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| The gang before dinner at Eldorado Kitchen |
As a belated celebration for Keith's 50th birthday, Shawna had planned a long weekend (over July 4th) with friends in Sonoma. Shawna started the planning about a year ago and 'surprised' Keith with the plans in a video that she made and showed to him in late May of this year. She intended on showing the video to him on his birthday but he started to ask too many questions about the trip (he knew we were going to Sonoma but only thought Rak & Simran were joining) and she got tired of making up things. We rented a
five bedroom house just outside of Sonoma that had a large kitchen and living room for socializing, a large backyard with a pool, bocce ball and ping pong for playing and an outside dining table and chairs for eating. The house was great - we spent most of our evenings there enjoying the space and yummy meals. Rak/Sim, Kim/Tom, John/JoAnna and Charlie joined us for the festivities (Lena couldn't make it as she was in the late stages of baking a baby)!
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| Our House Rental |
Shawna and Keith flew in on Sunday night and drove straight to the house, arriving around 10pm. Shawna worked from the house Monday and Tuesday and made several runs to the grocery store to stock the house while Keith drove to Sacramento to visit properties. He had dinner on Monday night with Randee and Brian and on Tuesday, he drove to SFO to pick up Charlie. Simran arrived on Tuesday, first attending a farewell party in Sonoma for a friend - Shawna picked her up in the afternoon and drove her to the house. On Tuesday evening, Shawna had some cheese and crackers ready for when Charlie and Keith arrived and then served an Asian salmon faro dish for dinner.
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| Charlie has arrived! |
On Wednesday, Simran and Shawna relaxed at the house in the morning and made another run to the store while Charlie and Keith rented bikes and rode about 50 miles over to Napa, then North and then over the mountain range separating Napa and Sonoma valleys. The hill climb was quite hard so Keith had to get a ride from someone to the top. They both arrived back at the house about 30 minutes before the rest of the crew showed up - Rak driving in from San Fran and Kim/Tom/John/JoAnna driving up from SFO. We originally planned on going to a winery that afternoon but everyone opted to just hang out at the house, drink and enjoy the pool. That evening, Rak made a fabulous meal of grilled chicken and roasted vegetables. We toasted the birthday boy with some Dom and then had cheesecake for dessert.
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| The grill master! |
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| Dinner outside at the house |
On Thursday, Shawna made avocado toast for breakfast and then the whole crew (except Simran) went on a
bike tour of breweries. We drove over to Santa Rosa to get the bikes and then with the guide, we biked to
Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa and
Crooked Goat Brewery and
Hopmonk Tavern in Sebastopol, a total of about 12 miles. At Russian River, we got two orders of the full tasting (19 beers) and a snack to tide us over. Crooked Goat was our favorite as it was in a modern warehouse located in the
Barlow Center where there are several restaurants, breweries and wineries. At Hopmonk, we also had lunch where we shared the burrata and sliders.
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| Bike Tour |
Back at the house, we chilled a bit at the pool and then got ready for dinner. We went to
Eldorado Kitchen where we shared the roasted mushrooms (which were amazing) and seafood paella and then we all shared two desserts. After dinner, we caught the very end of the fireworks - they do quite a big show for such a small town - and then headed back to the house for a few more drinks before going to bed.
On Friday, we had yogurt and berries for breakfast and then we went on a wine tasting tour with a
private van that drove us around. The driver was quite hilarious, regaling us with stories of other tourists - in particular the 'woo hoo' girls. Our first stop was
Matanzas Creek where we had a private, seated tasting of five wines. Since we thought we had to buy a lot of wine at the next winery (they said there was a minimum wine purchase for using their picnic tables), we didn't buy any here to take back to the house with the exception of one nice red wine as a gift to Rakesh who cooked for us on two nights. After the tasting, we took a few photos outside in the lavender field.
