FLY ME TO THE MOON

As you know, Buster fancies himself as quite the wine cognoscenti. I must say, we have sampled many different wines. Buster likes sparkling wines, white wines, rose wines, and red wines. Did I miss anything? We’ve done a good bit of tasting wines at wineries. You pay your money and you get a few little tastes of different wines. Usually, every wine offered in a tasting is going to be wonderful. What someone tastes is a matter confined to the individual’s sense of smell, taste, and feel. Sometimes Buster has trouble determining whether he likes the wine in his glass better than the wine in the previous glass. I have to shake my head when he says he’s picking up notes of leather, wet wood, boysenberry, or a hint of deflated tennis ball. Who even knows what a boysenberry tastes like? Mind you, I like some wine, too. We learned at one of the wineries that it is perfectly acceptable to ask for seconds. However, when asking someone, “Please ma’am, may I have some more?,” the proper way to do so is to say something along the line of “I think I’d like to revisit the [insert your favorite wine}.” Well, Buster and I really like the Napa area and we have dear friends there, so we revisited Napa.

Buster and I parked our house in the Napa Valley Expo Park. The park had a lot of friendly cats roaming the park. We chatted with a few of them from our comfy porch. We walked through downtown Napa and some of the old neighborhoods. One of the neighborhoods was in the historic district. Many of the houses are one story, have a nice large front porch, and kind of a craftsman style. We also saw some incredible Victorian and Queen Anne style houses. Beautiful.

We treated ourselves to massages with a therapist who lives in Yountville. Wow! We hadn’t had massages in months! Our therapist was quite good. She reminded us of Sue, our wonderful therapist in Atlanta. Massage is so good for the soul.

We walked to the Napa Valley Farmers’ Market to check out some of the local produce. It was a nice large market featuring many local farmers, artisans, and specialty vendors (think juice, honey, organic this and that). We’re so glad that it’s farmers’ market season again. The strawberries needed another couple of weeks, but who cares? Tasty.

We had dinner at a restaurant in Sonoma called Valley with our friends Sarah and Sam. Sonoma is a small town, in, you guessed it, Sonoma County. It was a beautiful drive and downtown Sonoma has a really happening vibe. The movers and shakers have done a great job of combining preservation with development. Valley is an incredible restaurant with a menu which made my mouth water just by looking at the descriptions. It did not disappoint.

We had a pre-Easter dinner at Sam’s farm on Saturday. We met some of Sam’s family. What a hoot! They were so fun and welcomed us warmly. Sam is a dentist by profession, but he lives in the farmhouse which his family has owned for many years. He grows grapes and sells them to local vintners and wineries. He’s also an accomplished artist. We had a lot of fun talking about mean people, laughing at stupid people, shedding a few tears about the state of our soceity, and then, finally, solving the problems of the world.

One day we woke up and looked outside to see the beautiful day. Bonus … we saw several hot air balloons gliding by. I got a photo of a couple of them. The balloons reminded me of one my favorites - Frank Sinatra. He had a way with songs. Anytime is a good time for some Sinatra.

On Easter Sunday, we went to San Francisco by taking the Vallejo ferry across the bay. It took us about an hour and is the way to go. No highways, no tolls, no crazy drivers, and no wrecks. We walked along the waterfront on our way to Oracle Park in downtown SF. The city is beautiful and has some interesting architecture. We got a nice view of the Oakland Bay Bridge and saw two or three sculptures along the Embarcadero. Then, we saw the Giants come back in the bottom of the ninth to win their baseball game. The park is so beautiful. Most fans have a view of the bay and the hills across the bay.

Before we left Napa, we shared one more dinner with Sarah and Sam. Did I mention that Sarah is a famous chef? and a wonderful person? I hate to admit it, but I really enjoyed eating that tasty little lamb.

Your friend,

Betty

Home Blog

Contact Subscribe