OK, enough wine tasting. It's stinkin' hot. Frank loves to drive. We've got a convertible. Let's head for the coast. After breakfast at the hotel, we put the top down, program the GPS for Bodega Bay, and head East. The drive from Napa to Sonoma goes through some amazing land. Rolling hills of grapevines - the Carneros region. The rest of the drive through Petaluma is unremarkable. Pretty soon, I spy the sign for Highway 1. We are almost there.
We drove up the coast a little ways and then it was time for lunch. Back in Bodega Bay, we dined at the Tides Restaurant. There isn't much around. We were hoping for a Captain Kidd's experience (our favorite fish place when we lived in Redondo Beach), but it was trying to be too fancy. We both had fried sole sandwiches and fries. There is a gift shop and a fish market, which we browsed briefly. Out on the deck, you can watch boats unloading fish and the birds who wait patiently for some scraps. There was a partially sunken sailboat in the harbor. When we asked the waiter about it he mumbled something about the owner being "behind in his rent".
We decided to drive up the coast and take the scenic route along the Russian River and down through Sonoma. The drive through the giant redwoods was nice, but wouldn't do it again. Sonoma isn't all that. We didn't stop at any wineries. Napa just is so much more lush and beautiful. Sonoma looks too new.
We do make one stop at the Domaine Carneros, which is an absolutely beautiful setting in the Carneros region. We didn't do a tasting. After climbing the stairs in the brutal heat, we were spent. Need to go back to the hotel for a nap.
The hotel has a lap top that you can borrow for an hour, so I looked up the menu for our dinner. The restaurant has a fixed menu that changes every day. Pork chops. Frank had pork chops last night, but he still wants to go. (you can't have too much pork!)
For our last dinner, we are going to Ad Hoc, which is another Thomas Keller restaurant in Yountville. I just realized that we have no pictures of us all cleaned up for our nights out. Sigh. Ad Hoc is a fun place. Great music. Our waiter was knowledgeable about the food and wine. Our appetizer was Spanish meatballs with fresh tomatoes picked that morning from the French Laundry's garden, just down the road. Our main course were giant pork chops over smashed Chick Peas and fresh squash from the French Laundry garden. A cheese course was next, followed by a berry cobbler over homemade vanilla ice cream. Except for the tough pork chops, the dinner was wonderful.
Top down again. After seeing Sonoma today, we are no longer sicka Napa. Back to the hotel, but we skip our nightly Beringer Port. Too pooped for Port.
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