I had just booked our tickets for Nebraska when I got an email from Karin that she would be in San Francisco with Stefan. Karin and Stefan are friends from Hong Kong. They moved back to Europe before we left HK. We haven’t seen them in over six years. Of course, their flight schedule would be to leave SF the day I arrive back from Nebraska. I decided I would leave the girls in Nebraska at Grandma/pa’s and Terri could fly back to California with them. I only had one plane ticket to change and Stefan and Karin were without their children, also. Karin did some SF shopping in Union Square while Stefan worked. Stefan finished up his work requirements on Friday.
Saturday: Napa Valley Wine Tour
We picked Karin and Stefan up in San Francisco on Saturday morning at 10am. The weather was frogged in with a temperature below 50F/10C. We drove out of the fog into a beautiful day in Napa Valley.
The first stop on our Napa Valley wine tour is lunch at Gott’s Hamburgers. We sat outside enjoying the food and the sunshine. Then, it was time to hit the wineries as the day slips away too fast.
Our first winery is my favorite place, Folio Winemakers’ Studio. We enjoyed the wine and the time to reconnecting with old friends. The staff working behind the counter were interested in how we meet. We had a good laugh about our German friends we met in Hong Kong that now live in Switzerland! After buying a few bottles plus a case due to a special we couldn’t pass, we were ready for the next winery.
We drove to the Artesa Winery. This winery has a beautiful view over the valley. We didn’t wine taste because it was crowded and loud inside.
Our next stop was downtown St Helena which took longer than normal to reach due to traffic on the two lane road of Napa. Stefan had said he loves olive oil so we needed to make a dash over to Olivier. We purchased olive oil, dipping oils and mustards before dashing off to our next winery.
It was already 4pm – the day is slipping away. We decided to hit a small winery on the main road, Sawyer Cellars. I had not been to this one, but Andy recommend it. It was a delightful small winery. Stefan bumped into Charles, who happen to be the owner of the winery. Charles was greeting guest and behind the counter pouring wine.
Many wineries close at 5pm, but we knew Peju Province Winery was open until 6pm. We enjoyed one last wine tasting before going to dinner at “The Farm”.
At The Farm, the restaurant was serving pee soup. Both Karin and Stefan laughed and comment no descent restaurant in Germany would serve pee soup. Apparently pee soup is served in the Army. All young men are required to serve in the army – so no one eats pee soup in Germany!
Sunday: Home Town Tour
Karin and Stefan are staying at our home. Terri and Andy have moved into our home while they remodel their house. Our house is a MESS – Terri and Andy have their stuff in every room in the house. However, it is fun to have our guest in our home.
We are spending the day on our Home Town Tour. We began with the Farmer’s Market which we do every Sunday when we are in town. From there, we ate lunch at Andale’s, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. We were in no hurry and enjoyed a long lunch. We walked around downtown with a stop at the Apple store, of course. Stefan had said he was NOT going to buy the ipad, but once we shopped the store, he was ready to buy. However, this store only had white…we will come back tomorrow.
Karin and I did a grocery run to Whole Foods. Karin enjoyed seeing the supermarkets of America. We had a feast for dinner – steak and our farmer’s market buys of salad, corn and artichokes. Artichokes are a very California vegetable since they are home grown here. And, of course, we started the meal with our Napa Valley wines and dippings. When the night finished, we had drank four bottles of Napa Valley wines. Andy joined us for dinner so it was not a full bottle per person. Always nice that no one had to drive!
Monday: Carmel Tour
We drove down to the 17-mile drive. The 17-Mile Drive is widely recognized as one of the most scenic drives in the world. The famous coastal landmark runs through Pacific Grove to Pebble Beach, from the Pacific coastline to the Del Monte Forest. It has been years since Jim and I have done the “touristy” California. It was fun to be tourist with Karin and Stefan. We stopped to enjoy the views, the ocean and the flowers!
Point Joe – Early mariners often crashed upon these rocks after mistakenly setting their course for this point, believing that it was the entrance to Monterey Bay.
Spanish Bay – Don Gaspar de Portela, the Spanish explorer, and his crew camped here in 1769 while searching for Monterey Bay.
The Lone Cypress – As one of California’s most enduring landmarks, The Lone Cypress has prevailed on its rocky perch for over 250 years. This icon has inspired many and is revered as the eternal symbol of Pebble Beach Company.
The Lodge at Pebble Beach – Built in 1919, The Lodge is the heart and soul of Pebble Beach and home to the world-famous Pebble Beach Golf Links. Karin and Stefan are both golfers, therefore, Pebble Beach was on the “must stop” list. We were interested in finding the cost to golf Pebble Beach – for two people it was a mere $1, 500 for the day!
By the time we got to Carmel, it was 3:30pm. We were a hungry crew with no lunch. We called our meal “linner” for our combined lunch and dinner. We ate at one of my favorite places, “The Forge in the Forest”. We had the outside patio to ourselves since it was between meal time. After finishing our meal, it was dessert time. The Forge in the Forest has the best warm cookie in a pan. No one wanted it…how can we come to the Forge and not have the cookie!?! It is too big for one person. Karin said she would have some with me. After it came, everyone had some!!
After enjoying our cookie, we walked down to the beach. Carmel has a beautiful beach with fine, white sand. We enjoyed a walk along the beach and dipping our toes in the ocean…it is cold!
We drove back to the Bay Area with a stop at the local mall. We wanted to get the ipad for Stefan with time to “set it up” before they left for Switzerland. It doesn’t take long to shop at the Apple store when you know what you want.
We went back to the house for wine, cheese and crackers for dinner. Stefan, Andy and Jim “set up” and played with Stefan’s ipad. We stayed up until midnight eating, drinking and laughing. It was so nice to having them stay in our home to enjoy the late night fun.
Tuesday: Hike Tour and Travel
Since Karin and Stefan were leaving in the evening, we had time to enjoy a hike. We went on a hike along the coast. It was a bit fogged in to see the view, but the fog was pretty!
We drove up Skyline Road to Alice’s Restaurant. Alice’s is a bit famous, but Jim and I have not been there. This particular restaurant was named after both the original owner, Alice, and Arlo Guthrie made up a song entitled “Alice’s Restaurant”. Alice’s guest crowd ranges from guest in expensive, fast sport cars to Harley Davidson bikers to bicyclists all enjoying the Skyline curves and scenes. It is generally very crowded, but again when you have a late lunch, there is room on the deck.
We drove back to our house for our guest to pack for their journey home. We enjoyed sharing our California area with our friends. We cherished the time to reconnect with good friends. We had fun as adults without kids (but we won’t tell them). Emersyn and Johannes played together in Hong Kong. Next time, it will be fun to get together with our children.