OK, readers. It is official. My husband is THE BEST husband out there. As proof, I present you with exhibit A, also known as "The Best Weekend Ever". My husband planned a weekend trip as a surprise for me. He arranged ALL the details, including all the reservations and even arranged a babysitter to stay with the kids over the weekend. Yes, that's right, a weekend with NO KIDS! Just the two of us! Don't get me wrong, I love my kids VERY much, but I do spend a lot of time with them, so this was a real treat. And, as if it wasn't already great enough, he didn't tell me ANYTHING about the weekend. I had no idea where we were going. Just that we were dropping off the kids at school on Friday morning and then leaving for the airport! How fun! So, on the way to the airport he finally let me look in an envelope that told me we were jetting off to....... (drum roll here) the Napa Valley Wine Country in California!!!! A place where neither one of us has ever been! It was very exciting. We boarded a plane and flew to California. After landing in Sacramento, we picked up our car and drove to Napa. We pulled up to a GORGEOUS mansion, which is where he had made reservations for the weekend.
After checking in, we went over to the spa at the Silverado mansion and had a massage, which he had arranged ahead of time. It was SOOOO fantastic! Then we showered and got dressed up and went to the restaurant on the resort grounds and had a wonderful dinner. The next morning we ate breakfast and toured around downtown Napa before checking in for our next adventure... lunch aboard the Wine Train. We boarded an old fashioned steam train that leisurely chugged through the Napa Valley so that you could see the scenery while eating a gourmet meal. It was beautiful. Below you see Luke boarding the train.
After lunch, we had a bit of time to drive around and get a closer look at some of the wineries that we had seen by train. The first one that we stopped out was really amazing. Castilla di Amarosa took its founder 14 years and 31 million dollars to build. He wanted to build an authentic Medieval castle, complete with vineyards, wine storage vaults, moat, drawbridge, church, dungeon, towers... you get the idea. It was really unbelievable! And, best of all, it had a beautiful wine tasting room! We got to sample a few different varieties and even bought a few bottles that are being shipped to us here at home. Below is a photo of us at the top of one of the towers. We set the timer on my camera to take this pic. Pretty impressive, huh?
After touring that winery, we had another wonderful meal at the Bayleaf restaurant. It was AMAZING food. We left there and went back to our room, exhausted and stuffed. Sunday we had to drive back to Sacramento, but we had a few hours to drive around and see a few more sights. We stopped at V. Sattui Wineries, which was probably my favorite. They had beautiful grounds where you could bring a picnic (or buy their food and picnic...). Even though it was pretty early in the day, their wine rooms were open for samples! We bought a few more bottles of their "vino", which they are also shipping to us. Thanks, V. Sattui! Below is a picture of just a few of the huge oak wine barrels in their massive wine cellars.
Everywhere you went in the Napa Valley there were grape vines. There would be a cottage, and directly off the back porch would be rows and rows of grapes. I couldn't resist taking a few shots of the grapes up close, because, really, in Napa, they are the stars.
We also visited the Robert Mondavi Winery, which is one of the "biggies". It was truly lovely, and I will try and post some more photos tomorrow. After we finished touring, we raced back to Sacramento and hopped our flight back to Texas. Wonderful Miss Judy had the kids all tucked into bed and asleep by the time we got home. Even though they say they missed us, I think they secretly had a wonderful weekend! They went out to Judy's house and fed the ducks with June and drove the golf cart. They also made their team's football game, where they cheered their team on to another victory. They also made it to church, and then weaseled their way to Chicken Express for lunch, which is one of their favorite treats. All in all, a good time was had by everyone (but especially by ME! ha ha) My husband is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!
After checking in, we went over to the spa at the Silverado mansion and had a massage, which he had arranged ahead of time. It was SOOOO fantastic! Then we showered and got dressed up and went to the restaurant on the resort grounds and had a wonderful dinner. The next morning we ate breakfast and toured around downtown Napa before checking in for our next adventure... lunch aboard the Wine Train. We boarded an old fashioned steam train that leisurely chugged through the Napa Valley so that you could see the scenery while eating a gourmet meal. It was beautiful. Below you see Luke boarding the train.
After lunch, we had a bit of time to drive around and get a closer look at some of the wineries that we had seen by train. The first one that we stopped out was really amazing. Castilla di Amarosa took its founder 14 years and 31 million dollars to build. He wanted to build an authentic Medieval castle, complete with vineyards, wine storage vaults, moat, drawbridge, church, dungeon, towers... you get the idea. It was really unbelievable! And, best of all, it had a beautiful wine tasting room! We got to sample a few different varieties and even bought a few bottles that are being shipped to us here at home. Below is a photo of us at the top of one of the towers. We set the timer on my camera to take this pic. Pretty impressive, huh?
After touring that winery, we had another wonderful meal at the Bayleaf restaurant. It was AMAZING food. We left there and went back to our room, exhausted and stuffed. Sunday we had to drive back to Sacramento, but we had a few hours to drive around and see a few more sights. We stopped at V. Sattui Wineries, which was probably my favorite. They had beautiful grounds where you could bring a picnic (or buy their food and picnic...). Even though it was pretty early in the day, their wine rooms were open for samples! We bought a few more bottles of their "vino", which they are also shipping to us. Thanks, V. Sattui! Below is a picture of just a few of the huge oak wine barrels in their massive wine cellars.
Everywhere you went in the Napa Valley there were grape vines. There would be a cottage, and directly off the back porch would be rows and rows of grapes. I couldn't resist taking a few shots of the grapes up close, because, really, in Napa, they are the stars.
We also visited the Robert Mondavi Winery, which is one of the "biggies". It was truly lovely, and I will try and post some more photos tomorrow. After we finished touring, we raced back to Sacramento and hopped our flight back to Texas. Wonderful Miss Judy had the kids all tucked into bed and asleep by the time we got home. Even though they say they missed us, I think they secretly had a wonderful weekend! They went out to Judy's house and fed the ducks with June and drove the golf cart. They also made their team's football game, where they cheered their team on to another victory. They also made it to church, and then weaseled their way to Chicken Express for lunch, which is one of their favorite treats. All in all, a good time was had by everyone (but especially by ME! ha ha) My husband is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 comment:
You're right! I am completely jealous :) Glad it was lots of fun...
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