Advertisement
Published: July 13th 2007
The alarm went off rather early this morning for our last full day in San Fran. We had a tour booked with Extranomical Tours...a small company that only takes 12 people max on a variety of tours. We decided on the Muir Woods and Winery tour...it was only $25 more than the other tour, that just took in the woods...and Iz did drink a fair share of wine today!
Our first stop on the tour was the Muir Woods, a forest full of 1000 year old, giant Redwoods. It was so serene walking around the sunlit paths, amongst these tall giants. Some are 300 feet tall...so it was an amazing sight. We had an hour to explore the woods, before we were due back at the bus, and to our delight, we got to see baby deer moving through the trees, and more squirrels - they seem to be everywhere!
The first winery was Cline Cellars. They offer over 30 tastings, and after the first 5, I had had my fill. Iz however, continued to try a few more wines, while I explored the property. It had a very American feel, with the flag on full display, and
a quiant little cottage as the tasting room.
We then visited Sebastiani Winery, which has operated in the Sonoma Valley since 1825. Sonoma is a lovely area, with a more Mexican feel. We tried another 5 wines here, and got to see a gigantic wine barrel...it had stairs to the top! We only stopped here briefly, before heading to the Cheese Factory. This place had FREE tastings of all the cheeses, so Iz was in his element. We tried lots of different flavours, before settling on the Garlic Jack Cheese for our burger, freshly grilled on the BBQ outside. YUM! After this we went for a quick walk around Sonoma Square, and then got back on our little bus.
The last winery was by far the best, thanks to our host. Homewood Winery is a one man show...the owner employs people who are paid in wine...an hour of grape picking = one bottle! He is never short of volunteers! Our host took us through about 8 wines, and we played a trivia game on the way. Unfortunately, Wisconsin won (we had a final question on American Presidents who had an interest in wine - no chance!) However, Izzy
did manage to get a question right...what was the first alcoholic drink made by humans?? Any ideas? It was mead! Go Iz...Aussies - one point!
On the way home, we had to cross the Golden Gate Bridge again, and as a thick mist rolled in over the hills, our driver took us to a spot on the side for our last photo opportunity of the day. The bridge stood before us, almost obscured by this thick cloud...it looked stunning!! We took a few snaps, then made it back to the bus for the drive home.
We have had a wonderful time in San Fran, and our last day was very enjoyable. It was nice to be amongst nature, especially before we get thrown into the thick of it in Vegas. There are a lot of homeless people here, which can be daunting at times (the average rent in San Fran is $1600 a month for a studio apartment - that's one room) but they haven't hassled us too much. It is a great melting pot of cultures and people. Could I live here...probably not, but I am so glad we made the visit. There is so much to
see and do, but our time has run out. Oh well, I guess we'll see you in Vegas baby!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.07s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0482s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
alan (dad)
non-member comment
travel experts
Loving your daily stories, i think you two could definitely be working for Lonely Planet, it is fantastic to see you both enjoying the trip so much, taking in all the culture, seeing all walks of life from another countries view point, and you definitely both have a talent for the funny side of life. (Bill Bryson eat your heart out) Well the sun is actually out in beautiful Belfast , just ready to take Dad out , then i am going round to Brother David's for an afternoon of male bonding ( having a few bets on the horses, usually do it at least once on my trip) Can't wait to see you both in person soon and show you some of Belfast, hope the weather picks up, but until your next epiphany (hows that english teacher) love to you both from the Belfast man, for us