I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s only 7:15pm and I’m about ready to pass the F out.
Even though I had to wake up at 5am for my flight back in time for work this morning, I feel badly complaining since I had pretty much the best time ever up in the Bay Area this weekend. Since my company allows us to work from anywhere on Fridays and my boyfriend works up in SF half the week, I decided to fly up Thursday night (on a $96 round-trip flight on Virgin from LA, YES PLEASE).
After a quick workout Friday morning and a few hours of working from the hotel (The Hilton in Union Square), I headed down to the Mission to meet my best friend for lunch. She works at Tartine, which is quite possibly the best bakery in San Francisco. She spoiled the heck out of me with a ham & gruyere panini, a chocolate croissant, lemon tart, and this chocolate bar thing with jam? Honestly it was all insanely delicious and I’m kind of craving that lemon thing right now…
I worked out of The Mill all afternoon before meeting up with the boy for happy hour. We had dinner reservations at 8, so we popped back to the hotel to get ready and then strolled over to Hops & Hominy. If you haven’t been here yet, you need to. Granted, I didn’t take a single picture, but that should be a testament to how good the food was and how I scarfed it down before any snaps could be shot. They start you out with some amazing cornbread, and then we split the mac & cheese (do ittttttttt), spicy chicken wings and the most amazing po’boy I’ve ever had. The old bay fries on the side didn’t hurt, either.
The next day, we picked up a rental car on the earlier side and drove out to wine country. Luckily we were able to check in early at The Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort and Spa. Our room was so perfect, complete with a fireplace and one of those bathtubs you can watch the tv from. Have you ever seen one of those?! They’re the best.
Next on our itinerary were 3 wine tastings: Cline Family Cellars, Gloria Ferrer and Buena Vista. I loved how different these wineries all were from each other, but they were all top notch and I’d recommend them in a heartbeat! Cline actually had a free tasting with 5 different samples. You could pick from a variety to suit your tastes, so I went with 3 whites, a red and a dessert wine.
They gave a small piece of chocolate with the dessert wine so you could pair the flavors – it was SO good! The property at Cline is gorgeous and there are tons of tables for picnicking in the back, which I would love to do next time!
Gloria Ferrer was my favorite of the three, I think. At the base of the rolling hills and looking out over a field, this winery specializes in sparkling wines. It was a touch on the expensive side, but with the ambience it was so worth it. We each tried 3 different varieties that came served with breadsticks (so you don’t get tooooo tipsy!). They also have cozy blankets because it tends to get a little chilly, which I was very grateful for since the views were way too pretty to sit inside!
Our final stop was Buena Vista, a more European looking winery nestled in the woods. Our tasting here was the most extensive – I think we each tried about 6 or 7 different varieties, both regular and reserve. We nibbled on some cheese and crackers and enjoyed our tasting so much that we bought a bottle of the Pinot Noir – my favorite of the entire day! Afterwards, we went back to the hotel for another mini-tasting and a glass of sangria (both complimentary), and then jumped in the hot tub for half an hour or so. It was perfect.
Dinner was at a newer restaurant in downtown Sonoma called Tasca Tasca. I wanted to eat here because it was Portuguese-style tapas, which reminds me of our trip to Portugal last July. The food was outstanding and I ate entirely too much. They don’t take reservations, but we didn’t have to wait at all! The hotel provided a free shuttle too, which was amazing.
On Sunday, we slept in a little and then forced ourselves to workout. Sometimes getting to the gym is the hardest part, but I try to just tell myself I’ll do 30 minutes because it’s better than nothing, and then if I stay longer that’s great! I’m so glad we got to sweat a little after all the indulging over the weekend. Our post-workout breakfast was at Community Cafe, which is just a 5-minute drive from downtown. We split the huevos rancheros and this chicken hash, which were both delicious!
On our drive back to San Francisco, we stopped at Muir Woods for a mile and a half walk (so pretty, one of my favorite parks!), a pitstop at the Golden Gate bridge, Bloody Mary’s and some appetizers at Cliff House (epic views), and a little stroll along Ocean Beach.
We rounded off the weekend with homemade pizza and dessert with a friend who graciously offered to host us for the night. I couldn’t have asked for a better 3 days, especially with all the chaos going on in the world right now.
I can’t wait for my next trip up to Northern California – let me know if you have any suggestions for next time!! Have a great week, y’all 🙂
xo Jordan
