Musings by the Hairslave

Ok, actually, the best vacation ever is two weeks in a condo on the island of Kauai.  But this trip is definitely tied with my “happy place” trips to Hawaii.  The advantage to this one is the fun car we could drive to our destination in.  We took the back roads to Glen Ellen for three-yes I will say it-Fabulous days!

We stopped in Glen Ellen in April.  We hadn’t been in a few years, and it had matured a bit.  With several nice restaurants, art galleries, a hotel and hamburger joint, several nice bars, and some lovely scenery.  As well as two stores: a convenience store (which we used twice…tums and toothpaste, we’re old, at least it’s not dentucream or geritol yet…), and a gourmet grocery store that Pete compared to a cross between Trader Joe’s and The Sacramento Foods Co-Op.  We instantly decided to come back for a longer visit.  And that’s what we did!  Friday after Thanksgiving, until Sunday evening…

We’ve been to Napa, Callistoga, and Yountville plenty of times before. I mean really, who hasn’t by our age.  This trip was different.  Much of that was due to the charming, and comfortable cottages, attached to our favorite restaurant and bar!  We’ve been to Calistoga at least 5 times.  As a matter of fact, we had our honeymoon there 16 years ago, before we could even legally marry.  We definitely relax better there than anywhere.  We’re noodles by the end of the week thanks to mud baths, and hot tubs.  But it’s not very “fun”.  Romantic, yes.  Relaxing, yes.  Fun, in a relaxed, romantic kind of way, yes, But just fun, no.

This trip was fun.  We had two nights in the cute little town, and we got to stay in the “Secret Cottages” in back of the martini bar! O. M. G.  I mean come on, how often do you get to try to drink the menu (36, we managed about a half, we think, and that included the first time we were there in April, so really we only managed about a third, but, you know, we didn’t really keep count, ahem….), anyhow.

That’s still a lot of drinks, and we got to walk back to our fabulous cabin.  By cabin of course I mean luxury suite.  It had everything you could want.  A gas fireplace, large TV, whirlpool tub, steam shower, and perhaps most shocking of all, a very well stocked, and affordable honor bar!

Oh! and I shouldn’t forget the restaurant. Just as enticing as last time.  The first night I had the Filet Tips and Shrimp Pasta, I’m running out of complimentary adjectives, so I have to say fabulous once again.  I’ve never, ever, seen filets served in any other way than a filet.  This was fun for being so new, and because it was genuinely tasty.  A fairly rich dish of filet pieces, good size shrimp, and pasta.  Simple, but delicious.  Pete had the Sonoma Salad and the Artichoke and Gorgonzola Ravioli, both of which he finished quite quickly!

As much as we loved the food, and drinks, we also love the little village of Glen Ellen; at least we think of it as a village.  It could be a town or city for all we know, but village sounds more exotic.  The following morning, however, we decided to take a long drive, and save the tour of the village for the next day.  We hadn’t really had a chance to do a good shake down cruise with the new mid-life car; so we wasted the gas and raped the environment a little bit to drive from Glen Ellen, through Occidental; where we bought my wonderful mother, Betty, a thankyou gift for babysitting Tweedle Dee, and Tweedle Dum, and a fresh made Christmas wreath for our front step.   From Occidental we traveled to Jenner, where we had a wonderful meal, with a million dollar view, and fairly yucky service, at an establishment named (very fittingly), Rivers End.  But I still recommend this enjoyable stop.  Food was reasonably priced for the ambiance, and respectably good.  I had a cup of mushroom soup, and the beet salad.  Both very good, view amazing.  Pete had the fish and chips, for which he substituted onion rings.  An endearing habit of which I will blog fully about, at a later date.  He seemed to enjoy the dish, and didn’t seem to mind making his own cocktail sauce.  At the table…a subject upon which Miss. Manners could talk at length, I’m sure.  Again, view, amazing.  I think it’s a must if you are ever in Jenner for lunch.  Not sure I would have enjoyed it quite as much after dark, view, none.

