Sunshine-n-Wine

This trip was much slower-paced than our usual sojourns to wine country because we took hubby’s parents and aunt with us.  It was also March, which is the earliest we’ve ever visited.  While green, the bud break hadn’t started and the evenings were quite chilly.     We flew into Sacramento and stayed at our favorite winery, The Terraces .     View from The Terraces in the morning.  Check out the hot air balloons! Two of the three days were repeats for us as they are all wine clubs we have so you can find detailed reviews in some of my previous Napa and Sonoma blog posts.  They included DeLoach, Campana Ranch, Buena Vista, Raymond, Pope Valley, and The Terraces.     The three new-to-us wineries were: Artesa is located in the Carneros region with fantastic views of the north side of the bay on a clear day and boasting of biodynamic processes.  They have some interesting varietals, and we really enjoyed our tasting.  I do want to...

What is a year without a second trip out to wine country?  Honestly, this was an add-on trip for me as the hubs actually scheduled this for work.  We brought another couple with us so I could have some travel buddies - bonus that it was also an early birthday trip for one of them.  Too bad it rained the ENTIRE time so no great photo opportunities.  I love this area in the Fall, so at the very least, I was able to enjoy the brilliant leaf colors. I don't blog non-travel related things so I want to add a note here.  I started a very part-time gig (like no more than 10 hours per week) at my local wine and liquor store.  We are reviewing current inventory and looking to revamp our offerings, so I turned this into a quasi work trip for me.  I'll be sure to tag the ones that were more of an industry visit as they may not fully represent a normal experience. Also, the COVID visit to Willamette required two new things (to me): reservations and proof-of-vaccina...

After three cancelled cruises thanks to this thing called a pandemic, we booked a couple months out for a 4-day cruise on the Carnival Magic from Port Canaveral, Thursday - Monday.   Good price and easy for us to get to from central Florida.   We purchased the beverage package for this trip since we were planning to stay on the ship most of the time. Parking A very rare occasion, we parked at the port for easy in and out.   Usually we’d book off-site for about half the price, but I didn’t want to deal with a shuttle.   Turns out that the port wasn’t busy – at all! – and the parking was so easy!   Not a bit of traffic, plenty of parking, and a VERY short walk to the ship.   Definitely worth it this time.   We paid at the end of the trip at self-pay kiosk. Room We booked cabin 7347, because if we got quarantined for any reason, I wasn’t about to have an interior room.   Our cabin was a perfect location. Close to an elevator and stairwell, mi...

  Rutherford Hill Having a milestone birthday in 2020 is a bitch!  We had two cruises cancelled this year due to COVID-19, so when it came time to figure out how to replace my birthday cruise in October, we chose Napa.  Because... duh.  We visited many repeat wineries where we are wine club members so I will not re-iterate those again; rather, I will add the new-to-us ones in this blog post. For those who haven't travelled here since COVID-19 started, here's a couple things that were different on this trip: All tastings were by appointment only, no more than 6 to a group All tastings were conducted outside with no tours It was HOT but the smoke from the Glass Fire was gone Restaurants were still at 25% indoor capacity, with almost all offering takeout or outdoor seating Masks required all the time except when sitting for a tasting and eating In Lodi, all tastings were done in a flight format.  VERY different than what we have seen anywhere in wine country, thank...

Because the hubs was working at a location just outside of Portland, OR, we decided to take full advantage and spend a beautiful weekend tasting our way around Willamette Valley.  If you have been to Sonoma, you will find that Willamette is similar although still more farm-like with a definite trend in moving toward the commercial for some wineries.  Sad but understandable.  My advice is this - if you have been wanting to go, go now while there are still many small wineries, where you stand a good chance of spending some time with the owners and wine makers. Here is a short rundown of the wineries only. Bryn Mawr Vineyards boasts a new tasting room with a great views.  The wine maker is a woman (yay girl power) who making some some very nice small-batch wines.  Included with our tasting, which we shared, was a small dish of cheese and animal crackers.  Cheese goes well with wine, animal crackers do not.  We were both a bit baffled by the choice....

There is nothing like celebrating a dear friend's milestone birthday in a place he's never been, a place that I love dearly!  In fact, the Hubs and I totaled up the number of visits, and this was big number 8!  Unfortunately, the threat of Hurricane Dorian on Florida threw a wrench into a bit of our initial planning and then extended our trip by a day - we ended up with a bonus day relaxing in northern Sonoma. Wineries Terraces  - As always, the small but mighty crew that runs Terraces reminded us why we keep our membership there.  The wines are all exceptionally drinkable this year, which is a feat because it's rare that you like and appreciate ALL of the wine offered in a tasting.  We stayed there in the guesthouse so we had run of the property and could really enjoy the scenery and nice walks. Terraces - Balsamic House Peju  - Peju is usually pretty solid for a visit, but the wines seemed a bit lacking this year.  I was also turned off a bi...

We were on the Reflection March 2017 when the previews of the brand new and very innovative Celebrity Edge were launched, so we booked.  Four months later, we were informed that our cruise week had been fully chartered, and they gave us the option of either the week before or the week after (locked pricing and extra OBC).  We weren't thrilled, but we'd already put down the deposit and were excited to go.  With all of the OBC combined, we ended up with $800, which we used for two shore excursions, some shopping, a Blendtique class, specialty dining, and extra gratuities.  It was a very busy cruise! The Edge Theater - Pre-Show We reserved parking at our usual place, Park N Go .  We arrived just past noon, and it was a shitshow - cars and people everywhere waiting to board the shuttles.  There were 8 ships leaving Fort Lauderdale, and it was absolutely the busiest we have ever seen it.  From now on, we will continue to try to get there around our us...