Vacation was a month ago – here's what went down.

I had a great vacation with the folks. We met in San Francisco and traveled south along coast and then north to wine country. It was a little chilly and overcast for most of the week but hey, it was a nice vacation. We did have a day or two of great weather when we were in wine country. THANK GOD FOR THE GPS SYSTEM! It was very helpful on the road trip. We covered A LOT of territory! This is a summary of the key points of our trip.

Saturday, Sept. 6th, we met in San Francisco, and then spent half of dinner with Stacey and the remaining half with Kurt. They are currently working complete opposite schedules in a hospital so Stacey took us to a restaurant where Kurt met us when he could break away.

Sunday, Sept. 7th, my folks and I drove down to the Monterey Bay/Carmel-By-The-Sea area with a pit stop for lunch in Santa Cruz. Since we got to the Seaside hotel several hours before sunset, we decided to venture down to Big Sur. Most of it was overcast which was a bummer but it was a great drive and thank god I was driving because I probably would have gotten sick if I wasn't driving and focused on the rode. My mom's cuticles were a mess after that drive.

We had dinner at Clint Eastwood's former restaurant the Hogs Breath in Carmel. It was a nice town with little shops and galleries. When we got back to the hotel, Mom and I went in the jacuzzi and for a swim before hitting the hay. Oh, my mom gave me some synchronized swimming advice! I have jokingly put together a team with 3 of my girlfriends. I have a feeling it will most likely be all talk and no swimming because people are really getting a kick out of us saying we are on such a team but we haven't had a single swim yet!

Monday, we got to visit the Carmel-by-the Sea Mission, which was beautiful. The courtyard with the huge fountain and a zillion flowers was really pretty. Kids were actually in school. Seems like there was a lot of seniors walking around and in wheelchairs.

We then cruised through Monterey Bay and did the 17-mile drive, which consisted of Pebble Beach and many scenic little spots along the coast. We had a nice outdoor lunch at the Trailside Cafe, near Cannery Row in Monterey Bay. On the way back to SF, I needed a coffee so we stopped in a random town, Capitola. It was a cute little waterfront town with lots of personality. I was happy to get a great mocha from a local business rather than Starbucks.

Monday night we met up with Kurt and Stacey for some CRACK CHICKEN at a Chinese Restaurant in the Sunset neighborhood. Well its actually "Fried, Dried, Diced Chicken." Sooooooo good hence the nickname Kurt gave it. After a super yummy dinner, we got ice cream at a popular spot for locals. It was a great night!

Tuesday, Stacey and I took my folks sightseeing around San Francisco. We drove by some amazing homes, did the cable cars, saw and heard the seals, and my folks and I toured Alcatraz. Unfortunately the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia had more interesting stories and a huge ghost presence. Alcatraz just felt like an army base. I sensed nothing truly horrible went on.

THEN WE MET UP WITH GERRY VAUGHAN! He was in town from Los Angeles for a business meeting so he postponed his flight and met up with us for Happy Hour. Wow, that was a lot of drinking and eating! Afterwards Stacey insisted our full bellies head over to meet Kurt and her dad for dinner at some new little restaurant. We had been eating so much but we didn't want to disappoint her pops! The 3 of us had salads. Lame! Despite being absolutely full, I'm glad we got a chance to meet her dad, his gal and check out the adorable restaurant.

Wednesday, we headed over the Golden Gate Bridge for breakfast in Sausalito. There were lots of Seniors walking around this town too.

We drove north to Muir Woods and ended up taking the longer path that I believe was a gentle 4mile hike. I need to double check. I was so proud that my folks hiked the entire trail without complaining.

After the hike we went and checked out the cute little town of Petaluma. I stumbled upon a cool little stationary store where I bought fake pinup tattoos and stationary.

Then we made a pit stop in Pt. Reyes and though our goal was to get some yummy cheese, we didn't know how the heck to keep it cool and fresh during our road trip so we skipped out on the cheese. I know...crazy!

We planted ourselves for the night in Santa Rosa. It was really chilly that night! We thought the hotel had an indoor pool. Nope. It didn't faze the concierge when we asked where the pool was as we stood in our swimming gear. Dad ended up treating us to a round of drinks in the bar. I thanked him "for the swim."

Thursday, after breakfast, my mom and I stopped in a vintage shop across from the hotel where I bought the cutest black antique hat! They gave me an old hat box to carry it on the plane. Very cool!

We drove over to Sterling Winery where we hopped on the Gondola to tour the winery on top of the hill. I think we went to another winery but I can't recall. I know we strolled around and had a late lunch at a Mexican restaurant in the downtown village of Sonoma.

We stayed at the Sonoma Creek Inn, which at first we were a little unsure of since it's in a weird part of town but it ended up being a very comfy stay. Since we had a late lunch and were sick of eating, we spent the evening drinking at Murphy's Pub where a local took a liking to my mom and then the pub owner gave us great winery suggestions. Pub was closing and we were all the sudden hungry. Nothing was open at 10pm except Taco Bell. So my folks and I hit the drive-thru. haha

Friday, we had a nice breakfast at the cafe attached to the inn and then hit up Artesa Winery that had a beautiful landscape with lots of water fountains.
From there we stopped at Ravenwood, which felt like it was someone's house,
Coppola's one winery the Rubicon Estate that was beautiful,
Gundlach Bunschu - which was probably my favorite for some reason,
and then Imagery Estate that had REALLY cool art on its labels. We made a quick stop at Valley of the Moon Winery before ending our Wine country adventure.

I was amazed how close Napa/Sonoma Valleys were to San Francisco.
When we got back to San Francisco we drove through the old military base called the Presidio and then got a closer up view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I have better photos of the Bridge on my first trip back in 2006, as this visit was very windy and chilly.

When we got back to the house, we headed out for one last dinner with Stacey and Kurt. We walked through Chinatown to North Beach, the Italian neighborhood that has a million restaurants. We had dinner at Steps of Rome. My mom didn't feel so bad getting the cheesiest thing on the menu since Kurt; the heart doctor sitting next to her also ordered the same dish.

We covered a lot of territory in the week's time. Flights back home were flawless and we were back to the swing of things by Monday.