Who's the Designated Driver???

Chuck and I went to Napa a few weeks ago with my brother and his friend Meg. I was still on some medication from my month long myriad of illnesses, so as the three amigos sipped, slurped, and slurred their way through the Russian River Vally, Napa, and Sonoma, I carefully snaked the hybrid through bends and curves, secretly hoping they would get car sick (just kidding on the car sick part).

The answer to the previous Where in the World are we Roamin’ is Wine Country, California. The slideshow is posted. Here are the highlights:

Saturday – A terrible snowstorm in Milwaukee grounded our plane for 3 hours; however we were in San Francisco by 2:30, so it was ok. Jesse and Meg picked us up at 3:00 and we were on our way to the Silverado Resort in Napa, with a quick pit stop at the Golden Gate Bridge to take a few photos of The Bridge and Alcatraz.

Sunday – For $20 a person, the crew tasted at 14-16 wineries. There were over 100 to choose from, so the driver set the course and we hit quite a few. My favorite was Hops Kiln, which was a cool looking building, had great fresh baked bread, and the perfect view for our afternoon lunch.

Monday – At the recommendation of my friend Jen and her relatives in Napa, we went to Sterling, Twomey and had lunch at Taylor’s Refresher in St. Helena. Mmm, sweet potato fries and spicy tomato soup. We also visited V. Sattui, Ehlers, St. Clements, Rutherford, a huge castle near Sterling, and too many more to list. Beringer will always be my favorite winery in this region. Even though I wasn’t ‘tasting’ I did purchase the chocolate merlot sauce, which was quite tasty on angel food cake with fresh berries.

Tuesday – I spent the morning at the Silverado Spa, a little early birthday present from Chuck. 3 hours of pampering was just what I needed! We headed into Napa to the Market and got some great olive oil and balsamic vinegar that I cannot wait to use once I’m in Denmark. Of all the wineries we went to (I’d guess at least 30 in 2.5 days) only one was truly rude and that was the Silverado, located off the Silverado Trail.

Wednesday – We headed to San Francisco to fly out. This time we took the Bay Bridge route and were amazed to see how many people do NOT carpool to work. If they did, they could easily zoom past the bumper to bumper parking lot of cars and even zoom through the toll without having to pay! That would be incentive enough for me…no tolls!