Small Town Girl. Big City World.: Napa, San Francisco & Los Gatos

I had been itching to go up north for a while. Everyone kept saying "Oh, you would love it there!" Just so happened, Matt and Amy had a wedding to attend in Los Gatos (hour south of San Fran) so I finally had an excuse to go/ tag along. We roped Rob into going too. Roadtrip!!

On Friday, we set out on our journey on Interstate 5, which would usually be a drab scenery of brown grassy knolls but since we have been blessed with rain this year, it was actually quite green, lush and beautiful. Late in the night we made a stop in Pleasanton just to rest.

The next morning (Friday) we got up bright and early and made our way to Napa!! Amy and I have become quite the wine connoisseurs the last couple of years, so we were excited to try out something outside of our Trader Joe's cellar.

Napa is overwhelming...overwhelmingly awesome. All you have to do is drive down the road and you have a ridiculous amount of fine wineries to choose from less than a mile from each other. It reminds me of walking down Rodeo drive and seeing one high end store after the other but with wineries! (And the fact most of it, I can't afford).

We started off at Castello Di Amorosa, we did not do a tasting but wanted to check out the mid-evil castle that sits on the winery. Pretty cool. Then we sat down and ate some lunch at Farmstead Restaurant. It was so yummy and fresh. I had one of the best burgers ever garnished with chopped pickled cauliflower and homemade ketchup.

After lunch we visited 3 different wineries to do tastings: Caymus, Frog's Leap, and Inglenook. We loved the feeling of Frog's Leap because of the covered back porch looking out into their aged vines. I must admit I had my doubts of the winery because of the name, frogs doesn't make me think "fine wine". I stand corrected though, it was wonderful. But our favorite wine came at the end of the day at Inglenook, a Francis Ford Coppola winery. We shared a bottle of Edizione Pennino, a Zinfandel, the perfect end to a beautiful day.

On Saturday, we hopped in the car and headed down south towards San Francisco, a city I have always wanted to visit. Since our final destination was south of San Fran we breezed through town first stopping at Pluto's for lunch and then walked down to a park to take in views and snap pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. I hopefully plan on spending more time in San Francisco in the fall because I won a 2-night hotel stay at a Marriott from work a few months ago!! I can't wait to go back again.

We then cruised further south to Los Gatos, the town where the wedding was held. We settled in to the Toll House Hotel complete with fresh cookies and then Rob and I dropped Matt and Amy off at the wedding site and went downtown. Downtown Los Gatos is one of the cutest towns I have ever seen. It embodies a small down feel yet it is centered in the middle of the Silicon Valley. Rob and I walked around the shops and then treated ourselves to a massage. We ate dinner at The Pastaria & Market where they make their own pasta. It was delicious and had a warm Italian family feel. I could pack up my bags and live in this town...only if I had a million dollars.

What a fabulous trip! I can't wait to go back and explore more of this area of California. I am so blessed to live in a state that has such diversity not only in people but landscape. Cheers!