Napa Style

It is hard for me to believe that my trip to San Francisco and Napa Valley with Howie was exactly one month ago today. I loved San Francisco and truly enjoyed everything that the city has to offer. I would love to visit again soon and to bring the girls too. When we left San Francisco and drove to Napa Valley, I was unprepared for the amount of beauty that I would behold. It was amazing and I told Howie, "This is God's country!" The views of the surrounding mountains and the rows and rows and rows of grape vineyards, and the wineries, and the temperature of the air and the lack of humidity, it was all heaven! Napa Valley is definitely a place I will travel to again and again if I have the opportunity.

 When we arrived we went to a very small organic winery called Frog's Leap. They grow all of their own grapes and also their own vegetables, fruits, etc. It was a very quaint setting and they are one of the only Napa Valley wineries that uses all rain water and no irrigation for their grapes. Amazing!

 It was so peaceful and serene. I could have stayed at Frog's Leap all day long!

 Howie taking a smell of his first wine to be sampled.

 I enjoyed al of the Frog's Leap wines although the petit serat was my favorite.

 We took our time around the winery and enjoyed the grounds including the views.

 We later went to Far Niente which is a very fancy artisan winery known for producing one in particular dessert wine called Dolce.

 The main winery house was beautiful and had fabulous views!

 Inside the caves of Far Niente that they dug themselves.

 One young Brazilian man who was along with our tour group of 7 at Far Niente could not stop singing Dolce's praises. It was as if he met a famous person when he stood in front of the entrance of he Dolce cave.

 The oldest bottle of Far Niente. I would not think it would taste very good today.

 And a vintage 1998, the year Howie and I were married.

 On our last day in Napa Valley we stopped by the Oakville grocery to get a picnic lunch to take to Kuleto Estates. It was my favorite winery to visit and had the most amazing views 2 miles up a mountain.

 Self portrait.

 The owner of Kuleto Estates is a chef and owns several very high end restaurants. Look at the grounds of this place!

 Howie enjoying the day.

 The vineyard went on and on!

 Stopping to have lunch in an amazing setting!

Howie and I toured four other wineries including Joseph Phelps pictured above. We also ate at many Michelin Star ranked restaurants. Howie being the foodie that he is could not pass up the opportunity to eat really, really well. I could live in Napa Valley and be would happy there. It is an amazing place and a very good quality of life. If you have never had the opportunity to visit Napa Valley or Sonoma Valley, put it on your list. You will not be disappointed!

Spreading Joy!

I was reminded this morning from a blogger whom I enjoy reading about the gift of spreading joy. KariAnne at Thistlewood Farms has a knack for always spreading joy be it in direct words as she does today over on her blog or through her sharing of her room transformations, projects and recipes. KariAnne is full of joy that just bubbles over from her blog to her readers. If you haven't ever visited KariAnne at Thistlewood Farms, visit her today and check out all of the other wonderful things she joyfully shares there. Thanks KariAnne for always sharing your joy!

I Left My Heart in San Francisco!

 The recent tragic events at the San Francisco airport has left me feeling very sad for all of those involved in the crash as well as those families who lost their loved ones that day. Not three weeks prior to the recent crash, Howie and I had touched down on the same runway to visit the city where Tony Bennett croons that he left his heart. San Francisco is a wonderful place to visit and until our recent trip, I had never been. I thought in honor of those who lost their lives in the recent plane crash, I would post some photos of our trip. The families who were touched by loss are in my thoughts and prayers as are those who are still healing from their injuries.

 Howie and I went to San Francisco and Napa Valley to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.

 We checked into the St. Regis and received a special treat just for us from our butler. It made me laugh that we had a butler and special treatment. This was definitely one of the fanciest hotels I had ever stayed in!

 Our first stop on the cable cars in San Francisco was at the entrance way to China Town.

 A lot of these side street stores reminded me of China Town in New York but with a little more ornamentation and hilly streets!

 This guy pulled up as we were crossing the street so I snapped a quick photo.

 China Town is very colorful and has some very beautiful buildings!

 Local wares for sale in China Town!

 Our next stop was to ride the cable car up Nob Hill to Grace Cathedral.

 It is a beautiful Episcopal church and has an indoor labyrinth to walk.

 We went twice to Grace Cathedral and on the second trip up Nob Hill we had to walk the entire hill as Vice President Biden's motorcade was also making it's way up and the cable cars were shut down for a time.

 The buildings in San Francisco are beautiful!

 We went to dinner with my Uncle Tracy and Cookie who live in San Jose and joined us for the evening. To say that we ate well while in San Francisco and Napa is an understatement. We ate and ate and ate!

 The next day we headed to Lombard street.

 We of course posed for each other with the city as a back drop on Lombard!

 It is as curvy as they say. Our last day in San Francisco, we drove down Lombard very slowly!

 We went down to the Fisherman's Wharf where we took a look at the resident seals before boarding our Bay cruise to see the Golden Gate Bridge!

 The bridge at a distance.

 It was an amazingly beautiful and clear day!

 Howie being all touristy with his head phones on listening to the history of the bridge.

 Howie fearing that he may be put in Alcatraz :-)!

 After the bay cruise we went over to the Ferry building for lunch and to shop around.

 Then Howie took me up 1000 plus stairs straight up a "hill" to see views of the city. I mean he practically killed me with that climb! :-)

 The view!

 On our third day we went down to China Beach.

 The Golden Gate Bridge in the fog.

 We went later to the Japanese Tea Gardens which were beautiful!

And finally after lunch a trip to see the painted ladies. San Francisco is a city of great diversity and great beauty. It is a wonderful place to visit and I look forward to going there again!