Anything but a Schmidty Life!: Wine Me and Dine Me

After having our second child, weekend getaways with the husband are darn near non-existent. So, for Steve's birthday, I got him a gift that we both would enjoy (well, maybe ME a little more than him, but whatever...) I purchased tickets for a hot air balloon ride over Napa Valley and booked two nights in Sonoma, CA. It was on the calendar. No backing out.

(Disclaimer.... I may have also invited Ryan and Suzanne to join us. It was still romantic, they made us laugh until our cheeks hurt and split the cost of the driver with us. All is good in couple-land.)

They are kinda hot... don'tcha think?

Here it is, our weekend in the Sonoma and Napa Valleys, in true TOP TEN blog form...

1. The Marriott Renaissance Resort - The Lodge at Sonoma - What can I say other than this hotel was amazing. We expected to get some ghetto room because we booked on points, but when we checked in, they told us that we were upgraded to a cottage with a king bed (pretty sure they tell that to everyone).

The resort was immaculate...

The bed was amazingly comfortable...

And then there was the hot tub... Yeah, it was pretty wonderful too!! (I'll spare you the pictures)

I would definitely recommend this resort to anyone staying in the Sonoma area. Just make sure you request your wine glasses without spiders.

2. Carneros Bistro and Wine Bar - For being a restaurant attached to the hotel, the food was fabulous for both dinner on Friday night and brunch on Sunday morning.

I had the Sea Bass on a bed of lobster potatoes. Mmmmmm...... It was soooooo good!!

2 1/2. Della Santina - The most delicious Italian food. Enough said.

3. Balloons Above the Valley - It was a little rough having to wake up at 5:30 am on our vacation, but it was pretty much worth it. We drove into Napa, met at the General Store and were told that it was too foggy in Napa Valley to fly. So, our option was to drive 45 minutes east and take flight over Winters... aka - farmland. We figured since we were already up and ready to go, we might as well just do it. I am glad we did because it was really cool.

This is an areal view of some walnut trees.

Disclaimer: Ryan and Suzanne had a couples massage while we were in flight!!

4. Cristal Blue Carriage (AKA: CHRIS) - Our driver for the day on Saturday. We all wanted to enjoy our day without any worries of drinking and driving. Chris met us at our hotel and drove our car!! He had good knowledge about the area, picked some great wineries for us to taste at and managed to not be offended by the Moist Norwegian Pie.

That's Chris on the left.

5. Chateau Montelena - Only for it's sheer beauty.

6. Vincent Arroyo - Small, darling, boutique winery. You can only buy his wines directly from the winery. The wine maker, Vincent himself, and his dog, JJ, were hanging out with us. He even signed my bottle, (Vincent, that is, not the dog). Super fun.

7. Saviez - Again, small, darling, boutique winery. We arrived by appointment only and received our own private tasting and tour of the property. Suzanne and I are planning our birthdays there in September. They have a nice picnic area... Invite to follow.

8. Ehlers and Keegan - My friend loves that boy and I am kind of fond of him myself. We paired each tasting with a particular chocolate. Yeah, I highly recommend this place!!