"So what is your level of interest here?" A sales pitch? A survey? No, that was the question posed to me on the first date with the one and only hubby. Remarkably, it was not a deal breaker. In fact (many people know this story), after several more dates and hours spent on the phone, he asked and I said yes ... 19 days after that first evening.
August 31, 1986
As today is the 30th anniversary of our wedding, some eight months after getting engaged, what better time than to have a look back at what has turned out to be a pretty incredible journey ..
Travel began straight away with the honeymoon to London, Paris and Nice, the hubby's first trip to Europe. In 1986, it was so cheap to travel and the exchange rate was so favorable, people from the east coast would go to London for a "shopping weekend." We bought armloads of cashmere sweaters for next to nothing. Those were the days .. A second trip to Europe followed the next year to Spain and Portugal, where it was hard to spend more than $40 on dinner at the best restaurants .. including a bottle of wine. Soon after, we bought our first home. Bye, bye travel ..
We had a kid, bought our second (current) home, and had a second kid literally in the blink of an eye, and the traveling promptly stopped -- at least internationally -- until the kids were much older. Oh, maybe a weekend here or there, but nothing akin to how we go now. We went east numerous times to see family .. even left the kids in NY while he and I went to Montreal and Toronto (baseball was a part of that trip), until we were promptly summoned back. Maybe it's not so much fun watching other's little ones after all ..
Along the way, as the kids grew up to be the pretty great young adults they now are, we did family travel ... England, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Mexico; Alaska, Hawaii and many other parts of the US. There were "boy" trips (seeing Ohio State win the national championship) and "girl" trips (Broadway binge). One of the best series of trips have taken place over the Thanksgiving holiday during their college years. Instead of bringing them home, we would all meet up for a four-day rendevous, exploring various U.S. cities: NYC, Chicago, New Orleans and Nashville. We continued post-college one year with a drive and stay in Napa, and this year we return to New Orleans ... great fun, great food, plus uninterrupted quality time spent together.
At this point, the big trips are the two of us ... extravagant, world-wide and without a hint of guilt. If and when our kids have significant others, that "landscape" might change. For now, it is a joy to continue on this incredible ride with the hard-working and forever-entertaining hubby, whom I love and respect. After 30 years, that's pretty, pretty good ...
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Wednesday, August 31, 2016
LOOKING BACK ON A HELLUVA JOURNEY
Monday, August 22, 2016
ROAD TRIP! Part 3 -- NAPA & BEYOND ..
This summer's road trip (click here for previous posts) included Napa for two nights. Happily, the solution to finding great accommodations in Napa without spending a fortune (not easy) was achieved with a stay at the Andaz downtown Napa. We saw first-hand the tremendous building boom occurring in the area. And, if you're not familiar with the name, Andaz is Hyatt's "cool" brand, with 10 locations in the US (four in California), and a smattering in other countries. I see a growth trend and it is understandable as to why.
The top properties in our beloved wine country can easily top four figures a night (Meadowood, Auberge du Soleil, Calistoga Ranch, etc). Staying at a hotel with great bedding, amenities, service plus a location where you can actually walk somewhere wins points in my book. As a side note, a previous stay there was planned for Thanksgiving 2014, but the hotel sustained quite a bit of earthquake damage and was closed for months. All is quite well now ..
A wonderful dinner was enjoyed with our fellow-foodie-cousins at Redd in Yountville, where we always savor the cuisine of chef/proprietor Richard Reddington. Obviously we were very engrossed in conversation -- at the end of the meal, I hadn't taken any photos! Well, here's this one of our delicious dessert:
We reconvened for breakfast with a trip to Carneros Center on Old Sonoma Highway. This is an area we would likely have missed had we not been taken there. Suffice to say, we were happy to see a different part of Napa as we have become creatures of habit on these visits and stay in a pretty concentrated area (Napa, Yountville, St. Helena) when clearly there is so much more to experience. Breakfast at Southside was fresh, inventive and delicious -- well worth exploring this local gem.
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Having been to Napa on many occasions, it was fun to take a more relaxed approach in terms of visiting wineries. In other words, not feeling pressure to take in a lot in a short period of time is a good thing so one can simply enjoy the area.
The day took us to two wineries: Peju Province and Biale. More is not necessarily better, and it was lovely to savor the time at each of these beautiful locations.
