Showing posts with label Healdsburg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Healdsburg. Show all posts
Sunday, March 1, 2015
There's beauty in the everyday...you just have to open your eyes
It's amazing how much beauty you find in the world when you just open your eyes and pay attention...
The weekend goes by too fast...
So the Traveling Hillbilly arrived at that beautiful house on Friday and now here it is Sunday night already. Where did the long weekend go? I'm just not ready to leave and get back into the hustle and bustle of my normal day to day. We had an amazing experience at the J Bubble Room yesterday. A five course tasting of delicious food, paired with wonderful wines was an amazing way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon.
And what better way to spend a Sunday than by having a great brunch at the BarnDiva, followed by a lazy afternoon and then a great home cooked dinner?
Great time, catching up with great friends and to top it all off, Die Hard just happens to be on tonight!
And what better way to spend a Sunday than by having a great brunch at the BarnDiva, followed by a lazy afternoon and then a great home cooked dinner?
Great time, catching up with great friends and to top it all off, Die Hard just happens to be on tonight!
Saturday, February 28, 2015
My new home....at least for the next few days
I hope to enjoy some good wine, spend time with good friends, relax and get centered over the next few days. And where better to do it than at this beautiful place?
A Tough Year
Sorry there haven't been post in the past year, but last year was a tough year for the Traveling Hillbilly. Given some serious family health issues, the Traveling Hillbilly was not able to travel for most of last year. However, the goal for this year is to change that and make 2015, a year full of adventure.
What better way to start that than a road trip to northern California to catch up with dear friends? The drive from LA to Healdsburg was absolutely beautiful. It was surprisingly quite green. When I travel to foreign places, I'm often in awe of the beauty that exists in this world. But the drive yesterday, reminded me just how beautiful California truly is. The rolling greens hills, against the back drop of a stunningly blue sky made the long drive quite enjoyable.
What better way to start that than a road trip to northern California to catch up with dear friends? The drive from LA to Healdsburg was absolutely beautiful. It was surprisingly quite green. When I travel to foreign places, I'm often in awe of the beauty that exists in this world. But the drive yesterday, reminded me just how beautiful California truly is. The rolling greens hills, against the back drop of a stunningly blue sky made the long drive quite enjoyable.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Do we have to leave?
While the Traveling Hillbilly’s long weekend in Northern California is not over, it is time to leave the Hotel Healdsburg and this lovely wine region. The Traveling Hillbilly is not ready to leave but it is time to head back to San Francisco for a night out with friends. Hopefully we can fit in a stop at Silver Oak before heading out!
Day 2 – A full day of wine tasting!
We decide to join a tour so we can truly enjoy a day of wine tasting without having to worry about driving. Wine tasting is no fun when only one person can truly indulge. We join Platypus tours which usually takes smaller groups and customizes the tour based on the group. Floyd, picks us up at the hotel at 10:30am and then it’s off to pick up two more people. We’ve completely lucked out, there are only going to be four of us on the tour for the day. Another plus of touring on a weekday. Turns out, the other two folks, Andy and Sarah, are a couple celebrating their 4 year anniversary.
The roads are winding, the van ride is bumpy and it turns out the Traveling Hillbilly is the only one on the tour who doesn’t have issues with getting car sick! Things start out pretty rough. For the first 30-40 minutes of the ride, it looked like it might get ugly and messy in the back of the van, but we stopped at our first winery before anyone tossed their cookies! Whew! The first stop, Alderbrook. The Traveling Hillbilly was disappointed in this winery as were the rest of the crew. We were all ready to head on to the next destination. We hopped in the van and headed off to Everett Ridge Winery. We all LOVED Everett Ridge. We got to sit outside with amazing views of the winery, while Ben, who has a true passion for the wines he serves, proceeded to allow us to sample at least 8 different wines! Floyd realizing we were all having a good time and might be staying for a while, stealthily disappeared only to reappear with a nice cheese tray for us to sample with our wines. We all loved Everett Ridge and each bought multiple bottles of wine! All in all it was an amazing place and Ben was key in making it a truly great experience! Thanks Ben!
Next up? We headed to De La Montanya for more tasting and a picnic lunch. While we were engrossed in our tasting, Floyd once again snuck away and started preparing a great little picnic lunch for us. We decided to buy a bottle of wine to enjoy with our lunch and all sat outside on this lovely spring day and indulged!
My friend and I really lucked out. Andy and Sarah were a really terrific couple and Floyd was pretty cool too. We all had a great time.
Next up, a cool little winery with a tasting room inside a cave, Bella Vineyards & Wine Caves. Here, thanks to Sarah’s inquisitive and outspoken nature, we actually got to sample some wine right out of the barrel. While we were checking the cave out, we stumbled upon a man, taking some wine out the barrels to test the taste. Sarah asked him what he was doing and when he told her he was do a taste test, she asked if we could try some too! He politely obliged the request and proceeded to tell us about their wine making process. Little did we know until later, he was actually one of the owners of the winery. Thanks Sarah for making this a little more unique experience for all of us!
