Tag Archives: travel

Sonoma Wine Country: From Mom’s Camera

Posted on by annandmeg

It’s Saturday morning in Petaluma.  Today all four of us are ready to spend the day in the wine country.  On Friday we got an early start when we visited Roche Wine’s tasting room in downtown Sonoma.  Terry was ready to begin to kick-start our adventure as he hovered over the wine barrels.

Our wine tour Saturday morning began at the Iron Horse Winery.  It is in a beautiful setting in the hills of Sonoma with vineyards all around it.  The Iron Horse focused on sparkling wines and chardonnay.  The overall mood of the tasting room was lots of fun and the great attitude of the servers added to the experience.

We were lucky that Jake was able to break free from work for some well deserved fun as he joined us for our wine tasting adventure.  He took it seriously as he discussed with Meg which wines they each preferred.

By the time we arrived in Healdsburg we needed a break from wine tasting. We decided to stop at Wurst Sausage Grill. While I think of California as a mecca of fish, vegetables and fresh fruit, our lunch was definitely all about grease and french fries.  But the food was full of flavor and very satisfying.

Healdsburg is another town with a small town feeling.  In addition to the wine tasting room, the square is filled with restaurants, jewelry stores and gift shops.  Wine is a constant theme.  The reflection of the brick building across the street in this photograph of Papitre’s shop window suggested the tricks the mind can play as a result of “over-tasting”.

We travelled on to Hawke Winery’s tasting room with its wonderful view of the Alexander Valley.  The view was worth the visit.  The vineyard out the window was owned by Kendall Jackson.

We continued on to the Alexander Valley Winery.  It is also a beautiful location in the valley.  The wines are among Terry’s favorites, since he is a regular at Costco.  The wine cellars are quite elegant.  Meg and I both included them in our photos. To me it looks like the entrance to a medieval castle.

Our trip through wine country was a memorable experience.  We’ve had a great time and met some delightful people.  We head for home happy and satisfied.

Sonoma Wine Country: From Meg’s Camera

Posted on by annandmeg

Meg has a J.D. in Urban, Land Use and Environmental Law. She focuses on maintaining the balance of community and environmental health, healthy lifestyles, and encouraging sustainable living.

While Mom and Terry were in town for Easter weekend, we spent a lot of time exploring the wonders of the North Bay. On Friday, we ventured around Western Marin and explored the coast. On Saturday, we visited the wine country.

As with the day before, Mum and I both took lots of photos. I used my Olympus E-PL1, and Mum used her iPhone 4S. Admittedly, I am not as good with the camera as I used to be. And learning all the bells and whistles on the DSLR is going to take me some time, but it is still exciting to visit beautiful places and captures moments and scenes along the way.

Our first wine country visit was actually on Friday evening before dinner. We went to Roche, a winery with delicious wines and a very conveniently located tasting room off the square in downtown Sonoma. Jake and I recently became members of the Carneros Club at Roche, so we wanted to show Mum and Terry where we love to go to do a wine tasting on the weekends.

To start off our day on Saturday, we drove up to Iron Horse Ranch and Vineyard. The views from this winery are quite amazing. It is set up in the hills northwest of Sebastopol. The perfect place to start our day in the wine country.

After tasting some delicious bubbly and taking in the beautiful views, we continued our trek north to Healdsburg, where we stopped for lunch at Wurst Sausage Grill and Beer Garden. Northern California has amazing food, and our Wurst sausages were no exception. With full bellies, we walked around Healdsburg. Terry occasionally pulled us aside to look at wine country real estate postings, and Mum pointed out the beautiful gallery windows. Before we headed back to the Jeep, we stopped in a little deli to get gelato.

After lunch and a stroll, we continued along the way to Hawkes, a place in Alexander Valley known for its Cabs. Our experience was somewhat unexpected. Hawkes has a great view of Kendall Jackson grapes growing across the street. There seemed to be just a hint of “sibling rivalry.” The wines were great, however, so we certainly couldn’t complain.

Lastly, we stopped at Alexander Valley Vineyards, a charming location perched up off the road with beautiful hills and tucked away in the trees. There is even a door leading to what I presume to be a wine cellar, but surrounded by greenery and flowers, it almost reminds me of Bilbo Baggins’s hobbit house nestled in the hill. The wine was also delicious.

I do love exploring the wine country, and I was excited to try new places this time. There is so much to see around here, we explore a new place every weekend and still not see it all in our lifetime. Of course, that won’t keep us from trying.

A Day on the Coast: From Meg’s Camera

Posted on by annandmeg

Oh the joys of living in California! While it’s difficult over the holidays to be so far away from family, we are fortunate this holiday weekend to have family come to us. It helps us enjoy a balance of living in a beautiful place and maintaining our strong connection to our loved ones. Plus, it’s a fabulous place to come visit!

It has been a beautiful Easter weekend, with Mom and Terry out to visit from Kansas City. They arrived Thursday evening and we all had a yummy dinner at home. Then we rested up for our weekend adventures.

