Off to Napa

Friday, April 24, 2009

About a year ago while wine tasting in Napa, we joined our first and only 'Wine Club'.  The main purpose was, well, two reasons.... 1.  We really like their wine - Thank you Steve Strong for introducing us to it - and 2.  We thought it would MAKE us get to Napa - a 1 1/2 hour drive from SF - every 4 months.  So, Provenance called and said, "Come pick up your NOVEMBER and MARCH shipment of wine!!" See, we have not been making ourselves STOP and go over!! I have a feeling we'll work on that!

Well, Vasi and I needed a day out of the office so off to Napa we go after making sure everything was under control at the school.  We had a great drive over.  She doesn't usually take a day off from work with a girlfriend to play!  The hills are so beautiful and green right now! We pick up our wine and had to SADLY decline the offer of 'free wine tasting' for wine club members!! Since we did not have a Designated Driver, we thought that was the safest route....

Vasi never explored Yountville so we drove through the town, looking for a place for lunch. We stumbled upon CHANDON!! We enjoy their champagne aka Sparkling Wine. The grounds are beautiful! This photo (the only one I took all day - DOH!) is pretty cool. This form of  art - Rock Balancing' is popular around here - we see it often along the beach - these are stones that someone BALANCED! 

So we tried to have lunch at Chandon - but was waaaaaay to 'foo foo'.  We wanted a LUNCH not some hoity toity appetizers.  We left and drove back to the Napa Bar and Grille on the corner. We enjoyed a wonderful, leisurely lunch with a glass of wine.  After a few hours of laughing, joking around and thoroughly enjoying each other's company, we decided we better get back to our hubbys.

Upon my arrival home, I was greeted, along with with my "SBH4L", Brad Reed and David Nash!!  Another big BONUS of living in SF are the VISITORS!! We love it! David was going to stay with us for 4 nights while he was officiating at the PAC 10 Women's Golf Tournament - held at Stanford.  Brad was just up for the day, taking his choir on a field trip to Fisherman's Wharf for the day.  Dick had a plate of hors devoures and wine spread out - he is always the host with the most!! Later, we walked around the block to the Dragon Well - our newest restaurant and enjoyed some yummy Chinese food!!  Unfortunately, the choir members started calling their teacher, saying the bus arrived to take them back to Merced so Brad had to depart the party.  But,  Ahhhh, great way to start a weekend!!