I kept telling Stefani that she couldn't have picked a better time of year to come.... We had the most perfect and beautiful weather all week, and this time of year in "wine country" is absolutely breath-taking!
We really wanted to visit a winery and/or vineyard and Stef (who did some amazing research!) had heard about Benziger Family Winery, where they grow their own grapes right on the property. They gave us a tour of the grounds and showed us how and where they make their own wine. Neither one of us are wine connoisseurs by any means, let alone wine drinkers, but we were fascinated by the process! I kept thinking, "I've lived here 11 years and I can't believe I never visited one of these places!" :) Hooray for new adventures and learning new things.
The tour guide took us to where they sort the grapes, crush them, and add dry ice - I forget why...
The wine cellars! Cool and spooky....
Here's our little tractor that pulled us all over the property.
After our morning at Benziger, we decided to drive into the town of Sonoma to have lunch and walk around. Can I just say that Sonoma is the cutest little town EVER! (Except for Healdsburg, my favorite!) We had lunch at The Red Grape - loved that pizza - and proceeded on to cheese tastings, chocolate tastings, olive oil/bread tastings, and anything else delicious we found to sample!
The Mission San Francisco Solano of Sonoma is one of the places Stefani really wanted to be sure to see while she was here. It was the last of California's 21 missions and was built in 1823! The photographer in her had a blast - love all these shots! So grateful for the opportunity to explore my home that is so rich in history, and really appreciate it and see it in a different light -Thank you, Stef for helping me to fall in love with this place all over again!
Loved this mural painting that we saw in the square!
We stumbled upon this old fashioned candy/toy store called Tiddle E. Winks, and were taken back in time! (I bought tons of soft black licorice, and found a Moon Pie for Daryle!) The owner of the store collected Tiddly Winks games that were from as far back as the 1800's! Who knew??!!
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