A little time away is good for the soul, isn't it? After a few hectic, stressful weeks, I was so glad I had this trip to look forward to. A sweet friend of mine celebrated her 40th birthday and invited a group of girls to join her on a trip to Napa. At first, I wasn't going to go; how in the world would I be able to swing that?? But then the pieces fell into place much easier than I anticipated and next thing I knew, it was time to board the plane!
Ali and I were on the same flight; the rest of the girls were landing a bit after us. We landed and took an uber to our hotel where we dropped our bags and headed out exploring!
I had never been to San Fransisco before, so I really wanted to visit the piers- thankfully, Ali agreed to humor me. It was gorgeous out there!
We took the street cars wherever we wanted to go, which was a total adventure in itself and so much fun.
Soon the rest of the group arrived and we headed out for a little shopping in the city. The ladies at Tory Burch broke out the champagne for us when we walked in-- I wasn't hating it!
We went to a Warriors store-- I sent this to Eddie to show Andy. I am sure he was blown away by how real this looks. Or not.
We went out to a yummy dinner that night with the most food ever- holy cow.
The next day, we loaded the rental cars and headed to Napa! We quickly dropped our bags at the house and then headed to our first tasting, which was at Rare Cat-- and I think it was one of my favorite stops of the trip.
We sat in a restored garage-- this was my view looking out. How incredible??
Taking a stroll through the vineyards after the tasting....
The whole group during the tasting....
I swear, the skies looked fake, they were so beautiful.
We left there and went to a tasting room that was in downtown Napa. The wine was fine, but we didn't love the experience-- we did love the company, however!
After that, we walked around a bit before dinner downtown. It was a full day and we were worn out after we ate.
The next day, our driver picked us up at 9am, so we were up and at it, ready for our three tastings that were scheduled!
First stop was Alpha Omega, and how beautiful were the skies there??? Carolina blue!
We were given a fairly in depth tour of the wine making, which was very fascinating-- I learned a lot!
The group outside Alpha Omega:
Enjoying our tasting!
Our second stop was at the top of a mountain with the most amazing views-- truly breath taking.
Our wine guide has us hold the grapes on our tongues for a bit-- of course I can't do that seriously.
I mean, the views, y'all! With the adorable birthday girl!
i was very smile-y during this trip. Clearly.
The whole group at Amizetti (this was my favorite stop, next to rare cat)
We then winded down the mountain to our final stop of the day, Frisinger. This location was beautiful.
They had a little table/outside area where we did the tasting, overlooking this view:
inside the little room-- pretty spectacular.
The whole group at Frisinger.
That night, we had dinner back at the house-- we hired a chef to come in and prepare dinner-- it was AMAZING. Holy yum. I looked over at Ali during dinner to see her cheeks were bright red-- love her face in this one.
This was SUCH a fun night. We all went to bed with sore bellys from laughing so hard. My kind of night!
The next day, we were picked up early and set out on another day of wine tasting! We arrived at Padis and took in the views.
This place had a cave, where we did our tasting. Pretty cool experience.
Up on the balcony at Padis....
and in the vineyard....
The three of us sat in the wayyyy back of the 12 person van...
Our next stop was Aequitus.... LOVED this tasting!!!! The wine was delicious and the olive oil was to die for. Came home with some of both!
When the Carolina game is on but you've got wine to drink.....
This one.... she cracks me up.... this made me laugh SO hard.
Group shot at Aequitus:
We finished the day with a stop at Ackland, which was in town, and felt a little odd to be tasting in a house instead of at a vineyard, but it was still very nice.
We stumbled into a room with some sweet hats.... only to find out they were from the Titanic. #notthemovie. #theactualboat #whoops
The tasting was good, but I was having a mega hotflash the whole time, so I was anxious to get out in the breeze #oldlady
One more piggy back pic, just because.
And the group shot from Ackland house:
We headed back to the house and quickly poured more wine! We laughed hysterically at this line up:
Mine was on the left, Kris's on the right, and then Ali's in the middle. Our glasses matched our real life sizes! (see below)
Love these two!
We went to bed somewhat early because the alarm went off at 4 for me and Ali to head to the airport (and Erica too, but she was on a different flight home).
We got to watch the most gorgeous sunrise--
And then we flew home!
It was such a great trip and one I will think of often! I am by no means a wine snob...but this upped my interest in wine quite a bit. I vow to no longer buy the $8 chardonnay. I mean, I might. But I won't enjoy it nearly as much.
