SPRING VACATION 2013: DAYS 1 AND 2

Finally got the wi-fi in the Red Roof Inn to work, so now I can catch up on the blog...

Greetings to the 3 or so people who read this blog. Welcome to the annual travelogue of the Alles Spring Vacation: 2013 Edition - San Fran and beyond. Being Florida'd out from last year, Camille and I decided to travel back to California. This time I would keep a promise to Camille, as last time she asked if we could go to San Francisco and I had to say, "Uh, that's a 6-8 hour drive from [Norco], honey." So, this time we start out in San Fran and then head down the coast until we reach SoCal and all the wonders of La La Land and San Diego, which means the va... never mind.

DAY 1 - SATURDAY, MARCH 2
Our flight from Grand Rapids to San Francisco was blissfully uneventful. Layover in Minneapolis and then on to the Golden Gate, with no delays or any problems of which to speak. The flight from Minneapolis to San Francisco has quite simply the most awesome thing I've ever encountered on a flight: Inflight Trivia Challenge. I got to match my useless knowledge against other denizens of Flight 2153. Not to brag, but yours truly had the highest score for the whole trip. No prize, however, just gloriously useless self satisfaction.

Once off the plan in San Francisco (which actually arrived 1/2 hour early, mind you - so far, no problems whatsoever, which made me worry, Murphy style, what could be just around the bend), we went to pick up the rental car. No problems there either. Unfortunately, FOX Rent a Car did not upgrade us to a souped-up Dodge Charger like last time, but considering the gas prices here in California currently (anywhere from $4 to $4.50), we were happy with our gas-conscious non-souped-up Toyota Camry.

Away we went, and after some brief confusion on how to find our hotel in nearby Burlingame, we arrived. Still on East Coast time and tuckered from the travel, we ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, a diner-style family restaurant called Leann's Cafe. I imagine there's some Hawaiian heritage in Leann's family due to the amount of Spam offerings on the menu, enough to make Monty Python jealous. I took the bait and ordered the Loco Moco, which consisted of a beef patty, egg, and spam on rice with brown gravy. Despite what you may be thinking (and gagging, as Camille did), it was actually quite tasty. (By the way, while I've lost 20# so far this year, I will probably not have the greatest weight loss this week. If I at least maintain, I will be extremely happy. But it's vacation, dang it.)

DAY 2 - SUNDAY, MARCH 3

Up for a breakfast at Leann's (convenient - no Spam this time, just a delicious family restaurant-style omelette and hash browns) and then on our way to Napa Valley. Camille saw a picture of a winery that looked like a castle in one of the handy travel brochures we grabbed at the FOX Rent-a-Car queue, and so off we went.

For the burgeoning wine snobs that Camille and I are, Napa Valley was breathtaking. Scenery is great, nestled in the mountains as it is, and there are a few quaint towns on the way from San Fran to Napa Valley. We eventually arrived at Castello di Amorosa in Castiloga. (I'll post some pictures to Facebook to annoy all of my Friends soon, I promise.) Or you can just check it out here.

A great tour through the winery with our guide Mark, who took delight in the fact he was from Ohio and we were from Michigan. We also had a nice young couple from Minneapolis, Minnesota (GO VIKINGS!), on our tour, so the Midwest was well represented. After touring the castle, which this rich winery owner had restored from 12th century designs (estimated cost: $80 bazillion or so), we got to the most important part: wine tasting. Friends and neighbors, I love Michigan wineries... don't get me wrong. However, this was quite simply some of the best wine Camille and I had ever tasted. Our guide Mark knew that we were a bit wimpy when it comes to wine (white and sweet), so he catered to us, but darned if the reds we also sampled weren't also delish. We managed to contain ourselves and only purchased two bottles (not the $89 2012 prize winner, however).

On the way back, we stopped at the winery that made all the money for Dario Sattui, V. Sattui. They were having a picnic barbecue there, and so Camille and I decided that would make an excellent lunch. I had a roasted pork sandwich that was quite possibly the most wonderful pork sandwich I have ever tasted. I will probably dream about that pork sandwich for years to come. Camille had a mozarella sandwich that was sort of like a caprese salad on a baguette, and she thought that was the bee's knees as well.

Then back to San Francisco, and after some confusing navigation through the heart of town, we ended up at Fisherman's Wharf, which has a lot of eccentric and charming shops and local artisans and residents nestled between all of the corporate wonder of Bubba Gump Shrimp. We went through the Aquarium of the Bay, which was pretty cool, as you walked through glass tunnels and the fish, sharks, and other denizens of the bay swam above you. A bit underwhelming for the $18 entry fee, however. We then wandered around Fisherman's Wharf some more, picking up some knick knacks and souvenirs, and had an extremely healthy supper of crepes at a French creperie. (I was hoping for seafood but with Camille's myriad allergies to most seafood except fish, we opted for the latter.) We split a savory chicken crepe and a Ghirardelli chocolate crepe for dessert. As I said, it's vacation, but I probably would have made Calorie Count explode if I had tried to input that particular dessert.)

As a nice denouement for the day, we witnessed some sea lions hanging out on the docks in Pier 39. They were quite amusing as they honked at each other and messed around for our amusement. We were able to scratch one more thing off the "San Francisco Bucket List."

The weather was a bit chilly in San Francisco today, so with the sun going down, we headed back to our car and home to our Red Roof Inn away from home. The next time we come back to California, we will definitely book more time in San Fran and Napa, as there was a ton more we could have done if we had more time. Oh well... looking forward to travelling south to San Luis Obispo tomorrow. I will update you then, Rabbit Holers.