Sonoma

Sunday. Sonoma.

Well, the first thing we did was get out that swell post detailing our travels on Saturday from San Francisco to Sonoma, and as soon as we're done with this post we'll be reversing that journey.

Sunday, though, we started off by heading out to Jack London Historic State Park. We did what ended up being somewhere between a 2.5 and 3-hour hike through Mr. London's former estate. There are many buildings on the site that you can tour, a small vineyard that is still producing grapes, and many of the trails - at least towards the entrance and main attractions - are marked with historical placards talking about how the place was run between 1905-1916.

We skipped most of that.

Instead we headed up into the hills and trekked the trails. It was pretty hot out, and we didn't exactly realize just how hot it was until we were all through with our journey. In the meantime, we saw one of the biggest trees either of us had ever seen in our lives - the aptly named "Ancient Redwood." For its protection, we weren't able to go near it, hug it, etc, so we don't really have any photos that truly show its glory, so you'll just have to take our word for it.

After JLHSP (catchy, huh?), we headed back to clean up and whatnot. We made plans to visit a local vineyard and winery for later in the afternoon, and in the meantime we were STARVING, I mean seriously hungry, so we headed to Bluegrass Bar & Grill in Jack London Village. It was pretty good - huge burgers - and according to Julie, sodium helps with dehydration, so we loaded up on some sweet potato fries.

Then... drumroll please... we headed up to GlenLyon Vineyards & Winery. As some of you may have heard, this is the current workplace and home of the man who (among other distinguished roles) played Ronald McDonald all through the 1980's. Big stuff.

Aside from providing access to an amazing number of mementos from Squire's career in acting (and his wife's career in dance), the vineyard is seriously beautiful. He gave us a tour of the place and then we had a tasting on his table overlooking a lush valley of vineyards and forest.

By the time we got out of there, we were pooped.

Monday. Sonoma.

Monday we weren't quite so athletic. Well, I take that back. Julie still went for a run (like she did BEFORE our hike on Sunday!), but Harmony wasn't quite so athletic!

In any case, we started out our day by heading back to the Sunflower Cafe, this time for breakfast. Very nice. Then after some meandering, we decided to head to Gundlach Bundschu, a winery that's been operating for 150 years. The wine was great, the site was beautiful and castle-like, and the pourers working there were very friendly. (Harmony got a mini-crush on Tito, our pourer, but alas, he was wearing a wedding ring, so her heart is still free to wander!)

Next, we headed to Robledo Family Winery, by far Harmony's favorite, though Julie is more reserved in her judgement, "Yeah... but I liked all of them, just for different reasons!" I don't think we can do justice to their story, so you should check out their website, but as we understand it, it was founded by Reynaldo Robledo, Sr. who worked his way from field-hand to manager to founder of his own vineyard. The area they are in isn't quite as pretty and rolling as others we went to, but their tasting room was gorgeous with heavy carved-wood tables, chairs, and bar, and we loved their wines!

We saw some more of the inner-secrets of wine-making at Schug Carneros Estate Winery. Ed gave us the grand tour, including their caves where the wine casks sit to age. He also introduced us to a couple of options for wine-checking and wine-shipping which came in quite useful. As we were about to leave, we had the pleasure of meeting Walter Schug himself. He said hello and signed a couple of our bottles.

Finally, on our way to the grocery store we made one final stop at the Roshambo Winery. Roshambo was completely quirky and fun, but we were starting to lose our zest for tasting (at least for the day!) so it was a quick stop. Then we headed back to the house with groceries to cook dinner for Anne, our hostess. Grilled chicken with mango salsa, avocado salad, and pine nut cous-cous. Yum!

And now we're off again. The sun's finally burning through the clouds, so hopefully it's going to be another beautiful day. Stay tuned...

Sonoma

Suffice it to say we don't have the energy to write a big post tonight. We'll try in the morning...

If you want to see why we're so tired, check out a few of our photos:

San Francisco > Sonoma

Julie flew in late Friday night, and after a good night's sleep we got up, grabbed some coffee and the car, and headed up 101 across the Golden Gate Bridge, where we hooked West onto Highway 1 - also known as Shoreline Highway.


We made lots of stops on our way North, and Julie couldn't get over how much more friendly the folks are here than they are in Boston (no offense Rose!!). In our first two scenic overlooks, we had nice conversations with two different families, and in time met at least one other local...


Eventually (after some clever navigation) we made our way back East towards Sonoma, got settled in to the place we're staying, and headed out for our first wine tasting and a nice dinner.


I think we'd both recommend (I'll confirm with Jules once she gets back from her morning run - eek) the Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery, where we picked up a bottle of Eye of the Swan White Pinot Noir (Sonoma Valley - 2007) and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma Valley - 2006). I'm by no means a big expert in wine - Jules is much better - but we liked both and decided they'd be nice for our steak grilling plans tonight.