The last stop, Raymond Burr Vineyards. Here we got to taste some wine, play with Lucy (a cute and hyper little pup) and have our picture taken holding Raymond’s Emmys. It was a fairly quick stop and the Traveling Hillbilly has to admit, after an afternoon of wine tasting, this last stop is a little fuzzy
The roads are winding, the van ride is bumpy and it turns out the Traveling Hillbilly is the only one on the tour who doesn’t have issues with getting car sick! Things start out pretty rough. For the first 30-40 minutes of the ride, it looked like it might get ugly and messy in the back of the van, but we stopped at our first winery before anyone tossed their cookies! Whew! The first stop, Alderbrook. The Traveling Hillbilly was disappointed in this winery as were the rest of the crew. We were all ready to head on to the next destination. We hopped in the van and headed off to Everett Ridge Winery. We all LOVED Everett Ridge. We got to sit outside with amazing views of the winery, while Ben, who has a true passion for the wines he serves, proceeded to allow us to sample at least 8 different wines! Floyd realizing we were all having a good time and might be staying for a while, stealthily disappeared only to reappear with a nice cheese tray for us to sample with our wines. We all loved Everett Ridge and each bought multiple bottles of wine! All in all it was an amazing place and Ben was key in making it a truly great experience! Thanks Ben!
Next up? We headed to De La Montanya for more tasting and a picnic lunch. While we were engrossed in our tasting, Floyd once again snuck away and started preparing a great little picnic lunch for us. We decided to buy a bottle of wine to enjoy with our lunch and all sat outside on this lovely spring day and indulged!
My friend and I really lucked out. Andy and Sarah were a really terrific couple and Floyd was pretty cool too. We all had a great time.
Next up, a cool little winery with a tasting room inside a cave, Bella Vineyards & Wine Caves. Here, thanks to Sarah’s inquisitive and outspoken nature, we actually got to sample some wine right out of the barrel. While we were checking the cave out, we stumbled upon a man, taking some wine out the barrels to test the taste. Sarah asked him what he was doing and when he told her he was do a taste test, she asked if we could try some too! He politely obliged the request and proceeded to tell us about their wine making process. Little did we know until later, he was actually one of the owners of the winery. Thanks Sarah for making this a little more unique experience for all of us!
The last stop, Raymond Burr Vineyards. Here we got to taste some wine, play with Lucy (a cute and hyper little pup) and have our picture taken holding Raymond’s Emmys. It was a fairly quick stop and the Traveling Hillbilly has to admit, after an afternoon of wine tasting, this last stop is a little fuzzy
Hotel Healdsburg – Day 1
We arrive at the hotel minutes before our spa appointments. We don’t even have time to check in. We pull up to the hotel and tell the valet we’re staying at the hotel, but will have to check in after our spa appointments. He kindly tells us he’ll take our luggage to the room and it will be waiting for us whenever we’re ready. First impression of The Hotel Healdsburg? What great service.
What about those spa appointments? All the Traveling Hillbilly can say is aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Second impression of the Hotel Healdsburg? What great service.
After a relaxing couple of hours at the spa, it’s time to officially check in to the hotel and get ready for dinner. The room is really large for a hotel room. The bathroom is the biggest the Traveling Hillbilly has ever seen in a hotel. The bathroom is probably the size of the Traveling Hillbilly’s guestroom!
We have reservations at the hotel restaurant, The Dry Creek Kitchen, a Charlie Palmer restaurant. The dinner was fabulous. The food was delicious, the wine was top notch (cheers to the Sommelier for a great reco) and the service was great. Third impression of the Hotel Healdsburg? What great service. Are y’all starting to see a pattern here? The Traveling Hillbilly highly recommends the Hotel Healdsburg.
P.S. You must try the Guiness Ice Cream. Yum! Yum! Yum!
What about those spa appointments? All the Traveling Hillbilly can say is aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Second impression of the Hotel Healdsburg? What great service.
After a relaxing couple of hours at the spa, it’s time to officially check in to the hotel and get ready for dinner. The room is really large for a hotel room. The bathroom is the biggest the Traveling Hillbilly has ever seen in a hotel. The bathroom is probably the size of the Traveling Hillbilly’s guestroom!
We have reservations at the hotel restaurant, The Dry Creek Kitchen, a Charlie Palmer restaurant. The dinner was fabulous. The food was delicious, the wine was top notch (cheers to the Sommelier for a great reco) and the service was great. Third impression of the Hotel Healdsburg? What great service. Are y’all starting to see a pattern here? The Traveling Hillbilly highly recommends the Hotel Healdsburg.
P.S. You must try the Guiness Ice Cream. Yum! Yum! Yum!
Getting Arrested in Sonoma?
Turns out my friend is looking for a rental for the summer in the area, so next stop is a house on the potential list. We stop at this amazing house in the heart of Sonoma. We go inside and quickly try to disarm the alarm. Suddenly the alarm goes off and we panic assuming we’re sure to be arrested any moment. Luckily we get a hold of the owner and are able to disarm the alarm. Whhhheeeeewwwwwww! Close call. Time to get back on the road.
The second house was actually located on a vineyard and the Traveling Hillbilly considered it to be more of an estate than a house! It had absolutely stunning grounds with a little brook running through it. As you enter the main gait, there’s a “geese crossing” sign. The landscape was truly stunning.
My friend is going to have a tough decision choosing. Both houses were amazing.
The second house was actually located on a vineyard and the Traveling Hillbilly considered it to be more of an estate than a house! It had absolutely stunning grounds with a little brook running through it. As you enter the main gait, there’s a “geese crossing” sign. The landscape was truly stunning.
My friend is going to have a tough decision choosing. Both houses were amazing.
Wine Tasting in Northern California
So the Traveling Hillbilly decides to meet up with a friend in San Francisco for a weekend of wine tasting up north. First on the list is a stop at Domain Caneros, a recommendation from a co-worker that has wonderful sparkling wines. It turns out to be a great recommendation. We sit outside on a fabulous sunny day and have a flight of delicious sparkling wines. The Traveling Hillbilly ponders if life can get any better!
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