For our first day of exploring, I took Mom and Terry for a day on the Coast. We first drove from Petaluma out to Point Reyes Station. Of course, there are a million things to see along the way. The first of these many sites was an old tree perched up off the road. We have not yet identified the specific type of tree, so if you are familiar with it, please comment below.

Our next stop along the way to Point Reyes Station was the Nicasio Reservoir. It is quite a beautiful setting, a huge expanse of water in the middle of Western Marin County, with beautiful rocky hills and windy roads all around.

Finally, we reached Point Reyes Station. We parked the Jeep and walked around the little town, which I believe has a population of only a few hundred, but it is surprisingly lively for such a small place. The main street has several cafes, a bakery, bank, general stores, and even an old saloon. It only took us 30 minutes to walk around the entire town, but you could easily spend hours exploring every nook and cranny.

After acquiring a particularly delicious cup of chai from Bovine Bakery, we departed from Point Reyes Station and headed up Hwy 1 toward Bodega Bay. I don’t think I’ve ever driven this stretch of Hwy 1 before, but it is a very windy road! The scenery is beautiful, of course, and the weather was sunny. What a great day for a drive.

Once we reached Bodega Bay, we popped into the Tides and looked out at the bay. Even though we were still full from our delicious breakfast earlier that morning (Mumsy makes amazing onion and mushroom scrambled eggs), we still made the executive decision to get ourselves a crab sandwich. So off to the Spud Point Crab Shack we went, and one long line and 15 minutes later, we had our crab sandwich in hand. It didn’t last long.

Since we were already part way around the bay (the crab shack is near the Bodega Bay marina), we ventured the few more miles up to Bodega Head to look out on the ocean. What a wonderful setting. It was mid-afternoon, the sun was shining, and even with the constant whipping winds, it was positively beautiful. We walked down to the beach and watched the waves breaking on the surrounding rocks, reflecting on our fabulous day.

Our next adventure? Well, touring the wine country, of course!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter weekend. We are sure enjoying ourselves out in sunny California.

How We Spent our Summer Vacation–40 Hours in Venice

Posted on by annandmeg

My husband is a wonderful travel planner. Together we have visited some of the world’s beautiful places. Among the beautiful places we have visited is Italy. We have been to Rome and Southern Italy. This year our travels led us to Venice and down through Umbria. We arrived in Italy by air and Venice by ferry. It cost 15 Euros to travel from the airport to the Rialto Bridge. From there we walked to our hotel. There is no real option but to walk. While Venice is famous for gondolas; and while there were also water ferries and water taxis, Venice is simply a place for walking. There are no automobiles in the city which means no taxis. Baby strollers, wheelchairs, bicycles and motorcycles are rarely seem and barely helpful. The combination of bridges, dead-ends and sharp corners aren’t conducive to any other form of travel, and so we walked.

Courtyard in Venice

We easily found our hotel, “Al Codega”, in the heart of Venice. Recently remodeled it was a perfect pick by my travel savvy husband. Close to the Rialto Bridge and Saint Mark’s Square, it was an oasis at the end of a busy day of sight-seeing and shopping. The decor is charming. There is a small hotel bar with service by the concierge/ bartender. He can give you travel advice while serving drinks and offering up chips and peanuts, the only food items available. The bar and breakfast areas had a computer and Wi-Fi access. Sometimes they worked!

When I called Meg to tell her we had arrived, I was amazed to find that my iPhone automatically adds the international access numbers when placing calls to the states. This was new to me. l just punched my phone’s automatic dial for Meg’s number and within seconds heard her voice.

Beautiful gate in Venice

There are a lot of wonderful places to visit in Venice. We missed most of them. There is really no reasonable way to move quickly around Venice to see it all. But considering the beauty of Venice we really didn’t care. Many of the streets, buildings, the canals were breathtaking. We walked through ancient streets and never knew what we were going to run into next. We could find ourselves in blind alleys that led nowhere or come upon a gallery or museum or courtyard. Almost every courtyard had a covered well, presumably once a source of drinking water. And while people sometimes complain about the smells in Venice, the only thing we smelled was the onions, garlic and similar smells of the many restaurants.

We visited the Guggenheim, Harry’s Bar and a host of beautiful, if lesser known churches. We didn’t visit Saint Mark’s Cathedral, the line was too long and our visit too short. We also missed the Vivaldi concerts. They began at 10 p.m. and decided we were unwilling to attempt to find our way back to the hotel that late at night. Venice is simply not a city where we could call a cab if we were lost.

The Guggenheim was lovely. We enjoyed the art, but it was the building, and the proximity to the main canal that is most memorable. We also had a wonderful visit to Harry’s Bar, a well-known bar catering to those willing to spend a bit more for drinks just for the pleasure of people watching.

It was with regret that we left Venice but after 40 hours we said farewell to the city and were on to the next leg of our adventure.