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| Album Photo at Matanzas Creek |
Our second stop was
Landmark where we sat outside at a reserved picnic table and tasted five wines. We all liked the Pinot Gris so bought a couple of bottles to have at lunch and a few to take back to the house. We had lunch here - we brought cheese, crackers, bread, meats and chocolate. A few of us played cornhole on the lawn before heading to the next place.
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| Cornhole at Landmark |
Our third stop was
La Rochelle which is a small boutique winery near Landmark. It was not part of the original schedule but someone had recommend it so we gave it a try - glad we did. The place was small but very cute with an outside area that had tables, a bar and chickens! We tasted a few wines here as well - all reds.
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| La Rochelle |
Out last stop was
Imagery where we opted not to do a tasting but instead buy a bottle of Viognier that we shared outside while watching others play cornhole. We bought a couple of bottles to bring back to the house.
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| Imagery |
That evening, Rak prepared a yummy meal of mussels and pasta. We ate the mussels inside and then had the pasta at the outside table. Before dinner, some relaxed in the pool while a few of us gave a go at bocce (otherwise known as petanque in England which we quickly renamed to badonkadonk). Apparently, Shawna found a new calling as she and Charlie beat Kim and Tom. After dinner, we stayed up for a while laughing and dancing.
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| Relaxing in the pool |
On Saturday, Shawna made tostadas for breakfast and then we drove to Bodega Bay to do a hike. We originally planned on doing a hike near Glen Ellen but it was quite hot so we opted for a hike near the coast. John, JoAnna and Shawna hiked for about 5 miles on the
Kortum Trail that started at Shell Beach and went along the coast while Kim, Tom, Keith and Charlie hiked for a few miles on the
David Joseph Memorial Trail that went up a hillside and overlooked the ocean. They turned around early from this hike as they heard there was poison oak further down the path and then met us when we were returning from our hike. We then all walked down to the beach for a few photos.
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| Hiking near Bodega Bay |
On our way back to the house, we stopped at
Lucas Wharf in Bodega Bay for a beer and then went to
Barrio in the Barlow Center in Sebastopol to grab a quick late lunch. We shared a rice/pork dish. We then returned home where we relaxed more in the pool and played some of the games in the house. Shawna cooked kabobs, couscous with roasted veggies and roasted cauliflower with chickpeas. We ate again outside and enjoyed finishing up the wine and beer in the house. That evening, we played the game where you attempt to pick up a box with your mouth by bending over using a Sweet-n-Low box. It was down to Shawna and JoAnna and after Shawna pulled a few muscles, she gave in to JoAnna who could do this quite effortlessly - in fact she proved it at the end by picking up a Sweet-n-Low packet!! We then ended the evening with some dancing, including dance instructions from Tom on how to do the Roger Rabbit!
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| JoAnna showing off her skills |
On Sunday, we each made our own breakfast with whatever leftovers we had. We then packed up, checked out of the house and went on a
food walking tour in Sonoma where we learned a bit of history and did a variety of tastings. The tour stopped at
Hare & Hatter Sausage Emporium where we had champagne, flat bread and a sausage plate of a variety of sausages. The place was tiny but cute and the food was tasty. We then went to
Figone's Olive Oil Company where we tasted a variety of olive oils and balsamic vinegars - we particularly liked the balsamic and the fused oils. The owner was there so he told us about the history of his family in this business as well as about the production process. Our next stop was a bit of wine tasting at a small tasting room,
Bump, off the main square. The place was cute with lots of colorful artwork on the walls and the wine was pretty good. We then went to
La Casa where we tried a wine margarita and a yummy chicken and bean dish. Our last stop was at
Wine Country Chocolates where we tried three different chocolates and then were able to each get a truffle. Having a full stomach, we said our goodbyes and all drove back to SFO to catch our respective flights.
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| Food Walking Tour |
We had an amazing time, in a beautiful place, doing some fun things with some awesome friends! Tom said it best when he said it was great to pick up like there's been no time between us! Such great laughs and memories! Now on to the 60th (and a few more 50ths before then)!
