a little while. That was just before I posted the last entry. THEN, I had a reoccurence of the virus. Well, at this point, I just turned off the internet on my laptop, which is where the problem was emanating from, and, irresponsibly, continued to type on the computer. Well, unfortunately all of my pictures are on that computer and, without internet, could not be posted to the blog. This led to a thought process of how complicated it would be to transfer them to the husband's computer to upload, etc. etc. I.E. Heather got lazy and uninspired. And so it began. I felt like I couldn't continue writing until I finished the project I had begun. I am a stickler for finishing what I start. I created excuse after excuse and before you know it, here I am, admitting to my Epic Fail.

Well, now that I've gotten it off my chest and broken the barrier, I'm here to tell you that I will be better. There are a lot of things that will hopefully be on the horizon for me that I'd like to share, so by busting the ugly cycle I've created we'll be able to do so. I will say, I am going to begin by finishing what I started back in the Spring. Even though the trip was so long ago, I feel I need to finish writing about it, if not for any other reason than its own posterity. I promise, fun stuff happened in the end of the trip and there are only a few more days to write about ;-) After that, plenty of interesting topics will follow. I must admit, I really need this more than anyone out there could need to read it. The failure has been more epic for me and my sanity, than anything else. Writing is who I am and the fact that I neglected it for so long is embarrassing. Thanks for checking in to see if I've posted anything. If you're still out there, I may ask for your encouragement to keep writing. Sometimes we all need a little boost, I know I sure do. I refuse to start this year out with the beginnings of another Epic Fail. Here's to a Grand Success!

On the Road Again: Chronicle Part 8

Friday March 5th

Well, sad as it is to admit, today marked the final day of “Phase 2: Napa Valley” on our journey up and down the West Coast. It was definitely a bittersweet moment, as we had to say goodbye to The Lavender Inn and Napa but also looking ahead to an exciting trip down the coast with MUCH more to see! Checkout time was at noon, so we didn’t have to race around to get ready to go this morning, which was a relief. We slept in a little, rose for our last deliciously free breakfast, and thought about how the day would play out. After some discussion last night, we decided that we wouldn’t try to see any more wineries today, even though there were still two or three that we both really wanted to visit. It seemed like the right thing to just let go of Napa and enjoy the fact that we had a lot left to see in our last days of vacation. Packing more into today would have just been too much. Plus, we had a deadline – we wanted to be able to see as much of the coast before the sun set as possible. We had to get on the road soon to ensure that happened, especially if clouds rolled in and stole some of our light earlier than we anticipated.
After breakfast, we packed up pretty quickly. We took one last look around the room, waved goodbye to the amazing outdoor Jacuzzi, and sighed with regret as we loaded our suitcases into the car and put the key in the ignition. Although we were sad our right hand woman Marion wasn’t at the front this morning to say goodbye, it made leaving a little easier since we didn’t have an excuse to stand around and chat. We grabbed a soda from the fridge and rolled out of Napa.

I remembered that I never picked up any postcards during our time in Napa. So, before we exited the area, we agreed to stop and pick some up in town. I also needed to find the perfect magnet for Kelly, whose only request while I was away was to find her a cool magnet from somewhere on the journey. A wine related item seemed obviously appropriate for some reason. You would never imagine how difficult it is to find postcards in such a place. For a tourist town, I was shocked at how few places had them at all, and how expensive they were in the locations I’d seen them. Luckily, I stumbled upon a great deal in the third place we tried, and we got on our way.

We got as far as Oakland (just outside San Francisco) when we realized that we should probably stop for gas and lunch before we jumped on the 1. There’s no telling when your rest stops will be once you venture onto California’s Highway 1. Ryan spotted a Chevy’s from the highway, which, I have to admit, was not my first choice for food. But he seemed so excited about it and we needed something close and quick to stay on schedule, so I agreed. It turned out to be nice, as the restaurant’s bar and patio looked out over the bay toward San Francisco, so even though the food was less than mediocre, the view was nice. We fueled up and headed toward the 1 with Half Moon Bay as our first destination.

