And so we did—first at Son’s house where we drank wine and
ate great meals and enjoyed the fellowship. They took us to a new Chinese
Bistro called Ping’s. Lots of great and unusual dishes, including frog! We also
tried a dumpling place and I confess, I love Chinese dumplings. Son made his
signature salmon and I raided his wine cabinet with abandon, even though we
were headed up to wine country later in the week. What can I say? I love wine.
DIL taught me how to make a new breakfast delicacy—avocado
toast. Yummy! And my first taste of lemon olive oil, which is amazing and
gave the avocado a citrusy zip. I’m a believer! Got to watch of Grandboy’s new
favorite movies with him Moana and Storks. Good
fun, except now the music from Moana is stuck in both our heads! And everytime
you say, “thank you” to Grandboy, he sings back, “you’re welcome!” in Dwayne
Johnson fashion. Too cute!
After five days at the the kids’ house, we left for our
second honeymoon in Angels Camp—a
little resort type village about two and a half hours north and east of the Bay
Area. We had three days just the two of us before Son and Grandboy would drive
up to spend the weekend with us. Thursday we simply hung out and got to know
the little town, found a grocery store, settled into our condo, and enjoyed
some wine out on the balcony. Gorgeous views of the Sierra Foothills inspired
the Zen—we were relaxing. On Wednesday, we went up to Murphys, a town about ten miles
north, to taste wine and visit some shops. Tasted some wine, had lunch at a fun
little French patisserie, and then bought some wine.
Great winery called Lavender Ridge had a gorgeous Grenache
Rosé
that knocked our socks off and the little tasting room brought back such
wonderful memories of Paris that I didn’t want to leave. The little town was
sweet and everyone was friendly and kind—we really enjoyed the day. Then home
to our cozy condo for supper and sitting on the balcony with a bottle of wine.
On Thursday, we spent the day in Angels Camp. First we
listened to a fascinating talk about Samuel
Clemens time in Calaveras County and how he discovered his Mark Twain voice
there—his story, The Celebrated Jumping
Frog of Calaveras County, was kindled right there by a tale told to him in
the Angels Hotel. Mark Twain is celebrated like crazy in this little place and
they’ve had an annual jumping
frog contest every May since 1928. We toured a terrific museum where we
learned about the Gold Rush and mining—all in all, the honeymoon was wonderful—wine
and history and sunsets—how can you go wrong, really?
Son and Grandboy arrived on Thursday night and Friday, we
hit the road to drive up to Big Trees State Park to see the sequoias—what an
awesome sight (truly awesome, I promise!). We went back to the condo for
lunch and then headed back into Murphys for more wine tasting and some Nanny
and Grandboy play time. While Poppy and Daddy tasted, Grandboy and I wandered,
got ice cream, and hit the town park where the playground was the perfect spot
for him to be Pepper, the hamster (from his preschool) in the tubes and slides. Too fun! Thursday
night was another great supper and another wine sunset . . . nice.
Saturday, we drove up to Jamestown to do the steam train
ride and museum, which turned out to be not only a great deal of fun, but
completely fascinating. Lots of cool train history that enthralled us all. Back
to the condo so Grandboy and I could swim and splash in the pool—ah, lovely! I
missed water! Then a charming Italian restaurant for supper was the perfect
capper to our weekend.
We found wine, we found rest and relaxation, we found lots
of family joy and fellowship . . . and we found some Zen. Isn’t that exactly
what a vacation is supposed to do?
Sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteAnd so it was! I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
DeleteWhat a fabulous amount if family, food, wine, and Zen you were able to pack into your days!! It sounds wonderful (and I agree about the Moana music!)
ReplyDeleteThe wine was amazing, Ava--I totally recommend Murphy's as the place to taste in the Sierra Foothills!
DeleteWhat a beautiful vacation - sounds perfect!
ReplyDeleteYup--loved time with Son and Grandboy and DIL--but also loved the honeymoon time, too! ;-)
DeleteWhat a wonderful time of family, travel, food and wine. Grandboys are the best! I am glad it was a good time for all of you.
ReplyDeleteGrandboys can't be beat, Carolyn, true enough! I recommend vacationing with them--they bring a lot of joy!
DeleteHow lovely, Nan. I've always wanted to go to wine country in California, because I love wine, too! Glad you had such a wonderful time.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jana--oh, you should make the trip sometime--it's grand!
DeleteSounds wonderful. I love that area of California! Next time you should just stay on I-5 going North until you hit Portland :)
ReplyDelete