This weekend it was my friend Edra's turn to celebrate a certain birthday. That's right, she turned...umm...29 again! And we celebrated by traveling to Napa in her honor.
We had such a blast. Our early morning flight consisted of six lovely ladies and one sleepy little boy. After arriving in Oakland, we crammed into a mini-van and headed for the famed Napa Valley, where we eventually met up with my parents, who dubbed themselves the granny nan ny and the manny nan ny. (Seriously, have I mentioned how excellent my parents are? They drove to Napa to watch my son while I went wine tasting!)
After lunch at a local grill, we got into the grape. We entered the Goosecross tasting room next door, where a super helpful woman poured us some fantastic wine. The girls cozied up to the bar, Mark cozied up to a checker board set, and I happily moved between the two. I wasn't planning to buy any wine, since we'd have to check whatever we bought onto the plane, but one of the girls smartly realized that my perhaps my parents could drive it home with them. We all loved that idea (which my mom also suggested as soon as she saw us), and promptly embarked on a wine shopping spree.
After our first tasting, we could hear Napa calling, and we certainly answered. Vic and Edra had arranged for a wine tour at the Frog's Leap winery, which was 30 minutes away. We stopped by the hotel to pick up my mom, confirmed the directions with the winery, and promptly got lost. Did I mention there were now seven women and a no-longer-sleepy boy in the van? Well, all of them yelled different directions at poor Edra, who was driving. Somehow, instead of hitting the main highway 29, we ended up in the backcountry of Napa. It was a high and curvy road, and the van swooped and turned, hugging each and every curve. The scenery was most beautiful, with luscious fall colors and lots of green trees all around.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the only green around. Our van was filled with a now-quiet crowd of passengers prone to carsickness. Those roads weren't doing us any favors.
We finally came across civilization in the form of a gas station and three people who claimed they were locals. Locals who seemed painfully unaware of any wineries nearby. One man told Edra to follow the road and make only left turns, and she'd hit the 29 in 9 miles. My heart soared a bit (9 miles wasn't far) then sank a bit when he revised his estimation. "Well, maybe 12 miles," he said.
"That's okay," Vic said, "We've been lost a long time."
The lone woman in the group answered not-so-helpfully, "Well, you'll be lost a while longer."
The trip was beautiful though, as we drove alongside Lake Hennesey and an occasional house. Mark marvelled at the moss growing in the trees, and asked me why it grew there. "I guess it likes the trees," I answered and he nodded thoughtfully.
"Moss's gotta grow somewhere," he noted.
Eventually, after more turns and much laughter, we found the Frog's Leap winery. It was worth the wait! The late afternoon sun was lighting up the vineyard in bright reds, yellows and dark oranges. "What am I gonna do here?" Mark inquired, but within moments, he found a friendly house cat, and was happy. By the time they placed us at a nearby table to sample the wines, the cat had crawled onto Mark's lap and they were both content.
After one more brief stop, we returned to the hotel to dress for dinner. Then we drove up to St. Helena, about 35 minutes away, for Edra's birthday dinner.
We ate at a restaurant called Market, which was FAB. It was warm, cozy and filled with attentive waiters. They had all sorts of haute cuisine, but also some of the most wonderful comfort food I've tasted -- a homemade mac n' cheese to die for, champagne-battered fish n' chips, and spicy chicken empanadas. And for dessert -- oh my! My mom and I split the s'mores plate, which came with homemade graham crackers, chocolate sauce, Rice Krispies treats, and our own little personal burner to roast the marshmallows. The menu claimed the dessert was for two, but I kid you not, there were at least a dozen marshmallows on the plate, plus all the Rice Krispie treats. Everyone passed their desserts around for sampling.
Slowly, the restaurant emptied out around us, until Mark observed we were the last people left. The table was full of half-eaten desserts and laughter, so we packed up and gave the wait staff a break.
Sunday brought with it sun and the promise of a beautiful day. I handed over Mark, his meter and his Gameboy to my parents, and we girls loaded into a swanky shuttle bus for our wine-tasting adventure.
Breakfast by the fire
The bus had two couples already onboard, and we picked up another two along the way. Usually, the tours start out with everyone politely quiet and shy, and end with everyone a little loopy and best friends. This tour was the exception; we immediately connected with our fellow passengers, and the bus was loud and raucous before we'd even touched a single drop.
We started at the Peju winery, with its gorgeous vineyard and equally lovely gardens.
I realized I love Napa not just because of the wines, but because of the wineries themselves. The estates are beautiful; wonderfully kept houses and buildings invoking the Italian countryside. As an added bonus, we got to experience something we don't get much of down South: autumn! The fall colors were vibrant and bold, and I wandered off most of time to capture them with my camera.
The Peju vineyard
Here are a few shots of the trip as it (d)evolved:
Beginning of the trip photo op at Peju with Kevin, our guide extraordinaire
End of the day photo. We looked a little more...lively.
Our new friend Frank, who finally agreed to wear Edra's tiara at the end of the day
We decided to end our jaunt with a trip to the hotel bar. I warned everyone to keep it down, as my parents' room was nearby. I knew if my mom or Mark heard us, they'd be there lickety-split. (I also knew the warning applied to me more than anyone else, since I have the well-deserved reputation of being the loudest in the group.)
However, we didn't even make it into the hotel unnoticed! Perhaps it was our loud singing or boisterous mood, but as we climbed off the bus, we spied a woman peeking suspiciously through the curtain of a nearby room.
"Dang it!" I cried. "There's my mom! She already saw us!" And so she joined us for a drink at the bar. :-)
Our wonderful tourguide, Kevin, managed to get us something that had eluded us the night before: reservations to Michael Chiarello's newer restaurant, Bottega. He made a call and got us dinner reservations at 8.
We decided dinner was too fancy for Mark and my dad, so we ordered them room service and left them watching the History Channel. Mark was not happy to be left behind -- he hates missing out on any party.
Bottega was wonderful. We started with appetizers. I had a warm mozzarella burrata, which I'd never heard of before. It was a plate of warm butternut squash and mushrooms topped with fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese and tiny beads of balsamic vinegar. It was fabulous! Then I moved onto a creamy risotto, and split dessert with Vic. We shared a chocolate cake covered with bananas and served with a chocolate-peanut butter bar. "Itsa like an Italian chunky monkey," was how our waiter described it.
Monday morning brought with it storms and the possibility of my parents being snowed in for the second weekend in a row. But they drove off optimistically, heading toward Harris Ranch.
We returned to St. Helena for a little bit of shopping. We found some divine little shops: an olive oil store, and a chocolatier filled with the sweetest little chocolates. They were amazing!
Hand-made chocolates shaped like champagne corks!
We also found a warm bakery featuring rustic breads and a giant gingerbread house that Mark kept staring at and licking his lips.
Hungry little Mark
I bought some yummy-looking English muffins and passed the bag around for everyone to smell. Next thing I know, our whole group was in line and had bought out the rest of them. We left as one happy group.
Now that's some good-lookin' bread
There was just enough time for a quick lunch at the Bouchon Bakery. We bought some fancy panini sandwiches and ate them in the garden, surrounded by little blackbirds waiting for us to drop something.
As we loaded back into the mini-van for one final time, I thought we'd exhausted ourselves laughing, but Vic set us all off again as she busted out her famous Ethel Merman impersonation. While the rest of us cried with laughter. Mark just shook his head and rolled his eyes at his crazy mom and her silly friends. I'm sure he'll have some good stories of road trips with his crazy aunties when he grows up.
It was such a great weekend. I'm certainly thankful for such wonderful friends to celebrate and laugh with, and for such great parents who joined in all the fun.
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