Before getting on the 1, I tried to shape what my expectations were for this part of the trip. I’d heard so many things about journeying up and down this famous stretch of highway and images of it are synonymous with ideas and movies about Californian life. Anytime a movie takes place in California, the director always finds a reason for a driving scene along the high and winding cliffs of the Pacific Coast. It does make for a dramatic effect and the images are part of what make California what it is. It was a little cloudy on this day, so I was worried that our views of the coast would be marred by the lack of sun. This was one of the very few times I ever found myself disappointed in a consistent cloud layer. When we finally reached the highway, though, it was more than I could have imagined. Describing the views and the way the road lays out so unexpectedly before you is futile compared to the real life experience. Shame on me for worrying about the clouds – our view wasn’t marred in the slightest. The first stretch of highway wasn’t as dramatic as I had imagined, but it was no less beautiful. I kept trying to capture it on my camera, but found my efforts impossible because every picture just looked so bland in comparison. There were so many hills and valleys in the road and around us, while off to the right the coast appeared so sharp and within arms reach. There was no gradual development of the view, either; it was very much a now you don’t see it, now you do kind of thing. Not until we reached the 1 did we see any of the coast, but once we breached the highway and got past the trees, it appeared like it had always been there on the right side of the car, just below the guardrails. It was calm here on this part of the higway; calm but expansive. It started where our car gripped the road and extended out to the right for as far as I could see. I kept having to remind Ryan to keep his eyes on the road, because each time I felt a jerk, I’d look up to see us swerving back onto our side of the road from somewhere else. I offered to drive, knowing his obsession with looking out at the waves, but of course was assured that he was fine and would learn to control his urges to stare out my window. I had to give it to him – it was hard for even me to not stare out the window, and my fascination with the sea is no where near the vast nature of my husband’s.

As we continued on, the scenery grew more and more beautiful for each of us, with Ryan’s waves to the right and my beautiful rolling hills of green and wildflowers ahead and to the left. The land became far less populated as we drove, which was reflected in the radio stations being few and far between. We found a really great oldies station, a perfect soundtrack to this part of the journey, turned it on low, and continued to enjoy the surroundings. Ryan started to worry about the time, fretting that we wouldn’t have enough time to see much of Half Moon Bay, but I assured him that everything would work out as it was supposed to and we would see everything we could fit into daylight – no worries.

We got to Half Moon Bay around 4:30 and were surprised at how little there was of the town when we first entered. Our very first stop, and the one Ryan had been excited about the most, was Maverick’s. This is a world famous surfing spot and is a mecca for anyone even mildly interested in the sport. Basically, this spot is at the end of a beach that you can only get to after following this long and windy walking path from a pot hole filled dirt parking lot. Once you get to the other end of the beach, marked by large boulders and jagged rocks, you have to paddle out into the water about a half mile to even get to the spot. The spot itself is marked by these enormous rock cliffs that jut out of the sea and are the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, of the rocks that exist below the water’s surface. These underwater rock formations cause an interesting break that promotes enormous waves at least 4-6 times overhead; basically Hawaii sized waves in northern California – previously unheard of and hence why this is a mecca for big wave surfers. There is this guy named Jeff Clark who has lived in Half Moon Bay all his life; he actually has a surf shop just a quarter mile away from the beach at Mavericks. Jeff Clark watched these waves from the shore for years before one day deciding to paddle out to them in an attempt to surf without getting smashed up against the rocks. He surfed these immense waves for years before anyone figured it out, after which point he became a surfing icon and the spot became a place of worship for big wave surfers worldwide. Needless to say, it’s a pretty intense place to see firsthand and something Ryan was dying to witness for himself.

We strolled down the walkway and across the beach, which was surprisingly full of people for how late in the day it was and how chilly it had gotten with the clouds that had rolled in and the winds that brought them. We wandered down as far as we could go safely and I watched Ryan gaze in awe at the historic sight. Sadly, the waves weren’t nearly as massive as they tend to be, but even for an off day the scenery was still very impressive. We took some pictures and hung out for a little while, playing with a couple of dogs that belonged to a few girls who were sitting nearby on the rocks, passing around a joint. When Ryan had seen enough, we started to head back in an effort to get to the car and see some more of the coast before dark. On our way back to the car, we stumbled across some pretty Californian behavior, watching a man who’d brought his gong to the beach and was doing yoga and praying with a few of his friends.

We continued on our way, watching as the cliffs along the road got more dramatic before our eyes. As this happened, Ryan couldn’t help himself but to pull over at every available vista point to snap pictures of the rocks, the waves, and the sights as they never ceased to be impressive. We also stopped to investigate Pigeon Point Lighthouse, as it was just south of Half Moon Bay. This landmark was very eerie from the highway and definitely seemed like the perfect setting for some kind of scary sea themed film – Ryan wanted to check it out immediately. As we found out when we got closer, the lighthouse also serves as a popular hostel – even more perfect. We continued on our way to Monterey.

