This trip began with a simple text.
“Rod! How possible is Napa for you for my bday weekend?”
The answer: LET’S DO IT!!!
The vacation actually fulfilled two purposes: 1) It was a chance for Jess and I to meet up with my best friend Reinier, whom lives in Hawaii, and 2) it also took place during our wedding anniversary weekend, so it was an additional reason to celebrate. But wait, there’s more! 3) This presented an opportunity for an adults only vacation (and a huge thank you to my in-laws for watching Nora and Santi while we explored San Francisco)!
During the Napa portion of our trip, we stayed in a beautiful Airbnb farmhouse with Reinier, his girlfriend, and a couple of friends. And what’s a Napa trip without visiting some beautiful vineyards???
Artesa Vineyards and Winery
Let me tell you, I couldn’t have thought of a better view of the Napa valley than what you get when you visit Artesa Vineyards. Artesa sits at the top of a hill and represents the epitome of commercial winemaking. And let me tell you, while the wine is delicious (and we’re not really wine people), the view and amazing service provided by the Artesa staff is what makes the experience unique. We took part in a food and wine pair tasting, and the selections truly complemented each other. 👍👍 from us!
Airbnb Farmhouse
After checking out the Artesa Winery we checked in to our Airbnb. As soon as we arrived, we received a warm welcome from Sadie, the resident donkey at the farmhouse. Or maybe she just wanted us to feed her, who knows! Regardless, she was a complete sweetie and represented the heart of this amazing farmhouse. The home had it all: a nice kitchen, spacious living area, five rooms, a swimming pool, hot tub, and a variety of farm animals, from horses, to chickens, to goats. It definitely felt like a home and was a much better option over getting a bunch of separate rooms at a hotel.
Cline Cellars & Jacuzzi Family Vineyards
We also visited Cline Cellars and Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. While these were not as large as what we saw at Artesa, they definitely had more of a “mom and pop” charm to them. There were less visitors, and still high quality service and most importantly, wine! We also had some delicious charcuterie (word of the trip, thanks to Solé!) that paired very well with the Zinfandels, Merlots, and Pinot Noirs.
After spending the weekend in Napa, we said goodbye to our dear friends and drove to San Francisco for our anniversary celebration.
Golden Gate Bridge and Kirby Cove
As we drove south on Highway 101, we were planning on heading straight to our Airbnb in downtown SF, but as soon as we made it to the top of the hill just before the Golden Gate Bridge, we HAD TO PULL OVER. Not because we were speeding and were pulled over by the cops, but because the view was one of the most spectacular that we had ever seen! We got lucky finding a parking spot at the visitor area, and hiked up to an overlook that allowed us to gaze and wonder at the fog crawling across the bay, concealing the International Orange (seriously… that’s the name of the color that the bridge is painted 😳) majesty in front of us.
As we left the overlook, we had two choices: turn right and head back to the car, or turn left and follow a trail that we had no idea where it would take us. Our adventurous selves totally took the trail on the left, and it was so worth it. It led us down to Kirby Cove, a small strand of beach just west of the Golden Gate Bridge. It gave us a way different perspective as we viewed it from below, and we loved it! This taught us a valuable lesson that we will incorporate into our future travels: don’t be afraid to take the road trail less traveled… because that has made all the difference!
Mount Tamalpais “Beautiful Destinations” Meetup
The evening we got to San Francisco we found out that the popular Instagram page, @beautifuldestinations, was having a meetup at Mount Tamalpais, which was a short drive from where we were staying. It was an amazing opportunity to meet other photographers and Instagrammers as well as practice our sunset photography. Mount Tam gave us a beautiful view of San Francisco and the ocean, and we had a great time mingling with other travelers, photographers, and social media influencers. If you want to see the pictures from the meetup, check out #bdsanfrancisco on Instagram!
Downtown San Francisco
Our Airbnb (the Bartlett Bunkhouse) was perfect for what we needed for this portion of our trip. Since we didn’t have the kids with us, we were totally fine with a simple and affordable room in the downtown area. We stayed by Union Square, and that allowed us to take a quick walk to China Town, which was awesome, by the way. We also decided to just keep walking and see where we ended up, and that led us to Pier 23 on the Embarcadero (the northeast corner of the city). We had a delicious lunch at the Pier 23 Cafe and admired the gorgeous view of the San Francisco Bay. We enjoyed it so much that we returned that evening to Fisherman’s Wharf to see the more touristy side of the Embarcadero. Everything was lit up, the sea lions were their usual rambunctious selves, and we were treated to an impromptu scene during dinner in which two gentlemen whom refused to pay were eventually arrested and escorted out of the restaurant 😮. All in all, downtown SF has so much to offer that we feel that we barely scratched the surface of it all!
Do you love this post? Save it on Pinterest