My sister Mary and I decided we deserved a small vacation. Mary hasn’t traveled all that much in her life, so she considers anything beyond 30 miles a first-rate getaway. I decided it would be fun to go to Sonoma for a day of shopping, which then extended into a two day affair as my son lives in Sebastopol and if you can’t use your children and their fine home for a free night of food and lodging, well, I’d say you raised the wrong children.
In my quest for the perfect weekend adventure, I created a binder complete with directions to some possible fun places to visit. I’m very organized when it comes to adventures as I tend to want to pack in as much fun as I can.
I downloaded a Sherlock Holmes mystery and an Agatha Christie Miss Marples mystery to my iPod. I like to make sure we are prepared for any eventuality, one of which would be the need to listen to a good murder mystery in case we were stuck in traffic somewhere.
Let me begin this travel odyssey by saying the weather this past week-end was what you might imagine for California and the wine country. Perfect!
We drove to Yountville as our first stop and found some wonderful clothing stores with very unique and very pricey clothing. We had lunch at Pacific Blues Café and sat at a table on the outside porch overlooking the mountains and complimented ourselves on having such an excellent vacation. It was fit for two chicks on the lam from their daily responsibilities of life! We were almost a Thelma and Louise, except we had no intention of driving off a cliff.
We then drove to Healdsburg where we discovered they were having a big event for their 150 year anniversary. It was fairly warm (read hot) and we only found one shop that had some clothing we found interesting. I found a necklace I liked, but the $250 price tag made it far less appealing than I had originally thought. Everyone had a glass of wine in their hand…naturally since it is the wine country. If you love wine, you will find these art/wine festivals a dream come true. If wine isn’t of interest, you’ll find these festivals something like one big outdoor bar. It’s oddly interesting.
We had paused on a street corner where a sweet shop was handing out chocolate bars. Never one to be shy in taking free candy, I grabbed that chocolate delight but quick. We went back to the car where I started up the air conditioning, unwrapped the chocolate, and took a quick bite…it was slightly on the soft and melting side, so I thought I should eat as much of it as I could before it became chocolate soup, which although wouldn’t be bad, would be horribly difficult to eat and would display bad manners to just lick it off the wrapping. And besides, I didn’t have any handiwipes with me.
We tried finding the local Indian casino, being two women who are fond of putting coins in the slot machines, but only managed to find the corporate offices. Not really the same at all for our purposes. I then found a place, quite by accident, called The Gardner. The sign for the store was located in a slightly difficult place to see when driving by, which made turning in time for the driveway a little on the chance-y side. I managed to turn into “a” driveway, which didn’t lead to the garden center at all, and in fact, I couldn’t actually see any other cars parked at the garden center, so decided it wasn’t worth the work to backtrack and find my way into the correct driveway. Mary and I are prone to quick decisions when it comes to stopping at stores. The store has to be quite appealing before we consider any minor hassle getting to it as a worthwhile endeavor.
We then decided to go to Guerneville, so got on the freeway and took the Guerneville exit and drove. And drove. And drove some more. Lots of countryside and wineries, but no signs for our destination. And we drove. Sheesh. We finally came to a sign which said Sebastopol one way and Guerneville straight ahead. We weren’t sure that we should continue on our quest, since goodness only knows how many more hours it would take us. We were probably right around the bend from the town, but being cautious vacationers, we decided to go directly to my son’s house. He and his partner David had, after all, stayed home in order to take us to dinner.
We went to a nice restaurant called The Bistro, which is owned and run by the chef and his wife. The food was quite good and we were even lucky enough to have the chef come out and talk with us.
Back at the house, we were lucky enough to witness two shooting stars. Jonathan brought out his telescope and gave us a mini-lesson in astronomy. We even saw a satellite zooming across the sky! I hadn’t realized they go so fast. I feel pretty “astro physicist” now…in a very small sort of ignorant way. The night sky was humbling. You don’t get to see such an awe inspiring sight when you live in the city. We obliterate such beauty with our lights. But in the country…oh my. The vastness of the space and the diamond chest of stars make you want to learn more. And buy a telescope!
Now if you think this was the end of the evening’s entertainment, you’d be kidding yourself. My son’s partner, David, is a world-class organist. I mean that both complimentary and factually. He has played all over the world and knows the organists in many of the large churches. I wish I knew people. I live vicariously through Jonathan and David. They know lots of interesting people.
I really do have to get out more.
They have a room in their house that is devoted to a newly rebuilt organ…with a lot of pipes! It reminds me of a mini-chapel. I wonder if it sounds spooky at night when he’s playing…like the Phantom of the Opera. We were treated to a mini-concert, which was quite an honor. Thanks David!
On Sunday we drove to Tiberon where the sailboats were out in full force. Tiburon, like any California area that has a great view and hills, has homes dug into the hillside and squeezed closely together. Land is gold when it comes to those spectacular views! You will find bike riders galore, lots of people with their dogs, and fragrant aromas of good food from the restaurants. Bring your camera and your appetite. Dogs and bikes are optional.
Mary and I have decided that a quarterly vacation is in order. We forget how near we are to so many unique areas. We also forget that taking time out just to look at the beauty of nature around us is imperative to our mental health.
I thought about visiting Jonathan and David every week, which could turn into a demand for a “Mom’s quarters”. He said the gate code that you have to punch to get into his area has changed and he can’t seem to find the new number. I think that sounds very fishy. Won’t he be surprised when the moving van pulls up with a “few” of my personal belongings!
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