At the beginning of August, we got to take a much anticipated trip to Napa Valley and San Francisco with our good friends Joe and Jessie. We decided to play it by ear and didn't plan too much in advance, which ended up working out really well for us! The biggest piece of advice I have is to stay away from the well-known vineyards. They're much too commercial, and not nearly as friendly as the smaller family owned vineyards.
Favorite vineyards:
- Sullivan Vineyards - family-owned, by appointment only. Specializes in big reds.
- Reverie Winery and Vineyard - family-owned, by appointment only. We joined the wine club here, which could be because they employ my and Jessie's new boyfriend, Grant, the super hot marketing director. :)
- Twomey Cellars - affiliated with the better known Silver Oak Cellars, which we visited as well. Twomey has an incredible merlot, and Silver Oak has a great cabernet.
- Peju Province Winery - we stopped by this vineyard because we saw the sign and Jessie had read something in her Napa book about it. It turned out to be great, the man that walked us through our tasting rapped a song about wine, and even included a "mother f'in" in the lyrics. We thought it was a bit odd, but I have to say, nobody else dropped an f-bomb anywhere else, so we certainly remembered them!
We stayed in the town of Napa, rather than the outlying areas at the Napa River Inn. It's on the register of historic hotels, and was a nice hotel with a decent price. However, if you're looking for fine cuisine, the city limits of Napa doesn't have it. We made do, but the best restaurants are a short drive outside of Napa itself.
But never fear, we did find some good entertainment. Yes, folks, the Napa County Fair was going on while we were there! Pictures below of Joe and Jeff at the entrance, and then, the main event, The Village People!!! I didn't know those guys were still together...or alive, for that matter, but there they were, before our very eyes. Nothing like a good round of YMCA on vacation. It takes you back to every wedding where the drunk uncle can't spell YMCA.....sigh!
On Sunday, the day we flew home on the red eye (btw, if you've never flown a red eye, it's an experience. Much like flying to Europe, except when you wake up, you're somewhere not nearly as exciting as Europe; like Atlanta, as an example), we toured San Francisco. Jessie's friend Scott and her cousin both live there, as well as Joe's 8th cousin twice removed (or something like that; kidding, Joe! I just forgot the real connection.), so we had some tour guides and dinner companions. We went to a Giants game, walked around Fisherman's Wharf, went to Ghirardelli Square, saw the sea lions at Pier 39 and saw Alcatraz from a distance. We crammed a lot into 8 or 9 hours, but it was great! Here's a picture of the sea lions and one of Jeff and I with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.
It was a great trip, and we can't wait for October 4, 2008, Joe and Jessie's wedding!
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