Summer Vacation Day 6 - Healdsburg

I had been waiting for this day of our trip!  Watching a Giants game was the initiation of my trip planning, and visiting the winery of the wine we LOVED last summer with Jenn and Dean was another component that helped guide our route.  This region was really exciting for us because we LOVE Zinfandel wines, and this is where they're at!

Unfortunately, the day started off in a no-so-great way.  We visited a winery that was supposedly kid friendly and had the makings of a lovely morning - animals, a creek, adirondack chairs .... but the moment we walked in the doors, we should have just turned around and walked out.  The woman working didn't like us and it was clear.  She didn't like Roy.  She didn't like kids.  She had lists of rules for days.  We stuck around to taste the wines because we were kind of going through the motions, and I took the kids to see the animals, but then we got out of there.  We spoke with the kids about racism and drove off to the next winery where we had a booking for a cave tour after lunch.

We had a picnic lunch when we got there, and it was a lovely spot.  We were all a little down and didn't get to fully appreciate how nice it was.  However, as soon as we walked in the doors to the tasting room, our moods were magically transformed.  The woman was so welcoming and excited to share the wines with us.  She offered word searches to the kids (now THAT is kid-friendly!) and engaged us in conversation.  It was only us and one couple from Minnesota there, so our group for the cave tour was nice and small.  We LOVED seeing the caves and learning why they built them (they provide a naturally constant temperature year round and there are no property taxes like there would be for buildings!).  Tasting from the two barrels was definitely a highlight of the trip.  And we finished off by getting to see and feel a real cork tree (they planted one for educational purposes, but they don't grow all that well there) and tastings off caramel and chocolate sauces (again - very kid-friendly!).  We bought a bottle of the wine we both liked the most (it was Roy's favorite of any of the wineries, and I wish we would have bought more!).

cork tree

Leighton said, "Make a funny face."

this is where we picnicked

Our next stop was the winery I had been most eager to visit.  They provide tours and wine/food pairing meals that get rave reviews, but none of them were something kid-friendly, so we just planned for a tasting in the tasting room since when I corresponded with them months ago they were very welcoming to families.  There were glass walls to see into where their barrels were, and the girl serving us was very sweet.  The wine was as good as I remembered.  Before we left we spent some time relaxing outside (always playing catch with Leighton and watching Riley do cartwheels!) and the kids played some Bocce.

Our hotel was less than a 5 minute drive down the street.  The kids enjoyed the giant fortune cookie we got from the Fortune Cookie Factory - which had two regular sized ones inside that we didn't know were there!  Riley also swam while Roy and I enjoyed some wine from a wine tasting the hotel was hosting that afternoon.  We went to a brewery on the town square for dinner, but like the night before, everything was closed early except some of the restaurants so we couldn't explore at all.