My trip to California was more than just the race. John and I hadn’t been on a vacation alone since 2008. We stayed at the Hilton in Santa Rosa, it was in a good location, good price, nice clean rooms. Nothing fancy, but that’s ok! This barn was right by the hotel.
We went to Napa the 2nd day we were there. Had lunch at the Napa General Store, thanks for the recommendation Giada De Laurentiis. It’s right on the river. We grabbed a dessert and then headed to Calistoga to Castello di Amorosa winery, aka the Castle.
See it here http://www.castellodiamorosa.com/.
We tried 6 wines there and I found a few I really liked, we grabbed one to go for later on in the trip.
Dinner was at Francis Ford Coppola winery. Food was good, atmosphere was good, would have been a nice place to eat on the patio in the afternoon sun.
We headed to Mendocino and Fort Bragg on Sunday. Mendocino was probably my favorite – cute shops, right on the water, weather was nice. Had lunch at a pub. I decided that’s where I’ll open the branch office when we expand! Fort Bragg had the glass beach that was on my to-see list. It was cold, foggy and did not smell very good because of the low tide I guess. There were some sea lions though. It was a 2 hour drive there and back, through, over and around the mountains. We grabbed a pizza that night and had our bottle of wine out by the pool.
Driving through the redwoods.
Beach in Mendocino.
And Point Cabrillo Lighthouse in Mendocino.
San Francisco is always a favorite of mine, we’ve been there whopping 2 times now! I scored us $12 parking for the whole day, 1 block from the Wharf, it was perfect! We walked around, shopped, went to Alcatraz, and had some good food! Lunch at Boudin Bakery and dinner at Cioppino’s. I think it was my favorite meal.
Boudin Bakery has some awesome sourdough bread http://www.boudinbakery.com/
Some cool pictures from Alcatraz.
And of course, the Sea Lions on Pier 39.
I’ve included a lot of my favorite pictures. Thanks for reading!
