Our Honeymoon, Part 1

Our honeymoon was wonderful. Althought we would have loved two weeks in Europe, that really wasn't an option with our jobs. We decided on California. We spent the first couple of days in Sonoma Valley, and then headed to San Francisco.

Both parts of the trip were very enjoyable, but the first couple of days in Sonoma Valley--San Jose, specifically--were super relaxing. We welcomed that after a busy wedding week.

We spent our days and nights eating, visiting wineries and drinking wine. It was perfect. We had some really good wine and some really great food.

Before we left, we made reservations at Bottega Napa Valley, Michael Chiarello's restaurant. We're huge Top Chef fans, and he was on Top Chef: Masters. We just knew we had to try his food. The main course was good, but the appetizer and dessert were amazing. I've pictured the appetizer, Polenta Under Glass, below, but the dessert was so good, I didn't even think about pulling my camera out for a picture! It had more flavors than I thought could work: chocolate, peanut butter, toffee, espresso, ice cream. Y'all, it doesn't get much better than that!

Polenta Under Glass: Aged polenta, mushrooms, Parmesan crisp with a balsamic syrup. Oh.my.goodness!

October is considered the glory days of Wine Country, and it did not disappoint. Many wineries had been harvested, or were just ready to be harvested. One of the prettiest parts was that each variety of grape has leaves that turn a different colors. It was gorgeous!

California is also a producer of olive oil. We were able to taste different kinds of olive oil at one of the winery. It was really great. We noticed that olive trees are used as part of landscaping in yards. Could you imagine olives growing in your yard?

Olive Tree

Santa Rosa is the home of the Charles Schultz Museum. Wouldn't you know that day we planned to visit, they weren't open? But they had Peanuts statues all over the city.

Our first few days was wonderful. Come back tomorrow for pictures and stories about San Francisco!