From the Peju visit, top are photos from outside the winery; above-it was a good day for red convertibles as we met up with a like-minded visitor; right is a terrific wine carrier (available at different wineries) that holds 24 bottles safely and securely for baggage checking.
| Near-ripe grapes at Biale Vineyards plus the cutest book/savvy marketing available for purchase |
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A wise and decadent choice for a late lunch was at Gott's on Highway 29 for a delicious BLT and an insanely-divine chocolate/coffee milkshake -- perfection with a straw. The picnic table seating offers a chance to sit outside and enjoy the scenery.
Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ...
Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ...
We took the opportunity the stroll the downtown area of Napa during the evening, with absolutely no plan in mind and it was great. Very relaxing, checking out the actual residents of the area on this summer night and, for once, not running here and there. It was a total pleasure.
Our final full day took us to Sacramento (not much more than an hour from Napa) for lunch with the hubby's longtime family friends/clients and an overdue opportunity to catch up. Afterwards, we headed south to Stockton for dinner with a friend/client from high school who moved to the area after college and has lived there ever since. Two stops, two chances to find out about life in these two California cities, and two lovely meals with lifelong friends. It was a great day.
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| With Mike & Nita Thomas in Sacramento |
The hubby would have opted to head home after the early dinner, but I prevailed and we spent the night in Stockton. The drive home was a breeze and we were back in LA shortly after noon. One needn't venture far -- even though we often do -- to see amazing sights when one is fortunate to live in California ...
This is what a road trip is all about ...
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Saturday, August 6, 2016
ROAD TRIP! (Part 2)
After a couple of wonderful days in Pebble Beach (read about that here), the hubby and I continued north. There is absolutely no question that a trip to the Bay Area incomplete without a meal at iconic Chez Panisse in Berkeley -- always at the cafe. Why the cafe? Just because I like the choice of what is offered instead of the typical fixed three- or four-course meal. Plus it just seems more casual ... regardless, the food is always superb. Read my post published in The Jewish Journal entitled "If You Had to Pick Just One" .. for my full take.
Since some of the Bialosky family settled in the East Bay, Walnut Creek was the designated spot for a group dinner. There are a big selection of restaurants, and Maria, Maria provided authentic cuisine in a fun and lively (loud) setting. A night spent in Oakland was the easiest choice for our logistics so we proceeded to the downtown Marriott. The hotel was fine, but $45 for valet parking (self park was just $10 less) seemed outrageous, and the personnel's justification that "other places charge that and more" did not begin to make their case. After a "firm, fair and friendly" chat with manager, the charge was removed. Sadly, the overall area has a long way to go in terms of enticing visitors, and I'll just leave it at that.
On to San Francisco where we had terrific accommodations at the Palace Hotel, south of Market (SOMA area) and part of Starwood luxury hotels. It is a great location and within walking distance to so very many places. I booked their AAA rate that included the $60 overnight valet parking. Having stayed at a number of high-end properties in the city, I wouldn't hesitate to go back to this one again and again ...
| Towering hydrangeas in the Palace lobby .. |
On this beautiful summer day, we had a reunion lunch (childhood/high school friend) at Scala's Bistro on Powell Street (recommend!), briefly visited the refurbished SFMOMA, and had an incredible dinner at Boulevard. I'm not sure why this was our first visit to this restaurant, but it certainly won't be the last. After more than 20 years, the place was still packed and the food delicious. We were clearly in the hands of professionals. Not so great was the walk to the restaurant from the hotel down Mission Street, where the very significant homeless problem in SF was unavoidably obvious. If these folks could just be provided with public facilities, that would be a huge improvement.
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| Boulevard dinner: salad with melon and veggies; soft shell crab; entrees of trout and chop; divine desserts ... if only I could have hidden a round of their amazing bread from Acme bakery in my coat, the night would have been complete! |
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And then there was a fun visit to IHOP (why not??) before heading to see the Oakland A's play the Toronto Blue Jays ... but no point in going into this relic of a stadium. We were just happy to spend time with our niece, nephew and their spouses before heading up to Napa -- where this Road Trip deliciously continued!
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| Someone must have yelled "lean" instead of "cheese"! |
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| Niece Jen and nephew Mitchellhere |
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