Napa, Fort Bragg and Betty Who - A Birthday Celebration

Road trip!!

Another year has passed and it's time to celebrate my love's birthday. I wanted to take him to the ocean, one of his favorite places. So, I booked a stay at The Beachcomber Hotel in Fort Bragg, had him clear his calendar and began the planning. The Beachcomber brings back fantastic memories for me as we went there many times when I was a kid. My parents both love the ocean and we would make out way to Fort Bragg several times throughout my childhood. Love it.

The planning started months in advance not only because I had to make reservations at the hotel, but also the best restaurant in town, but also because I needed to gather many items for the birthday box of gifts. I really enjoy putting together just one gift. It's one box, but many treasures inside.

This years' gift had a theme. Mount Whitney

Kind of a survival box if you will. Books, maps, nutrition bars, hiking clothes, flashlight and the biggest gift a new watch with all the bells and whistles any adventurer would want.

I wanted to make sure I wrapped it nice and pretty, with paracord of course.

I also learned how to make a dragonfly keychain out of paracord. A little something to hang on his pack while we are making our run for the summit.

The gift is wrapped and the reservations are made. The day is finally here. Let the road trip begin!

We started out the weekend with a trip to Napa to do some cycling and pick up a wine shipment. We stopped here on the way to get a few things. Picked up some yummy snacks to help us fuel up for the ride ahead.

We got to Napa and headed out on our bikes for a round down the Silverado Trail.

What a gorgeous day for a ride around Napa.

Happy Girl on a Bike!

And enjoying the views...

We rode through Calistoga and went by this old gas station/tasting room. It peaked our interest so we decided to stop in and check it out. So glad we did! What a fun place.

It is called Tank - Garage Winery.

The decor is old gas stationesque.

The wine is all small batch and delicious!

We tasted several, they were all delicious! Uh oh, I feel another wine club coming on!!

Yep, Chris signed up for another wine club!

Now with a full wine buzz going, we had to ride back to Velo Vino to pick up our wine from that club shipment and head out to Napa. That was the fastest 10 miles back to town ever! haha!!

I'm a total lightweight though, so I'm sure I got there much faster than he did...

We made it to Fort Bragg!

Just in time to watch the sunset over the ocean. What a beautiful day.

We headed over to North Coast Brewing for a little food and a flight for the birthday boy.

The view from our room. Awful.

We decided it was a beautiful morning for a run.

So we headed out towards MacKerricher on the trail.

What a horrible place for a run.

OMG, it was just gorgeous outside.

We made it back to the hotel for a buffet style breakfast and a bit of a rest.

And after we rest, we ride! We rented beach cruisers from the hotel and headed into town to see what trouble we could get ourselves into.

The skunk train was leaving the station.

And we ended up at a Bistro for lunch and a glass of Sangria. Ok, maybe two, or three and then some Pinot. I lost count. Did we drink all of that?

Yes, we did. It's what brings on these types of faces.

And the sillies continue...

Oh my...

A passerby was more than happy to take our photo. We were being silly.

Time to head back to the hotel, we have a fancy dinner to get to.

I made reservations at The MacCallum Inn for dinner.

It came highly recommended on every website I looked at. I can't wait to spend a nice quiet evening celebrating and enjoying some good find and wine.

We decided to enjoy the chef's tasting menu.

Hello there Birthday Boy :-)

Chris brought a Bottle of Stag's Leap to enjoy during dinner. It was delicious!

Filet Mignon, Yes!! This was amazing!

Chocolate Flourless Cake for dessert. This was over the top chocolate deliciousness.

It just about put us over the top too. A full day of food and wine and stick a fork in it, we were done.

Time for a cappuccino and to head back to Fort Bragg and call it a night.

The resident cat. This picture doesn't do him justice, he was huge!

The next morning, we decided to take a walk, nurse our hangovers and head to glass beach.

Searching for treasures...

It's time to say goodbye to Fort Bragg. We have to head back and prepare for a Betty Who concert in Sacramento. We've really been having a wonderful time. It's not over yet...

The concert is at Harlow's. I've been really looking forward to seeing her, especially after listening to her music for weeks to get ready for the live show. She didn't disappoint.