Days 1 and 2 - Napa and Sonoma

Whewwwwww let me tell yall, this trip was INCREDIBLE. Like not one detail missed and everything was top notch. Our beach friends planned it and there were four couples that went. They connected with a guy out there named Liam through their neighbors in Greensboro. Liam and one of his guys basically planned the entire itinerary and drove us around for four days. It was amazinggggg. If you have any questions as you go throughout my blog posts, please ask and I'll answer them in a separate blog post later this week or early next!

Oh and most important part - Kevin surprised me with this trip about a month ago. He and Steve had planned it for a few months and I was totally in the dark. I knew Steve and Ariel were going and we were invited but I was like there's no way we can leave the kids that long etc etc.!!! He gave me a Napa (auto parts) t-shirt in October when we were all at the beach together in front of everyone and that's how he surprised me for my upcoming birthday!

Kevin and I flew in from Charlotte and the other three couples came from Greensboro. Our flight got delayed so it ended up that Liam just picked Kevin and I up at the San Francisco airport and took us to Napa. It was an almost 2 hour ride after a 5.5 hour plane ride. Long day and lots of traffic in the city. I think next time we would probably fly into Sacramento instead. 

Anyway, we met up with the group about 20 minutes after they got there at Mayo Family Reserve Room in Sonoma. So we didn't miss much! This was a food and wine pairing which was perfect since we all had just traveled in. The food was delicious. Wine was okay too. I loved the Chardonnay!

I'm red and Kevin blue!

Next stop, we checked in to The Andaz hotel in downtown Napa. It is a swanky and super nice hotel and right in the middle of where everything is. We would stay there again and there's another great place The Archer right next door that is also pretty exquisite.

Then we walked over to dinner at Morimoto. It's a popular sushi restaurant. It was really good. Kevin and I had shrimp, beef carpaccio and a couple rolls. The shrimp dish was amazing.





Friday:

We were up bright and early 4:15am talking to Grady and making sure Molly Anne got off to school. We were on east coast time so that's why we woke up so early. 

We ended up going for a walk over to Oxbow Market which is only about 1/2 mile from our hotel. My friend from work Laura told me about a great bakery there and lots of cute little shops under one roof. The Model Bakery was out of this world amazing. We got some breakfast sandwiches and coffees and walked around more exploring!













Then we headed back to the hotel because we had to be downstairs and dressed and ready for Liam to pick us up at 9:00am! Dress // Hat is from J. Crew but sold out.


First stop was Schweitzer Family tour and tasting in Spring Mountain. This was up a large windy mountain road and the reward at the top was an incredible view. 




And of course they had a golden retriever named Jenny for us to love on!





Next stop was lunch at The Charter Oak in St. Helena. 


We had this swiss chard salad that was picked from their garden that morning. It was over fresh mozzarella. We also had a piece of osso bucco that was delish.



Next up - Tamber Bay in Calistoga, CA. This was a more farm setting with horses right next to the tasting tables that came up and you could talk to. 


Ariel and Steve and Stella haha






Then we went to Jean Edwards Cellars in Napa. 







Kevin and Liam. They really hit it off and Kevin really enjoyed talking to him. 


Jamie and Philip

Ariel and Ashley

That Cali sunset!

Dinner at Cole's Chop House was so good. By the time lunch and dinners rolled around, I was always onto liquor. I was about wined out!

That was Thursday and Friday!