At the beginning of August, my parents took Leah, Matt and me to California. It was a wonderful trip that included visiting wine country and touring San Francisco.
We began our trip in the Napa Valley, staying in St. Helena, where we were almost right next door to the Silverado trail, which means very easy access to a slew of wineries. One of the first wineries we visited was Cosentino Winery, which was a very pleasant "first stop" on our tour. My parents had been to Cosentino before and wanted to be sure we experienced this winery as well.
Our tour guide throughout the vacation...
In front of the Elizabeth Spencer tasting room...there is a distance arrow pointing to the birthplace of Ms. Susan Doster!
A lovely vineyard next to Paraduxx Winery...
One morning, we enjoyed coffee at a shop in downtown St. Helena...
Gott's Roadside has three locations in Northern California, and one location happened to be very conveniently located about three blocks from where we stayed in St. Helena. Gott's been featured on a number of Food Network shows, including Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
The food was exactly what you would expect at a Drive-In but with a California twist. The burgers were juicy and came with classic fixings and super zesty homemade sauce...the fries were roasted in garlic (YUM!) and the shakes were just what you needed on a hot California afternoon.
We spent one day touring the vineyards of Sonoma County, claimed to be "the top wine destination in the U.S." according to TripAdvisor.
Beautiful Sonoma County in the background...
On our way back to St. Helena from Sonoma, we visited Russian River Brewing Company, home of the Pliny the Elder IPA...supposedly the best IPA in the world.
After a few fun days exploring the Napa Valley and Sonoma County, we headed south to San Francisco for a couple days.
We walked around Muir Woods National Monument...
...which is basically a cathedral of redwoods that age anywhere from 400 - 800 years and have a height up to 250 feet.
Muir Woods National Monument was established on January 9m 1908 when President Roosevelt signed legislation to protect an old-growth coast redwood forest from destruction...nice move Mr. President.
We saw the California Coast...
...and toured Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.
We ate lunch at The Codmother Fish & Chips, which is the number one rated "lunch" establishment on Yelp in the Wharf area (we had to narrow our choice some how).
My dad had to stop at this antique arcade. Let me say it was quite interesting looking at and playing arcade games that were almost 100 years old.
A boat harbor with the San Francisco skyline in the background...
Group photo!
Our last adventure was a night tour of Alcatraz.
It was pretty incredible to learn about the history of Alcatraz and how the prisoners lived...
Some of the most famous prisoners at Alcatraz...
Night shot of Matt and me on the boat ride back to San Francisco...
The trip was wonderful and I was so thankful Matt could join us.
I hope you had a great weekend...Cheers!