Jeff was lucky enough to have a wife who recently turned 40 (along with her bestest buds), so the Party of 6 made their way to St. Helena, CA, to celebrate and enjoy time with great friends, great wine, great food and great ambiance. Oh and did I mention the great wine? We all agreed, it will be very difficult to ever choose any adults-only vacation that isn't in wine country!
DFW Airport, you never looked so good!
Greetings San Fran!
En route from the airport. We arrived to St. Helena late in the evening, but that didn't stop us from enjoying apps at Traverna and dinner at Napkins.
Napkins toast to the girls turning 40!
First stop Friday morning - Model Bakery. Made famous by Opera's Favorite Things. Suffice it to say that it did NOT disappoint!
First stop post-breakfast: Schramsberg Vineyards founded in 1862 (say hello to our little cat-friend)
One of the smartest things we did was hire a driver for our time in St. Helena. Glorious decision indeed! After our high falutin visit to Schramsberg, we made our way to a tiny, off-the-beaten path, humble vineyard called Pina. As we wine-tasted, our driver made his way to Gott's Roadside to procure some of their delish burgers. He arrived back at Pina Vineyards just as we were wrapping up, and we enjoyed our lunch up on the hillside of their sweet vineyard.
Next up on Friday 1/27 was Frog's Leap. Such a beautiful property and fun times!
Final stop of our first day - Cakebread Cellars. So fun!
Dinner on Friday night - Cook St. Helena. Loved it.
On Saturday morning, our wonderful driver arrived with a bottle of bubbly from Schramsberg Vineyards. It may have been 9:15 in the morning, but we were all happy to obey our driver's orders. This is the view from the patio of our amazing Airbnb.
Our first vineyard stop at Ehler's for a breakfast tasting turned out to be the absolute fave of the group.
The heart shape of the "E" is indicative of the winemakers' passion and financial backing of treatments for cardiovascular disease.
After Ehler's we went way up the mountain to Viader. Ah-mazing! Didn't have the philanthropic draw that we all loved about Ehler's, but their wine and the beauty of the land made it one of our faves as well. Oh and did I mention the meat and cheese board?!?! So delish!
Here's the funny (unfortunate!) thing - the other side of this card said "Hot-Mess" which of course was our intended message for this moment in time. :)
After Viader, we had what can only be described as the most perfect lunch experience ever at Farmstead. Would definitely recommend this place to any person who finds themselves anywhere near St. Helena.
After lunch, we hit up a small, quaint, yet completely awesome vineyard that our driver's girlfriend worked at - Mending Wall. Totally gorgeous landscape and many fabulous wines to boot.
Dinner on Saturday night - Press St. Helena. Amazing dinner and experience!
One might think that Sunday morning was simply spent in recovery mode and return to San Francisco mode, but alas, there were vineyards en route to the airport. And they were calling for us.
The other side of our St. Helena "home" away from home. Orange juice anyone?
Brandy, Adam, Jeff and I were able to spend one fun day/night in San Francisco, and we enjoyed lunch at The Slanted Door and dinner (and the amazing view) at Boulevard.
Believe it or not, a few other things happened in January that didn't involve amazing wine, food and friends. Instead, it involved these munchkins. One thing that will always bring these brothers together? Dad's iPad!
Reid's martial arts first-ever belt test. Sayonara white belt!
I took this picture two days before we departed for St. Helena. Hunter picked up this picture frame from a shelf in my office, brought it over to me and asked, "Is this where you're going on your trip, mom?" No buddy, but those are definitely the peeps we're going with! Ha!
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