Our California Trip to Wine Country and a Lavender Farm

 We couldn't wait to get away from the record breaking brutality

of Boston's non-stop winter weather.  How could we say no to an 

invitation by friends to join them at a vacation home in the Santa Ynez Valley?

I am not familiar with California, so after the invitation I boned up

on the different counties.  We were headed to Santa Barbara County

which is North of Los Angeles, but South of San Fran.  Got the general idea

of our location?  In Santa Barbara we would be holed up in a wonderful

rental property that sat high on a hill in the heart of wine and horse country.

It was time for sandals and sundresses and hats and sunglasses!!

Unpack the car and lets get our vacay started already!

The weather was between 70 and 90 almost every day, with temps dipping a 

bit cooler at night.  We were in heaven as soon as our feet hit the ground.

 Our house came with a pool and hot tub and a million dollar view.  

We couldn't stop smiling.  Our hosts, Jim and Patti, 

were in Santa Ynez to take part in a 100 mile bike race (yikes).   

Except for that day, we spent the days wine tastings, visiting wineries 

and took tours through the amazing countryside,

 ending our evenings at terrific restaurants.  

 Here we are taking a wine picnic lunch in the middle of the 

Los Padres National Forest.  It was breath taking and so relaxing.  

I was struck by how beautiful our country is...photos don't do it justice.

So many hills, mountains and valleys dotted with farmlands, and vineyards.

Horse farms and quaint towns were what we found in the Santa Ynez region.

 And of course, we did our fair share of this....wine tasting!

 Its what the valley is known for and 

in particular it makes great Syrahs and Pinot Noirs.  

So taste after taste I tried to refine my palette.

It was a difficult way to spend the afternoons (lol), 

but that is what you do out here.

 Unless you are my hubby....he is NOT a wine drinker, 

so while he was game to test out a few wines he mostly stuck 

to reading about what we were tasting.  

He made a fabulous designated driver. 

 He here is testing out a red wine at the

 Dragonette Cellars in Los Olivos.

However, this was more his speed, a frosty beer.  On this particularly hot day

while Jim and Patti were doing the 100 mile bike race (UGH)

we decided to cruise into the city of Santa Barbara and check it out.

But before we hit the main drag we wanted to see what the buzz was

all about at this famous Mexican eatery.  It is called Super-Rica 

and years ago Julia Childs said it was the best Mexican food she had ever had.  

Since then everybody from Oprah to Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, 

Tom Cruise and now us have tried this place out and we all agree, its FABULOUS!

 We headed back into Santa Ynez and passed along 

the vineyards on our way home to the ranch.

 It is kind of amazing how many fields are covered in 

rows and rows of grapes that will be made into wine.  

 Beautiful estates with fancy gates and landscaping set 

off many of the private and public vineyards.

 Its a rustic area with a European country vibe
 with a simplicity about it that we just loved.  

 This was at the bottom of our hill, and a familiar sight. 

 Horses were everywhere here.

 Looks like Dave is trying another glass of wine around the pool

 while he sits out there with Patti. I will have to finish it for him 

before we head out to dinner. 

This shot shows our bedroom, which was in its own little attached

 area outside the pool.  Every morning we woke up to amazing sunrises. 

 Just incredible!  I highly recommend renting homes instead of staying in

 hotels when you travel for more than just a day or two.  

 Melville was a gorgeous vineyard.  We took a picnic there one day.  Jim and Patti 

are members of this wine club so they could  get a bottle of wine inside and then

 bring it outside to enjoy with our lunch.

 The wisteria was in full bloom and it cascaded all around the entrance 

of the Italianate style structure.  This day was the only day 

that was a bit cooler and windy so we had on long sleeves.

 Photo op by the palazzo.

 Melville had rows of lavender planted at the beginning of the 

rows of grapes.  The poles all had numbers to indicate the grapes

when they would harvest them.  See our picnic cooler bag?

 This is the view looking back to the building.

 This was really yummy I have to say.

So you can see that our days were kind of relaxing, right?

 One day Patti and I took a girl trip to a lovely lavender farm nearby.  

Its early spring out in Santa Ynez, and so the grapes and the lavender 

really haven't started flowering yet, but you can see the sheared lavender bushes above.

 Clairmont Lavender Farm was such a sweet spot!  

It is run by a very cool lady, Meryl Tanz.

Clairmont is an actual working lavender farm.  As Meryl mentioned many lavender

 companies sell by a PO Box address.  But here at Clairmont you

 can come see the entire operation and even enjoy a picnic at one

 of her umbrella tables on the side garden.  

She showed us how she created this distillery based on a Moroccan Hookah pipe

to get the essential oil out of the lavender buds.  It was pretty fascinating.

I bought essential oil and some other goodies including a spray for Dillon's dry skin.

You can visit her website here for more information or to purchase lavender in 

its many forms, both culinary and therapeutic. 

I plan to blog more about this particular visit as I found it fascinating.

I will also share a video of Meryl showing how the distillery works. Very cool.

So we had a few more nights out eating and 

days tasting delicious wines but the week had finally come to an end.  

We finished off our week on the Central Coast with a drive

4 hours down to LA, in that infamous LA traffic to visit my son Brandon

and his girl friend Mimi.  They moved out here two years ago this July.

 They love the weather and they live in this pretty neighborhood.

We took them out for dinner to the oldest restaurant in Hollywood!

It was called Musso and Franks Grill and was established in 1919.

It is old school Rat Pack style dining, with big leather booths

and waiters in red coats and black ties.  Fancy shmancy!

They serve old fashioned cocktails like side cars and martinis.

 It was right on the Hollywood walk of fame!

 We were so lucky we got a parking spot right at the front door! 

Brandon and Mimi said it was unheard of....it took all 
four of us to figure out how to get the money in the meter.

It chewed up my quarters with no apparent effect...so hubs had
to use his credit card to get the thing to work.

 Mr. Maison Decor shows off Buck Owens, 

and Harrison Ford was right behind Buck.

 This was our last posed photo in California...we took the red eye home

and heard that another snowfall was coming our way.  UGH!!

 These lucky guys get to stay out there living the dream!!

 But as for us, I was headed into work and had to brush the snow off my car. 

What a fine welcome back.  We have really been put to the test this year.

This was one vacation that was well earned and will not soon be forgotten.

A big thanks to Jim and Patti for the invite!!