A Trip to Northern California

Yesterday afternoon, we returned from an amazing trip to Northern California (including San Francisco, Sonoma, Napa and the surrounding wine country areas). We'd been anticipating this trip for so long, and had the best time with our friends Ashley and Bryan. Here are a few highlights from the trip:

We started the vacation in San Francisco, where we enjoyed a farmer's market, 24 hour brewed iced coffee, a visit with some friends, a cable car ride, sourdough bread, Alcatraz, China Town, Fisherman's Wharf, and so much more. During our stay in San Fran, the Mr. and I celebrated our two year anniversary with a fantastic dinner at Foreign Cinema, where we sat outside and dined while an old black and white film played on the outdoor wall (a great date night idea for anyone living in the area!)

After exploring the city, we headed up to wine country. On our way, we stopped in Muir Woods for a dose of gorgeous scenery. The trees were beautiful, and I snapped a lot of fun photos.

Wine country was better than we had even hoped. Stunning vineyards, fantastic tastings, lots of sites, delicious food, and time to relax. We rented a house with the other couple that we traveled with, which turned out to be the coolest little house on a vineyard with an outdoor space that was to die for. We cooked our own meals two of the nights, and had an absolute blast playing bocce and sipping wine.

Some of my favorite tastings were at the smaller wineries, including Frias Family Vineyards, and Chase Family Cellars. Sitting down for a tasting with the wine makers is so neat, and we learned a great deal from them. The larger, more developed wineries were also great, though -- Plumpjack, Ravenswood, Duckhorn and Caymus for example.

If you ever have the chance to visit wine country, I highly recommend the trip! There are so many vineyards to see, so many wines to taste, and the sites are just amazing. For now, I'm happy to be back in Chicago, though - even if it's a bit chillier than 90 degree Napa!