The Cali Trip

So, here is my trip to California in a nut shell. Well, I'm gonna try and get it in a nut shell, maybe a coconut shell...

First and foremost I have to say that I will NEVER, EVER be happy flying again unless it is on JetBlue Airlines. Now that is a way to be spoiled! The seats are a tad bit bigger/more leg room, which doesn't really do anything for me cuz I'm small but the Sweet One was happy...and the individual Direct TV monitors are so so SO GREAT! I am leaving for Austin on Friday and I am just not quite sure how I'm gonna get through it, not to mention I am flying Southwest aka Ghetto Airlines! It was the only direct and affordable flight tho AND JetBlue doesn't fly to Texas at all dammit! Seriously though, this is the last I'll say - if you ever have the chance, fly JetBlue...I heart them!

So - flew into Oakland on Thursday morn and decided to head into San Fran and do a little running around before heading to Napa.

SF - The Rock

I won't bore you with all of the boring details. Instead I'll give you a picture montage...here we go, wwhhheeeee...

This was an Italian bakery that we stopped in. Everything was so yummy but I couldn't get my mind or my camera off of the penis shaped pastries... See them right there in the middle? I'm praying they weren't cream filled...

The entrance to the Niebaum-Coppola winery. It was nice but a little too commercial and Disney Land-like in terms of your standard vinyard. The grounds were beautiful, don't get me wrong but getting a tasting was a huge cluster fuck, but still yummy once we got it!




This is the Sterling Vinyard. One of my fave wines. They have a tram system that takes you up the mountain for a tasting. That was wonderful!


I figured a picture of some real live grapes on the vine would be nice... I even picked one and ate it! I'm such a rebel...

We stopped at this road side BBQ joint. Looked pretty authentic as they were cooking things on the pit out in the open. It was DEEELISH but let me tell you, when they say that their sauce is hot, they mean it!! YUM...

This was the highlight! Grabbed a bottle, okay, maybe two, of bubbly at Domain Chandon sat on the well manicured lawn with a cheese board and great company and got toasted in the warm sunshine with a great view. God I wish I was there now!

I love this pic! A big stud drinking some "sparkling wine"! ha ha

I LOVE IT...who doesn't like the bubbles?

This is the wall at a restaurant called the Martini House. I love this picture because it's just how I feel sometimes! Don't we all?

The restaurant was beautiful but it was so expensive and I honestly had a better dinner at a much cheaper, dirtier place in San Fran...more to come on that!


This was the seating area outside of our hotel's bar where I think we spotted a real-live hooker picking up some 'John's'! It was funny. And this spot was so great. What's better than drinking, laying back and people watching?

Driving the winding mountain roads in Napa.

Yeah, yeah...you tilt it, you swirl it, whatever. Give me some wine so I can DRINK IT! Did you know that some people actually dump their wine in the spit buckets? That is insane! They could just give it to us and we'll finish it for them. I mean, I'm not that serious into wine to not finish what's in my glass just because the "bouquet doesn't taste quite what it's vintage should be". Where I'm from they call that a PARTY FOUL!



Outside of Beringer Winery. It was so beautiful. Someone recommended we take a "tour" there. We did. It was okay, kind of cool to hear the history. Not a HUGE Beringer fan and if I'm going to Napa, I'm drinking something better than that for sure...

The caves at Beringer. I wish that was my basement! All of those 750 barrels are filled with red wine!



This was at the Stinking Rose in San Francisco. Now, I'm a fan of garlic, I think it's essential in cooking, adds flavor, the whole shabang but THIS was a little much. It is the restaurant's signature 'garlic in a hot tub'. The garlic cloves were soft as butter and you could spread it on your bread. Sometimes people, there is such a thing as too much garlic! It makes my stomach turn just looking at it...yuck!


A little skyline action in the Northbeach area of San Francisco.

This place claimed that they "probably have the best Bloody Mary's in SF". Well, I have to say, they were pretty damn tasty. They were spicy, had an olive, celery and a piece of pickled asparagus that was very tasty but the best bloody I have ever had was in New Orleans sadly, and the Sweet One makes a mean bloody too...so, their bloody very likely is "probably" the best one in SF!!

This is the House of Nanking. It is the best Chinese restaurant in the world. Yes, I am making that bold statement. If you've ever been you'll agree. If you haven't then you need to go. And yes, there are people actually standing in line to eat there. It's that good. The line moves fast and they get you in and out. If you're smart you tell the owner what type of dish you're in the mood for and let him hook you up with whatever he wants. It's the best way and you get the best dishes. I can't tell you what we ate but I do know it was a fish dish, a pork dish, a chicken dish and a beef dish! All scrumptious and all things I would have never thought to order on my own! If you are ever in China Town, SF, make it a point to get to House of Nanking. If there is a line, wait in it. It's worth it. The prices make it even more worth it! (4 adults, 4 main dinner dishes, 4 beers = $65! now that's what I call a bargain)

This bus advertisement made me feel diiirty!



This apparently is "where good friends and girls meet"...


This is the nightly fog rolling into San Fran.



This is a bar in North Beach that the Sweet One and I make a point to visit every time we're in San Fran.

This is the signature drink at Tosca. It's hot chocolate and they add Brandy to it - perfect for cool San Francisco evenings. The story behind the drink is that back in the prohibition days they would sell this drink disguised as straight hot chocolate but little did the feds know it was all jacked up with the good stuff! That story alone keeps me coming back and brings a tear to my eye. Isn't it pretty how they have them all lined up on the bar just waiting their turn to be ordered and inseminated with hooch?


This is a picture in a bar called North Star in SF. If you look at it one way it looks like the virgin Mary, if you look at it another way it looks like Jesus...or I was just really fucked up...I'm really still not sure.


And...the last thing I remember drinking on Sunday night (after a plethera of Guinniss, Martini's, beer, shots of chilled sambuca espresso's, vodka tonic's and mango/pineapple infused vodka -oh god I think I'm gonna puke) - Irish Car Bombs! OY! I know it's not the very last thing I drank because I saw pictures...and I remember, I think, guzzling something down as we were being told to leave the bar as they were closing! Getting up at 6am to head to the airport was rough! I should have just stayed up, I would have probably felt a lot better...

So - as you can see by my long ass post that you probably stopped reading/looking at a loooong time ago, we did a lot of drinking and eating on this trip. Exactly what a vacation should be.

2 days to Austin City Limits where I can do it all over again!

YEEE HAAW!