I realized a while ago that birthdays can be fun if you just relax and try not to place too many expectations and plan too much. I also adopted the idea from Debra at LRP that you should begin celebrating your birthday whenever you feel like it. It becomes the [yourname]fest and lasts until you say it is over.
Well, this year the Lisafest started in July when Matt and Katharine took me (and Mom) out for a lovely elegant dinner in NYC when I was visiting. As much as I love my nephews, and I can watch them vacuum and sweep as a team around the living room for hours, it was nice to spend some time with just their parents. Maybe because of the reminder of the passage of time, I found myself marveling at how nicely I think we have turned out. I got another tasty evening out in SF with Ben and Laurie.
Because we also try to follow Kate’s advice to only pay attention to the milestone birthdays, Toni then planned an escape to wine country the week following the big day. We waited until after the actual day to take advantage of mid-week discounts and rented a car for a few days setting off on Wednesday for Calistoga.
We decided to drive up the coast, which is admittedly not a direct way to get there, but that wasn’t our goal. The heavy fog lying on top of Point Reyes deterred us from exploring the park further, but I enjoyed stopping into the Cowgirl Creamery to see what cheese they might be making and then moseying around the rest of Point Reyes Station. We then drove up the coast, stopping in Marshall for BBQ Oysters and fresh Halibut (mmm…. fresh fish….). I always enjoy a jaunt through the rolling hills of Sonoma County (although it was a bit of a shock to find out Wallaby yogurt is made there rather than Australia). For me it was an almost ideal afternoon.
It was not perfect for two reasons: 1. The bakery in Freestone is not open on a Wednesday, and 2. We got stuck behind a biker (motorbiker) who did not know how to ride and drove up and over from Santa Rosa to Calistoga in the wrong gear at 10 miles per hour refusing to pull over to let the long line of cars behind them pass.
Fortunately, after the stress of trying not to hit the biker if they conked out, we pulled into town in Calistoga in plenty of time for our treatments at the Golden Haven spa. We decided to do the couples mud bath special. A first for me, and as interesting and relaxing as it was, probably my last. I’m just not that into a very hot bath, which is what it essentially is. I was ready to get out probably 5-10 minutes before it was over, just too hot for me. Golden Haven is not fancy, very plain vanilla with a bit of 1970s vibe, but I would go back to try another treatment. You usually pay more for fancy, and sometimes I walk away feeling I just paid for fluff and not relaxation. Then again, some days the fluff is as relaxing as the treatment itself.
Dinner that night was excellent. We ate at JoLe in Calistoga. The concept is smaller portions of farm fresh foods, and the menu is divided up into categories of dishes rather than the traditional appetizer, main course, etc. The recommendation is if you usually eat an appetizer and an entree to order three of their plates. Toni and I decided to order four of their plates and share them all. We also ordered wine and a dessert each. Yes, it was a spendy meal, but the flavors were good and I enjoyed the relaxed pacing. While I did enjoy my salada portion of the meal (it was meat heavy, but I asked and they work with vegetarians and vegans), the dulce de leche dessert took me back to Buenos Aires in a way my tongue hasn’t experienced in a while.
After a quiet evening at La Chaumiere B&B, with a solid breakfast under our belts we headed out to the Calistoga Bike Shop to pick up our bikes and wrist braclets and have ourselves the Cool wine tour. It was great fun. We were provided with a map and some simple directions to six vineyards around town. They are all smaller and we enjoyed ourselves considerably. We took some time to pick blackberries from the side of the road mid-day, which helped tide us over until our late lunch in town. (home made ding-dongs, yum.)
We drove home through Napa so we could get a sense of the lay of the land. I had never covered that ground before. It was amazing to see the size of some of the vinyards. I had heard they were larger in Napa, but MY GOODNESS. As a last hurrah for the birthday escape we stopped off on a whim in Napa itself to see if Ubuntu had room for us to eat. I only wish we had not eaten as late a lunch. The flavors were amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal. I would go back in a heartbeat!
The Lisafest is currently on hold, but we are finalizing our plans to go to Argentina late October, early November, so it will continue….
