One great thing about San Francisco is that wine country is a mere hour and a half away. AND it's not plagued by the fog that is ruining my summer here in San Francisco.
So in honor of my husband turning the Big 3-9 at the beginning of July (ie. the last year before he's an old man!) we decided to head out to Napa Valley for some delicious tasty wine.
You may remember that last year for Dom's birthday we did almost the exact same thing and went to the Hunter Valley in Australia for some wine tasting. Man, I'm original in my Dom birthday weekend planning!
Regardless of that fact, I did plan this trip out a little different in that we went bike riding!
You see, Dom likes to bike ride and Dom likes wine and it's Dom's birthday, so obliging wife that I am I arranged bike wine tasting.
Little did I know when planning said bike ride that the temperatures would be dipping into the 100's in Napa that weekend. Had I known, I would have planned something a bit more...air conditioned.
Nevertheless bike riding we went. Hundred degree heat be damned!
The day started off well enough in that it was only 80 or so degrees out, which is tolerable, and away we went, hoping to get the bike riding over and done with before it got too hot out.
Looking awesome, don't we know it!
We made it to exactly 2 vineyards before the heat really caught up to us and wine tasting no longer seemed like a viable option in that we were sweating so profusely that regardless of how much water we were drinking the wine was just going to dehydrate us and then you know...we would have died.
We did however stop off at Mumm, which is strictly champagne and sat ourselves down in their fabulous deck with mist spraying on us for an hour while we alternated between sipping champagne and guzzling bottles of water, dreading stepping back into the baking heat and away from the mist sprayers.
Aw...the mist.
By the end of the day my ass hurt from not being used to riding a bike and I thought I was going to die from heat stroke, and I don't recommend riding bikes in 100 degree heat, BUT when we finally made it back to the hotel and sat ourselves down in our swimming pool I have nothing but fond memories of biking through Napa Valley.
Maybe next year I'll come up with something besides wine tasting for Dom's birthday, maybe I should start thinking now, anyone got any brilliant ideas?
Wine tasting is a GREAT choice!!! ALWAYS! Maybe you could start cycling as a hobby. Good for you and super time consuming!
ReplyDeleteAnywhoo - since next year will be a big decade birthday, I think you should do something special.
1. Take him on a trip home to England to celebrate with friends and family
2. Bike tour somewhere cool (Europe, Vancouver BC, etc)
3. Take him to NYC, invite friends and family and book a cool venue where everyone can celebrate, enjoy beer/wine/etc.
That kind of cashes out my ideas - I am crappy at making plans. Nick and I usually end up on vacation for our birthdays so we generally call that our birthday present (I have been in Hawaii for the past 4 of my birthdays and we have been to our place in McCall for his)
Good luck planning!!
you look cute in your helmet!!! hmm... I like Kenzie's idea about the NYC trip... plus that would be awesome for you too! :-)
ReplyDelete-Jessica (darn thing still makes me be anonymous!)
I like the NYC trip idea!! :)
ReplyDeleteYou could go Scotch tasting in Scotland. Visit friends/family in England, then head up for a twist on wine tasting.
Get him one of those super light weight bikes - I think they're like 7lbs or something ridiculous like that. Or a fold up one - he can pack it on business trips!
There are some hot springs near you all - well, relatively close. I know you're not usually one for massages, but the springs and mud baths are fun, and very very relaxing. The springs melt your muscles like a masseuse if not better. Shh! Don't tell the masseuse that!