Hike, Bike, and Mike

Connie has been re-learning to drive on this trip and the ride from San Francisco to our Napa destination was her first major accomplishment, so yay Connie! And it should have been quite a lot of fun for her. First, I navigated her to and through Lombard's "Crookedest Street" destination, and lots of tourists probably videotaped her slow run through it. We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, and then through wine country. And she made good time as well!



Our B&B (Lavender) at Napa's Yountville was great. Comfortable, luxurious, and they even give out bikes for use during your stay. We had the afternoon to explore so we started with a complementary wine tasting at a place next door. After that, we came back to the inn for some refreshments and hors d'oeuvre. Then, Connie needed some rest, so I took a short bike ride through some back roads lined with vineyards and pleasant-looking homes and estates. In the evening, we met up with our Orange County friends at the nearby French Laundry. Dinner was great. Lots of catching up, great food, super wine, amazing service. We woke up mid morning for a mediocre breakfast (but who needs it after the previous night) and a drive up to first Frog's Leap winery, then Heitz Cellars tasting room. Frog's Leap required reservations for a proper tasting so we only got a glass of Chardonnay and enjoyed a lazy stroll through the cellars, and the rest of the estate. The place had a very cozy atmosphere, like an affluent commune. Now that I think about it, I didn't see any men except the ones working in the garden or pumping wine-in-the-making from tanks to barrels. I guess the place oozed a certain feminine elegance. It was enjoyable, although the wine was only so-so. Heitz was a different story - simple tasting room with little frills, but the wines we got to taste were mostly good, with some distinct winners in the Cabernets and the Port.

We drove out of Napa down to San Simeon on the central coast going through 50-100 miles of amazingly scenic US-1. There, we went on an evening tour of Hearst Castle. The trimmings were a bit contrived, but the grounds and the house were well-kept and inspiring. I especially enjoyed the pool, kitchen and library. We had quick dinner with our friends and in the morning parted ways temporarily as we had planned a visit with our ex-colleague Mike Eisenstein who also recently moved out west, as well as a dinner with Connie's family. We had a nice, but short, visit with Mike and his girlfriend Bobbye in Santa Monica. Mike cooked us a delicious breakfast and we reminisced about the past and prognosticated about the future. Dinner was at some Chinese restaurant in Irvine and turned out to be a nuisance as everyone Asian in the area decided to have a pre-Mother's Day dinner that day, that place. We waited an hour for a table, but the food turned out to be OK and we left late but satiated. Not that it stopped us from moving straight to a cheese and cold cuts meal with our Orange County friends on whom we decided to impose for the night. They had been bitching, whining, moaning, grumping and grouching about their new surroundings ever since we met them for dinner at the French Laundry two evenings back. Now it was time to see what all the fuss was about...