The next major town along the road was Santa Cruz. I had marked this on the map as an interesting place to stop, unfortunately we just didn’t have the time. We rolled into Santa Cruz around 6 or 6:30, while we still had a fair bit of daylight left, which offered us just enough time to poke around for a few minutes. There was a surfing museum and boardwalk that I was interesting in checking out, but both of which we closed by the time we arrived anyway. We drove down to the boardwalk, watched it from the car, and continued driving in an effort to get to our resting place in Monterey at a decent hour. I longed to hang out on the boardwalk as it has been an embarrassing amount of time since I’ve been on a rollercoaster or fair ride. I dare not tell my brother, who is my theme park partner, how long it’s been; he’d certainly shake a disapproving finger and scold me appropriately. Nevertheless, the boardwalk was closed and moving on was the right thing to do. Monterey, here we come.

Once the sun went down, the scenery became less interesting. We did open the windows for a little while, though, to listen to the waves crashing on the shores nearby. After another hour and a half or so, we breached a hill over which the lights of Monterey could be seen in the distance. We found our exit around 8:30 and drove toward our resting place at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. I was definitely excited to see our digs for the night, after having spent the last week in the same place. I think that’s one of the most exciting parts about traveling on a vacation like this one – experiencing all of the different kinds of lodgings and restaurants out there. Ryan and I really love seeing different, unique places to stay. We’d never be happy staying in a Holiday Inn every single night of a trip. The Naval Postgraduate School definitely fit into our need for a unique experience. In case you didn’t already know, most military bases not only have housing for officers that work on the base full time, but they also often rent rooms to those who are visiting. A lot of times these lodging options are called VOQ’s (Visiting Officers’ Quarters) or something similar. We have definitely taken full advantage of our ability to stay at any and all VOQ’s along the way, both on this trip and during other trips we’ve taken around the country. Because these rooms tend to only cost between $25-$35 per night, we have been able to see a lot of really interesting places by staying in them. The Naval Postgraduate School was definitely an interesting place. Driving up, the building had a very Colonial Spanish feel to it. The inside lobby, however, felt much more like the lobby of a university – grand spaces, marble floors and walls full of military décor. Down the corridor, out the back door, and up to the tower where our room was located felt like a much more historic building, again in the Spanish Colonial style. The rooms, though, were those of standard VOQ’s. Large living areas with a small kitchenette, walk in closet and bathroom. It was kind of dreary in the room, although we were glad for all of the room as well as the kitchenette to store the leftovers we’d accumulated over the last few days.

Once we got our bags up to the room, we plugged the computer in and tried to find a place to eat. It had been many hours since our last meal, way back in Oakland, and after all of the driving, sightseeing, and picture taking, we were famished. I had a strong craving for Greek, so I set out to find a fun spot. We picked out a little place called Petra Cafe that seemed to have some great reviews. We jumped back in the car and headed in that direction. Turns out the place was quite literally little, just a counter with a see through cooler and a few small tables with chairs. I ordered the gyro special while Ryan ordered the falafel special. Let me tell you, this place did not disappoint and it kept my average for choosing the best spots really high! Especially for food that arrived on Styrofoam, it absolutely hit the spot and was some of the best gyro I’ve ever eaten. We stuffed our faces, then proceeded to order three different flavors of baklava. Ryan seemed to think it would be excessive to get all three but realized the necessity of judging the flavors against each other after we started trying them all. We both loved the pistachio, but I thought the original was amazing as well.

On our way back to the car, Ryan and I decided that we hadn’t had enough relaxing nights with cocktails on this trip. We noticed a liquor store just outside the gate to base, so before we pulled in for the night we stopped in for a bottle of Captain Morgan and a 2 liter of Diet Coke. We settled in to our room nice and early, Ryan played bartender, and I sat down to write in the journal and plan our day. We didn’t plan out this part of the trip in as much detail as the first two thirds, mostly because driving on the 1 can be so unpredictable. In the spirit of this idea, we also didn’t book a hotel for tomorrow until today, so I needed a drink to help me make it through the search for a hotel that wouldn’t drive our budget off the cliffs. Luckily, I was able to find a deal online for a place called The Castle Inn in Cambria, a suitable stopping place after a nice day of driving the coast. We booked the hotel for the next two nights with the understanding that we would drive up and down that part of the coast doing as many of the things on our list as possible. With that accomplished, Ryan and I continued to finish the bottle of rum and laughed ourselves silly watching ridiculous t.v. on our small hotel television screen. A perfect nightcap to the first leg of this part of the journey.

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.