We're back from a weekend trip to San Francisco and a lot of fun was had! Adam won a trip through the company we (yes we work for the same company) work for -- it's awesome dating an "over-achiever!"
Here is a re-cap of our trip to the little France (or Paris) of the west... I think that's what they call it!
We arrived on Friday and set sail on a yacht - the California Hornblower - in the San Francisco Bay with the other contest winners. I think there were nearly 200 people in all which included winners and spouses/significant others.
We saw some great sights during the cruise in the bay. All of my pictures were taken from inside the yacht because it was really chilly outside. Who knew San Francisco's average daily temperature in the summer is only the mid-60's?!
We cruised past the Giants baseball stadium.
Sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge - this is the only picture I got! I didn't realize this until I was scanning my pictures when I got home.
Port of San Francisco - nighttime skyline.
Pioneer always gives gifts. When we got to back to our hotel room a whole box of this chocoalet-y goodness was delivered to our room. (I didn't know that Ghirardelli chocolate was from San Francisco - where have I been?!)
The second day of our trip we headed north to two vineyards - one in Sonoma Valley, the other in Napa Valley.
The first winery we went to was in Sonoma Valley. It is a family owned vineyard called Benzinger. During our tour we found out how much work goes into a bottle of wine. At Pioneer our committment is "Right Product - Right Acre." These vineyards take this to the extreme by taking into consideration micro-climates, how the sunlight hits the grape vines, the exact depth of their top soil and the types of grapes that are grown. It's very impressive.
I found this in the gift-shop. It is pan-rack (not sure if that's the term) to put your hot pans from the stove on. I can see a DIY project in my future...
I totally fell in love with these lights that were in the tasting room. Aren't they awesome?! They were actually selling the metal baskets, but it was $70 and I wasn't sure if they would ship it to me.
I can't remember this vineyards name (oops!) it's in Napa Valley and was designed to look like a French Chateau. It's beautiful! This vineyard's specialty is sparkling wine. Did you know that Brut wine was actually named as a insult to the English because they didn't like the French's taste in wine. The French called the English Bruts. I think I laughed out loud when they told us that.
One acre of land with grapes growing on it is worth an upwards of $100,000/acre. That is about $90,000 more than one acre of farmland goes for here in Iowa. Crazy!
The last full day of our trip took us on a city tour and to Alcatraz Island.
We took an audio tour of the cell house at Alcatraz. It was extremely interesting. They had approximately 1,500 prisoners in their 30-year time period and only 14 escape attempts. I don't think that a prison on an island is a bad idea...
After Alcatraz we went for dinner in Ghirardelli Square. On the walk back from the hotel, we stopped to get a "family portrait" (as Adam calls it) drawn by a street artist. It actually turned out pretty good. Now I need to find a place to put it!
Does it look like us?! :)
We finished off our trip with our company renting out a famous club from an early era of American history called Bimbo's. We all got dressed up, had a fantastic dinner, and listened to an awesome live band.
I really like this picture of Adam and I - it's not often that we are both dressed up! :)
There is our trip in a nutshell! I would definitely recommend San Francisco - there is plenty to do there!
I hope he wins again next hear (hint, hint!) Thanks for taking interest in what we are up to!
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