California wine country
Choo choo! all aboard the Napa Valley Wine Train, Napa, CA.
pretty vineyard shots from the train
Jordan Winery in Healdsburg, CA.
Oak trees on property at Jordan Winery, Healdsburg, CA.
Big Sur coastal area, CA.
Real estate seems to be a premium even on the rocks in Big Sur!
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Wine, wine and more wine was the theme this last week when we made our annual "let's get away in between the holidays" trip to Northern California. It was a perfect time to go to enjoy the chilly weather that California was having (a nice 40 degrees and cloudy) for those of us that get to enjoy the hotness of the season even thru Christmas living here on the island. I did enjoy pulling out the box of jeans hid under the bed, the boots stored away in the closet and those sweaters tucked away in the drawers. Boy did we need them.
Instead of doing the normal tourist type wine tasting, we opted for some private tastings at Jordan Winery in Healdsburg and Alexander Conn Valley winery in Napa. We also stopped by Ferrari-Carano in Healdsburg for more tasting while over by Trentadue Winery. We got married at Trentadue Winery almost 11 years ago now and had to stop by for their fabulous port wine (Chocolate port called Amore is to die for, trust me!). We spent almost 2 hours with Cooper the director of sales at Trentadue and had a ball.
We set up a lunch on the Napa Valley wine train with my folks while we were in town and even though I though this trip was going to be too touristy, it wasn't and a perfect way to see the valley while enjoying each other's company and good food and wine. The vista dome is the way to go, if you book a trip, away from the crowds below and you can see all the pretty scenery thru the big dome windows too. It was a 3 hour trip all the way around and just enough time to get full and relax.
For a special treat we met our former wedding coordinator, Robbin Montero of A-Dream Wedding who still to this day is the talk of our wedding from 11 years ago!. She looked the same and had more energy (which I didn't think was possible) that when she coordinated our wedding. She is busier than every doing destination weddings in Napa and Sonoma and now had 5 extra people working with her too! www.a-dreamwedding.com
After Napa we headed down to Carmel and took the 17 mile drive thru pebble beach which was so pretty. Some of those homes were monsters along that drive. Oh the views they have! Seeing seals on all the rocks out of the point, the lighthouses and some of those big bridges was also fun.
Carmel was my favorite spot of all I think because the town is just so quaint and cute with tons of unique shopping (which I love of course) and it was fully decorated in holiday style with lights and decor everywhere. Most of the shop owners had desserts, coffee and hot cider for the shoppers which was a nice idea since it was super cold. I must admit, I didn't bring my scarf and gloves and could have used them but the cider seemed to make me forget the cold and the shopping helped too. I got all my holiday gifts purchased and done. Whew!
It's nice to be back home now and I will work thru the 4 hour time change that is going to be hitting us soon. It was all worth it.
http://www.ferrari-carano.com/
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