TnT Travel Adventures: May 2016

Joe's Graduation
Sonoma May 2016

We arrived in Oakland with Em to meet Lis who had landed 30 minutes earlier from Midway. Timing was great with thanks to T and gratitude to Southwest Airlines. #LUVSWA Always on time and on point both flights arrived as advertised.

Grabbed our rental box van. The car had to be big enough to carry all of us and a driver for our wine tasting to come. The four of us drove to Napa to show the girls the town, neither had ever visited wine country. Our first stop as you might guess was Hog Island at the Oxbow Market in Napa. Joe arrived to join us for a wonderful lunch al fresco under the shining Napa sun. Even got Lis to try an oyster and well, that will be her last. We shared delicious food and some wine then drove through downtown Sonoma to our Santa Rosa home at the Marriott Courtyard. A wonderful spot close to everything in wine country and much more reasonable than Napa proper. Close to Russian River, the coast, Healdsburg, etc.

Our first night was a party planned by Joe's friends at a rented house in the hills overlooking the beautiful region. We were greeted by girls and their parents who apparently had formed a Joe fan club. Everyone sang his praises and the genuine admiration of our #1 son made Mom and I proud to tears. He is an amazing young man with a bright future.We shared sandwiches and appetizers and pot luck goodies while sipping on some of the finest wine in the area not to mention the great craft beer. Joe works at MacRostie winery in Healdsburg and some of his friends also work "in the industry". The selection was first class and amazing while we were standing and chatting watching the glorious sunset. The evening was no less than epic and we enjoyed meeting every person and smiled broadly hearing them gush about Mr. B.

Saturday saw the big day. Graduation in 4 years! A true feat at a state school in California. The morning started with wine tasting-what else?

MacRostie had arranged for us a private room with lunch ordered from a local incredible sandwich place. The room, the views, the hosts, the wines, were all spectacular, we truly got the royal treatment and imbibed along with being educated about the terroir. It's all about the terroir.
Joe was showered with gifts and hugs as we enjoyed our pre-grad wine country "tailgater".

Off to the afternoon graduation ceremony early enough to park and get a seat.

The campus is beautiful and we found some spots up high on the bleachers. A good vantage point and in the shade! The ceremony was perfect including the inspiring speech from a young veteran who had lost his legs but not his incredible uplifting spirit. Joe stayed to the very end, many diploma and dash but this is a once in a lifetime event to be savored and remembered. Dinner reservations at Willi's wine bar, a local happy place for us for many years. We brought our own wine and enjoyed the tapas style meal with our usual we-eat-almost-anything gusto. A landmark day had come and gone, in an unforgettable way.

Sunday was wine country day. The girls have not done a wine tasting tour of this area and it was time we all shared it together. Kids are more fun after 21! We met our hired driver who took our rental and shuttled us to three places Joe had reserved. Each one was a delight and our 6 hours went faster than we imagined. We counted the number of times Mom cried and used music and stories to encourage the count. The baby of the family graduated college, she's entitled.

After another perfect day in wine country we went to another favorite spot, Rossos pizzaria. Go. Order the piadina. And on the way you might see wild turkeys just walking down the street. Yes we did. Get a glass of wine and watch the open pizza oven orchestration. We closed the place after 9pm and headed to The Russian River Brewing Company for a Pliny the Elder. This IPA is a legendary beer in the craft world at the moment. It's sibling Pliny the Younger is seasonal and goes fast and requires standing in an our long line down the block. After a taste and a purchase to enjoy back home with a friend, we headed back for some well earned rest.

Monday was travel day and we walked a local farmers market with coffee. Lis was meeting a friend in SF so we dropped her at the BART in Oakland for the 3 stops over/under the bay and we headed with Em to Oakland, back to Burbank for what we didn't know then was the last time. Drama? No. Travel adventure? Yes!

The next post explains.