When Sarah mentioned she was dying to go to Napa (yup... that is how I tell the story), we just 'had' to plan an unofficial bachelorette in Napa! Jackie's family owns a place up there and just so happened to be away for the weekend. Worked Perfectly! So, we got a few girls together and viola! .. Amy's 2nd ever Girls Trip was planned! Her first one was Seattle over 5 years ago and boy, that was a fun one too ~ don't you think, Kendall?
Our first day was spent touring the bars in San Fransisco. We took a Ferry from Tiburon to San Fran and walked from there. The ride was a little windy, but pretty and we got to see the bridge and Alcatraz!
In order to be marked as true tourists, we stopped to see the sea lions at Pier 39. After we worked up a thirst... we hit a few bars to get a feel for the city. I'm still sad we never made it to Jack's Cannery Bar (pronounced 'canary'), but we did make it to the Chowder Hut for true chowder bread bowls, the Blue Mermaid for fancy drinks, the Ghirardelli store for dessert and Swiss Louis to check out their fresh clams.
I just Had to get the girls to stop here since my kiddos are Obsessed right now with transformers! Here is the pic of us and Optimus Prime!
After we returned to Tiburon, we found out they were hosting a community carnival that evening; complete with bouncy castles, food trucks, bands and Djs! How do we sign up! The evening started and ended with this balloon and the waffles off the food trucks tasted like Rainbows and Unicorns. I'm not sure I can tell all of the stories from this evening as there were too many laughs to count, but I thought I would let your imagination go wild from pictures alone.
This might have been my favorite part. They had just set up the obstacle stations and no kids were ready to play... Game On! Some races were closer than others, but all were equally entertaining to watch!
This is pretty much where we landed for most of our evening as we danced to some of the best bands in Tiburon. Some of them even sounded like the original artists! We may not be notorious in Napa yet, but we sure Rocked Tiburon, California!
Can you believe that was only one day? The next day was the reason for our trip ~ NAPA! We rented a limo to pick us up from the house so we could be safe all day long as we toured beautiful wine country. We were spoiled with champagne and strawberries! Did I mention that my favorite Janessa joined us for the day? She fit right in! ... In fact... I think my friends like her more than me :-)
First stop? Stags' Leap Winery. Fun fact of the day... this winery is not related to Stag's Leap Winery. Very small distinction and a long legal battle, but definitely different wineries. If only our limo driver knew that... sigh. We did end up making it to our first destination on time and enjoyed the beautiful estate and delicious varieties of wine. My favorite part was to learn they keep their barrels in a cave to allow them to stabilize the temperature and the accountant in me loved the fact that you don't pay taxes on caves.
They even let us all throw a quick bocce ball tournament on the property. After we were tuckered out from the big game, we entered the manor house and learned the history of the woman who drove this business into success. We of course tried several different wines. All were delicious; each showing finesse and integrity that the company was built upon.
After our purchases were made, we found our way to Goosecross Cellars. We actually had this tasting set up by Melissa Coors (works in HR dept with Kris). We mentioned who we were and were whisked away from the 'average people' and brought to this private tasting location with Ashley Coors. We had an amazing time and it was very fun to see the similarities and differences between the sisters. Janessa's favorite part was Ashley's new pup (7 month old, Janessa?.. pretty sure she won money on that bet), Cooper (aka: Coup-a-loop)
What else would you eat in the middle of wine tasting? Sushi! and boy... we Really ate sushi! I can't even count the rolls we ordered, but they were all delicious at Eikos Japanese restaurant.
Our final stop for the day was at Gundlach Bundschu (pronounced "Gun Lock Bun Shoe") in Sonoma. I smiled as soon as we drove up to it as it triggered a memory for me from my trip to Sonoma with Kris for our 10 year anniversary. We rode bikes around the area and stopped at the gate for a picture of the beautiful estate before continuing on with our ride. This ended up being my least favorite winery of the three this trip, but seriously... the other two were Really Hard to beat! We had a beautiful view on the terrace in the courtyard.
Anyone else have it on their bucket list to take a limo to In-N-Out? Well, we can cross that one right off our list! Done and D-U-N! That pretty much sums up our trip... six crazy girls, hundreds of stories and a thousand laughs. Perfect Girls Trip to Seattle.... er... I mean Napa!
