A couple weeks ago, Chrissa, our good friend Brynlea, and I took a weekend trip to California. We had an absolute blast! I haven’t had a chance to upload any pictures from our trip, but I will try to add a few in the next week or two.
It all started in May when Justin and I took our first trip away from Grayer and went to San Francisco and Napa. We fell in love with the city of SF and loved the small town feel of Napa. When the talk of taking a girls trip came up, we decided that the perfect place for us to have a mini-retreat would be in Napa. So we booked our flights, rental car and hotel room and were set to visit the first week in November.
We arrived in SF mid-morning on Friday, and decided that it was a MUST to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge on our way out of the city, since Brynlea had never been to San Francisco before. So off we went, and I must say that the view of the city from the bridge is as breathtaking as I remember it being. We stopped to snap a few pictures at Vista Point, and decided to stop for a seafood lunch in Sausalito before heading out to the wineries. Lunch was delicious and we had a wonderful view of the marina from the porch were we ate. When we checked the weather reports before leaving Dallas, it was supposed to be pretty cold in Napa and there was a 30%-50% chance of rain all three days were to be there. However, the weather was perfect! It was bright, sunny and warm and the three of us girls were excited to be in such a gorgeous place, enjoying the company of good friends :)
After lunch we decided to take a more scenic route out to St. Helena, and ended up on a gorgeous back road, but it was also a VERY steep, windy road, and I think we were all feeling a little car sick after the drive! We stopped at Robert Mondovi winery, which had beautiful grounds and then we headed to V. Sattui winery, where we enjoyed a picnic of wine and olives at one of their tables on the lawn. The views were beautiful, and we had a great time chit chatting over some vino.
On Saturday we visited a few more wineries, but our favorite by far was Michael Mondovi. The view from the back veranda was absolutely stunning! There were vines and grapes as far as the eye could see, and it was exactly how you picture Napa to be before you’ve seen it in person. Since it is early fall, all the leaves on the vines were starting to turn from green to yellow and red, and it was a gorgeous view! We decided to grab some sandwiches from a deli nearby and sat on the back patio for a good couple of hours, just enjoying ourselves and the spectacular views. It was truly hard to pull ourselves away! Once we left, the temperatures started to drop and it started to drizzle, so we decided to go to the Napa Towne Square and have dinner, which was delicious! We watched a little bit of the Alabama/LSU game at a nearby pub, because Bryn had been very clear that it was a MUST for her to see at least some of the game (sadly Bama wasn’t able to pull out a win :(
On Sunday, we got up early, had a quick breakfast at the hotel and decided to head back into San Francisco to do a little city exploring before we headed back home. We drove through the city and enjoyed all the sights and sounds, before going down the ever popular Lombard street. It was so steep and was lined with tourists taking pictures, that I wasn’t sure we were going to make it down alive, but thankfully we did! We had fish ‘n chips and clam chowder for lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf, which was the perfect ending to a great trip!
It was a short weekend trip, but we had an amazing time! I am so thankful to have a husband who understands and encourages me to take time for myself every now and again! I love you hubby :)
