Stephens' Stories: Summer time- adult version

David and I went to the wine country in California in early June with a great group of friends - Doug, Tory, Tim, Melissa, Ryan and Kelly. All 4 couples live in different cities and had not been together in 2 1/2 years at Ryan and Kelly's wedding. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and stayed until Sunday, 3 nights and 4 days but really only 2 full days touring wineries. We stayed at a bed and breakfast in a city called Healdsburg, which is in northern Sonoma county. Ryan and Kelly had been there 2 years before and stayed at the same place - called Bella Messina. It was a 5 bedroom bed and breakfast, and we took 4 of the bedrooms. Sorry 5th random couple! We rented a car in San Francisco and waited for Doug and Tory to arrive a couple of hours after us. The other 4 were in their own car ahead of us. The traffic caused our drive to Sonoma county to take over 3 hours from SFO. At least we were in good company! We arrived at our house just in time for happy hour on the patio with our hosts (owners) Jerry and his partner. We went to dinner at Healdsburg Bar and Grill later that night. On Friday, our limo bus arrived at 9:45 to drive us to Napa. I did sneak in a short run in the cool air (50-60) in the morning before leaving. It was so fun to have the limo bus that we could all ride in, play music, drink champagne (complimentary!), get sick (yes, Tim did - motion and maybe a little from the night before). The roads were twisty and not ideal for anyone who gets car sick. We made it to Napa and our first tour was at Nickel and Nickel. This was a winery that Tory's late father enjoyed and so it was special to visit there. The tour lasted about 90 minutes and we got to see and learn about all parts of the wine-making process. We ended with a 5 flight tasting in the formal tasting room. It was superb!! We had lunch at the Farmstead Restaurant at Long Meadow Ranch - a farm to table restaurant. Delicious. After that, we headed to Frogs Leap for another tour. This one was much more laid back - our guide wore a straw hat, but we still had the full tour seeing the barrels, the vines, the cellar, the bottling room. They had a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc that I enjoyed! At 4:30, we went to Mumm for a tasting - of bubbles! Champagne! After that, we rode in the limo bus back to our house just in time for happy hour on the patio, complete with wine, cheese, crackers, fruit, etc. The weather was perfect! Hot, but dry during the day, and cool and comfortable at night. Makes me happy!! We took Uber to a restaurant at the Coppola vineyard which was only less than 10 minutes from our house. The Coppola vineyard had moved locations from Sonoma to near Healdsburg since David and I were there for our honeymoon in 2007. We ate dinner outside overlooking the vineyard and the food was great. Our service was not so great, but again, we were in great company. It was a fun night!

On Saturday, I snuck in another cool morning run before breakfast. I forgot to mention earlier that this was a true bed and breakfast and a hired chef came in each morning to cook an elaborate breakfast for all 10 guests. We had french toast, berries, and bacon one day, eggs benedict another day, etc, etc. Yummy! Our limo bus picked us up at 9:45 again. We borrowed a cooler from Jerry and stopped at the nearby grocer/deli, to get sandwiches for lunch later. Jerry helped us plan our route and we didn't have any appointments so it was a more laid back day. We ended up going to Ferrari Carano, Zichichi Family vineyards, Stryker, Bella, Starlite, and Mazzocco. Ferrari Carano was probably the most scenic and I liked their wines alot- a good Pinot Grigio, Fume Blanc, and I also tried a dessert wine that really did taste like chocolate! At Zichichi, we did a barrel tasting where they let you try the wine straight from the barrel and all of their wine is pre-purchased, before it is even grown, fermented, bottled. The were known for their pinot noir. We ate our sandwiches on the patio at Zichichi. At Bella, the guys played corn hole outside and it was also a cave tasting - the barrels are stored inside a cave. At Stryker, we enjoyed our tasting and also played a board game (Cards against Humanity). I am the world's worst player ever, and David is 2nd worst. HA! We made an impromptu stop at Starlite for a quick tasting. At this point, Kelly and I just wanted white wine. We were over red for the day. At our last winery, Mazzocco, we begged the waiter to give us the full tasting worth (about 1 1/2 glasses) in only the white they served. She finally agreed but we had to be persistent. The limo bus took us home just in time for happy hour at the house. Later that night we went to Dry Creek Kitchen for dinner. It was a nice restaurant where I had excellent sea bass with a corn succotash. Yummy! After dinner, the girls took Uber back to the house and the guys somehow ended up going to the local casino. They didn't make it home until 2am. You only live once, right? On Sunday, we had to leave for the airport right after breakfast. This time we did get to drive over the Golden Gate bridge and it wasn't too foggy to see it. We dropped Doug and Tory at the terminal for their earlier flight and we returned the rent car. We had flown first class (using our miles that were going to expire) on the way there, so unfortunately no reclining seats, free movies, blankets, free drinks, etc. on the way home. Boo! It was such fun trip with friends. Can't wait to do it again someday. Oh, I almost forgot, our crazy boys stayed in Houston in the care of DiDi, Grandad, Mary Carol, Aunt Ricki, Uncle Stephen, Aunt LaLa and Uncle Will. We missed them but they had a blast without us!