We’ve had many many great experiences on our adventure, but that luck ran out on Thursday. It was a rough day. That’s life, I guess; you hit a bump every now and then.
Thursday started in Fort Bragg, CA we went on a railbike ride through the coastal woods. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great experience. The tour started late because we had to wait on some tardy arrivals. Then, at the midpoint of the ride, we learned that the tour which was advertised as a 2-hour experience was actually going to take 3 hours. We’d made plans for the rest of the day based on the 2-hour timeline so we had to pivot and cut out some wineries in the Sonoma Valley. To wrap it all up, the ride back was through a never-ending cloud of gnats. It was so bad that we had to keep our heads down, eyes and mouths closed, and shirts held tight against our bodies so we wouldn’t get bugs all over and in our bodies. Despite my best efforts, I still found 3 bugs in my bra when I showered that night. Gross.
We only had time to stop for one rushed wine tasting and we decided on The Local Tasting Room in Geyserville, outside of Sonoma. This particular spot supports small wineries who can’t afford their own tasting rooms, which I thought was a great idea! They had about 60 wines to choose from so AC tried a few whites and I tried a few reds. Then we headed to our dinner reservation.
Dinner was at The Girl and The Fig in Sonoma and it made the whole day better! When we arrived, we were greeted by friendly hosts, congratulated on our anniversary, and given a hand-written card to celebrate the occasion (I told them what we’d be celebrating when I made the reservation). After being seated, we were then gifted two glasses of delicious Brut.
Now the food. Oh my goodness, the food! We started with a cheese and charcuterie board that did not disappoint. A lot of times these kinds of boards don’t have enough goodies on them, but this one was robust AND our server brought some gluten free crackers out for me. Then we moved on to entrees. I had the flounder and AC had the duck confit. She declared that her meal was “one of the top 5 of her life”–she’s a tough critic so that is extremely high praise! The duck fell off the bone, was moist, well-seasoned, and lay on a bed of flavorful veggies and beans. The dish was reminiscent of Thanksgiving, but better! My flounder was also delicious; the lemon butter herb sauce was the perfect compliment to the flakey fish and the pureed potatoes it rested on. We wrapped up our meal by splitting the “milk and cookies” dessert–two warm salted chocolate chip cookies for AC and a mini vanilla milkshake for me. The portions were the perfect size–not so much that we overstuffed ourselves or took leftovers home, but also not so little that we needed more. We left with happy bellies!
If we are ever back in the Sonoma area, we will absolutely be visiting The Girl and the Fig again!
We ended the night in San Francisco for a visit with some of our favorite people, Ross and Thi. We visited them back in April and we’re thrilled to see them twice in one year! They are wonderful hosts and we always have a great time with them. We had a picnic dinner on the cliffs of Pacifica during sunset on Friday night, and we walked down to and through the farmers market on Saturday morning. In between, we talked about anything and everything and it’s just so relaxing when we’re with them. Thanks, Ross and Thi!!
Tomorrow, we head to our next farm in Santa Cruz.
Until next time,
Charli
Great time! Enjoy hearing about the adventure and experiences!
thanks,