Napa Trip: Part 3

After the wedding, Mike and I headed off to Sonoma with his parents, sister and frenchies. We had a fun and relaxing two days together. It started out with a fun breakfast at the Fremont Diner where we met up with Mike's uncles and other family members who live in the area. It was my first time meeting some of them (after 11 years!) so it was really nice. Then we went wine tasting at Benzinger vineyards and Chateau Saint Jean, relaxed at the pool and had a lovely dinner. 

 Chateau Saint Jean

 Mike's parents at their favorite winery Chateau St. Jean

The next morning we had an awesome breakfast (and a perfect cappuccino) at the Sunflower Cafe and visited the delicious Vella cheese store where I happily bought some cheese and butter to take home with us (its amazing!). 

 Benzinger vineyards

The trip was perfect and I can't wait to go back and spend some more time up in California wine country. We headed to the airport and then continued to wait 5 hours at the airport since we were delayed 3 hours on the way home. Clearly, Frontier did not want to make it easy on us this trip.

Either way, still worth the 5 hours of total flight delays. Have you ever been to Sonoma or Napa? What are your experiences and recommendations?

Napa: Part 2

Michael is the first friend of ours to take the plunge into married life. Michael (we call him Fowle) and Mike have been best friends since freshman year of high school. Its crazy to see how we have all grown up since then. It was a wonderful day celebrating Michael and Danielle's wedding. They met back in college at the University of Arizona and are just an absolute perfect couple. To see such an amazing couple get married was such a privilege.

It started at the rehearsal dinner the night before. We went to Brix restaurant which not only had amazing food and wine but a view to die for. Backing up right against a gorgeous vineyard, it was perfect. We had a great time with all their friends and family and watching an awesome slideshow of the bride and groom throughout the years. A little surprise, Captain Sully and his wife were at the same restaurant that night and came in to say hi and give a toast. Exciting!

the bride and groom!

The wedding ceremony was so beautiful. A grand church filled with so much love. They vowed to love and take care of each other forever and we have no doubt that they will. The reception was just as great as everything else had been. At a gorgeous winery in Saint Helena where we ate amazing food, drank even better wines and danced like fools.

The wedding was perfect and went off without a hitch. I am so happy I got to share this weekend with them and wish them years of wonder, love and adventure.

Trip to Napa: Part 1

Last weekend Mike and I jetted off to SFO for an amazing weekend filled with friends, family, and a wedding between two incredible friends of ours. We did SO much in the five days we were there so I am going to break it down into a few separate posts. 

The trip started out at 4 am. Waking up before the sun to head to the airport to catch our 8 am flight to San Fran. Big surprise, we were delayed two hours so naturally we headed to the airport bar for breakfast.

We landed in SFO and headed up to meet Mike's sister who works in the city. While she finished her work day we galavanted around San Fran for a few hours. First stop...Tartine Bakery.

I had been looking forward to visiting Tartine for what seems like...ever. I was so excited but to be honest, I was pretty underwhelmed when we arrived. Yes, everything was good but it was not as great I expected. The rude girl who helped us didn't add to the experience. I will say that we did not get to try the bread (we were too early, it comes out at 4:30pm) so that might be their saving grace. Nevertheless, I was glad we went.

After that we headed to the pier building to check out the shops and walk along the water. It was beautiful and I definitely wish we had more time in the city. Some other time...

We headed to Mountain View to Mike's sister Kris and her boyfriend Mike's home where we were happily reunited with these little French faces. Shuug and Penny! 

We got to see the cute little town they live in and have dinner in their downtown. In the morning Mike and I went on a bike ride to check out the Google Campus and then we headed up to Napa.

We had an amazing lunch at Tra Vinge where they had house pulled mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes to die for. Then we had a really interesting tour at the Raymond vineyard. They are complete biodynamic and self sustainable. It was so interesting and beautiful, plus the wines were fabulous. I highly recommend checking them out if you are in the area.

After that, it was wedding time!