After lunch we headed down the coast to Bodega Bay.  Neither of us felt like stopping.  We were really enjoying the spectacular weather (65 degrees was the coldest of the three days, and this day it was nearly 70), the beautiful scenery, and I must say I was really enjoying the car. We took a lot of rarely driven back roads from valley to valley, and though I had a blast driving the winding roads, Pete wasn’t enjoying it quite so much in the passenger seat!

From Bodega we headed home to “The Valley of the Moon” as all the signs proclaimed  That’s  the Sonoma Valley, in case you didn’t know.  I didn’t.  Back to Glen Ellen for our second meal at the Oyster Grill and Martini Bar, as the establishment is actually named.

Our meal was slightly different this evening, though still charming.  We didn’t really care for our server at first.  He was nice enough, but seemed “unsettled”.  After a bit we seemed to warm to him.  The martinis were constant.  We started with the cute little mini-tinis.  Half the size and price (yes we cheated, some of the drinks we tried were half size…but we’re only human!).  After two of these we went full size for the last drink of the evening.  While he was mixing the drinks (I think all the wait staff work as bartenders), he would taste one, sanitarily, and we actually saw him throw one away.  You will not find better martini’s in my opinion.

The potential downer at the table next to us, a woman so drunk she was actually slurring.  I have honest to goodness never truly heard someone so drunk they slur, but the most charming part was the f word to punctuate every point.  Pete and I turned it to fun by playing a drinking game.  Every time she said fuck, we would clink our glasses loudly, and take a drink.  We were laughing through most of the dinner.  A dinner (our third here keep in mind), that was slightly off, but not too badly.  Pete had the salmon.  It seemed a little odd to me.  It included a ton of perfectly cooked veggies, many of which I don’t care for.  And seemed to have a green salsa on it.  Pete said it was good, and daring I might add, but didn’t think I would like it all that much.  I had the cream of butternut squash soup, and a green salad.  The soup was rich and hearty, with a touch of sweetness you expect in a squash soup.  The salad was fine, with artichoke hearts, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and a vinagrette dressing that was a little too much on the tart side.  Well, we don’t all have the same taste, so there’s nothing wrong with that.  By the way, one of the drunk woman’s friends apologized as she left.  It’s the little things you remember.

The next day we had breakfast at The Fig Cafe and Wine Bar, the equally enticing eatery is right next door to the Oyster Grill and Martini Bar!!! Once again O. M. G!  We literally walked out the gate of the cottages, up to the street, and turned left instead of right! The service was the best ever.  An absolutely charming woman, who actually knew how to be nice, charming, and helpful.  The food, we both had the spiced french toast, yum, was different, and delicious.  The atmosphere bright, clean, and whimsical, with figs everywhere, but discreet enough not to be cloying.

We walked around the little village we were surrounded by for a while.  Then packed up, and left for the Napa Valley at noon.  We took the Oakville Grade to the next valley inland.  The Napa Valley, which no one seems to agree on the meaning of, and drove to St. Helena, where we stopped at Tra Vigne, for take out.  Pete (and I, of course) had a hanker-in for their stunning Mozzarella Cheese “Al Minuto”.  This once-in-a-lifetime dish includes hand made “of the moment” mozzarella, and is served with grilled bruschetta and sicilian olive oil.  We stopped a little way up the pass towards the small town of Angwin for a quick lunch of cheese and toast, Napa style.  It would hold us until dinner.

From here we took our traditional route back through the Pope Valley, named for William Pope, not the Pope.  Then by Lake Berryessa, through Winters and Davis, and on in to our beloved city of Sacramento.

This was one of those very rare vacations that ended as well as it began.  Upon arriving home Pete used the remains of the Thanksgiving dinner (which had been carefully simmered, and frozen) to concoct the fabulous family tradition of Turkey and Dumplings.  This is the ultimate comfort food.  I can still remember how thrilled my step-brothers and I were, when Brenda (my beloved step-mother) made chicken and dumplings.  It was the best day ever, no matter how crappy it had seemed (that was two step-brothers, incidentally).  Pete and I shared this wonderful bounty with our great friends Richard and Lena Andaya.  They make any day better, and it couldn’t have ended our vacation on a more perfect note.

One final musing:  Though I’ve chronicled my favorite parts of this trip, there were other towns, views, shops, and nursery stops that I didn’t write about today.  I may update with more details later!