We met a nice guy at our next stop, the Sunflower Cafe. James owns Sunflower with his wife, and he had a whole list of Vineyards for us to try, and even hooked us up with a private connection to this tiny little vineyard where you apparently do a tasting in the couple's living room/porch depending upon the weather. He also recommended our dinner location, Harvest Moon Cafe.


Harvest Moon was awsome. According to James, a husband and wife own and run the place, the first formerly a chef with some lady who is famous (in foodie circles) for her advocacy of seasonal and local eating, and the wife formerly with some crazy dessert place in San Francisco. In any case, the food was great, especially the appetizer of fresh heirloom tomatoes, green beans, and mozzarella, lightly drizzled in pesto. Seriously awesome. On our way home we contemplated ordering about four plates of just that and making a meal of it...

Instead, we headed home. We sat on the deck with some Wine Country Chocolates we'd picked up that day in town, researched our options for the rest of the week, and looked at our photos from the day:

Just Arrived in San Francisco...

This trip is only temporary, and I will end up back in Minnesota for at least a couple of weeks, if not longer. But even being here just 24 hours has made me remember why I've always loved it!

Friday Photos:

Some body of water...

Between Schenectady and Buffalo

View from the Green Monster

...and no storm!

Harmony is moving!!

I just posted this ad on Craigslist... this is real, folks!

I'm moving cross-country and can't bring my furniture. All has been lightly-used in a two-person apartment, most for under a year. (Click photos for larger view.)



Will be available for pickup all day Saturday, Sunday, and Monday - July 25-27.
Cash only. Reasonable offers accepted, but serious offers only, please!!

• Ikea Ektorp Couch - $199 (Seen in Photo)
  This is a one-year old dark brown (slightly purplish) fabric couch which has been lightly used - for sale at half price. New price is $399. It's very comfy and large enough to fall sleep on! Available for pickup in Allston asap. Description and dimensions available on Ikea's Ektorp page.
  
  
• Two (Nonmatching) Wooden Dressers - $60 Each or $100 for Both (Seen in Photos)
  - This dresser has been carefully sanded and refinished, and comes with its original wooden drawer pulls and replacement clear green pulls from Anthropologie. (30" Wide x 18" Deep x 46" Tall)
  - This dresser is a beautiful antique hardwood with laminate inlays on drawers. It is in good, but not perfect condition, and was purchased within the last six months for $100.
  
  
• 21" Panasonic Television - $50 (seen in photo)
  Includes Remote. Has cable and RCA (Red, White, Yellow) inputs. Will work without digital converter box.
  
  
• Two Bookshelves - Any good offer. Free with couch, dressers, or TV.
  These are your basic, dark-wood-colored laminate bookshelves, purchased from Target. They are in fair condition. Photos available on request.
  
  
• Pier 1 Papasan Chair - Any reasonable offer. Free with couch, dressers, or TV (seen in photo). This off-white papasan chair is a few years old and is in fair condition, but honestly would look best with a new cushion cover (nothing gross, just minor spills!)
  
  
• Lamp - $20 (seen in photo)
  
  
• Red Madura Curtains - $50 (seen in photo)
  Great condition. One year old. The two panels match but are different dimensions. They were long enough that they each reached to my floor, so I did not hem them, but I have the materials to do that, which I'll thrown in. More details available on request.
  
  
• Dirt Devil Dynamite Plus Vacuum Cleaner - $30
  Bagless, like new. Details on Dirt Devil website.
  
  
• Assorted Kitchen Stuff - Any Reasonable Offer
  Pots & Pans, Wok, Glasses, Mugs, etc.
  

Cash only. Delivery not available.
Reasonable offers accepted, but only serious offers please!

Green Day!

...at the Boston Garden. Pretty good show, and I won the tickets (amazing seats) from the Boston Phoenix!!

The Bravery

Not a bad view to wake up to...

Thanks Harmony

Hi All,
Just getting up on this Blog, Will post more later. Hope all is well.

Privacy Options

I know that some people are cautious about what they post online, so if you prefer, I can tweak the preferences. I can make it so:

• Only blog writers can read anything (private)
  
• Only blog writers can post, and others have to request to read the blog (semi-private)
  
• Anyone can read what has been posted (fully-public)
  

Choose an option in the poll!
(down and to your left)

~ Harmony

I'm Published ;-)

I wrote a letter to the editors of the Boston Phoenix a week or two back, and it was published in last weekend's edition! Here's the link and below is the clipping :)

Happy Birthday Sue!!

Wish I could have been there to share in the dancing and festivities!
Now that this is up and running, I expect photos, and lots of them!!

Golden Gate Bridge from the Beach

Beachy

Wish it was still summer...

New Kitty in Boston?

Maybe next Saturday!