Russian River/Sonoma Country Birthday Trip

Another August, another SMS birthday! We celebrated with a long weekend prior with a trip to Russian River with friends, followed by a trip to St. Helena on our own.

Russian River was a lot of fun although I have zero pictures to prove it. We stayed at a house our friends rented. We showed up mid-afternoon on Saturday after stopping at Hook in the Outer Sunset for lunch. It is so delicious. I had a delicious pozole soup while SMS had a grilled fish burrito. So good. When we arrived, our friends had already canoed away, so we floated around near the dock. I ate a lot of ripe blackberries which was very cool, although I felt like a bear foraging. That night, we ordered the world’s smallest, most expensive pizzas since time was going by and there was no movement to actually go get dinner. Instead, adults and children were getting hungrier so I made my salad, sliced the watermelon, and ordered pizza. My friend was impressed and also totally fine with it, never fear.

The next day, we went out for an afternoon of wine tasting. First, we stopped in Occidental for lunch at the Bohemian Market (more deli/informal restaurant than market, although there are little displays here and there), which was a great stop. Then we crossed the street to Bohème Tasting Room for some excellent pinot noirs. The tasting was free (!), but we bought a fair amount. SMS and I first had the wine when we went to Singlethread back in 2016, and it’s been a favorite since even though it’s been a few years since we had a bottle. It’s not too badly priced, especially compared to Napa! SMS and I have four years of our favorite pinot noir so we’re going to host a vertical tasting dinner party, probably at the end of the month. I can’t wait!

Later that afternoon, we went to Iron Horse and met up with Akshay, who had stayed back to do some work. We had a really nice sparkling in the back where there are tables under a pergola. It was delightful. Such a beautiful day- sunny, perfect temperature, and a slight breeze. It was a little too much in the sun, but in the shade? Wonderful.

On Monday, we headed out to St. Helena. On our way, we stopped at The Petrified Forest. Not the National Park (in AZ), but the roadside attraction west of Calistoga. I think there were better days in the past, but there were still some visitors and it was a neat place to check out. It is for sale, if anyone is interested. We talked to a few locals (at wineries) over the next two days and asked about it- it was definitely a hot spot for school field trips back in the day! I can definitely see that. It had that sort of feel.

We stayed at the Wydown Hotel, which was in the main downtown. There were pool passes available to a small pool/fitness club down the street. We took advantage of that both days. It was hot! The first night, we ate at Farmstead, which was pretty delicious and had some healthier options on the menu.

The next day, we walked around St. Helena in the morning and went to Oakville Grocery for lunch. The sandwiches were excellent, and then we had a “tasting” in their wine store that features wine dispensers that I first saw/used in Japan a million years ago (ok, ok, 2007). It was fun to taste fancy bottles. I might be able to tolerate more Camus in my life:)

After lunch, we went to Hall Winery, which we ended up loving. We had comped tastings, but joined the wine club anyway because the wine is delicious and the membership perks are really generous: four complimentary tastings/visit, two tastings that we can give to friends even if we’re not there, and seemingly fun parties. In addition, the complementary tastings are also good at two other wineries: Walt (Pinots) and Baca (Zins). It’s good to have a place where we can take visitors who want to see Napa since Napa tasting prices can add up quickly!

That evening, we went to Goose & Gander for dinner, which was good. The decor was dated, but in kind of a nostalgic, comfy kind of way. The food was good and they are known for their cocktails.

The next day, we headed home after an awesome long weekend. We both went to work the next day, which was actually SMS’ birthday day. But it’s what he wanted since he didn’t have a lot of vacation time b/c of his recent job switch and hanging out with our friends in Russian River was worth it and only doable that prior weekend.

Happy birthday SMS!!!!