Ok sure, our trip wasn't quite like that of Wu Cheng'en, but it was still pretty cool. This is one of those long vacation posts, so...
[TL;DR - We stopped by Colorado to see some friends and then went to California to hang out with my sister.]
[TL;DR - We stopped by Colorado to see some friends and then went to California to hang out with my sister.]
It started off with a Friday afternoon flight from Indy to Denver. There we were greeted very enthusiastically by our friends Nick and Jenny. I think Leslie and Jenny did nothing but hug and smile for a good five minutes while Nick and I waited for the luggage. After that we set off in search of food and ended up at a Mexican restaurant (Carlos Miquel's, which is apparently a thing in Colorado). After stuffing our faces with burritos and tortilla chips we headed to Nick and Jenny's apartment where we spent the rest of the night catching up and playing board games. The highlight was probably when Nick had to put his belt on his head and Jenny had to keep her thumbs in her mouth. Yeah, it was a weird game.
The next day, after a quick international breakfast of pancakes, we hit up a pretty crazy mini golf course and played a few rounds there. This place was seriously impressive with three different themed courses and a ton of decorations. Plus there were dinosaurs... what's not to love? After that we headed to Garden of the Gods. Since it was Labor Day weekend it was pretty packed, so we didn't spend too much time hiking around but still got a good view of everything. We then visited a little tea house for some refreshment and relaxing. We then went back to their apartment and soon it was dinner time. We checked out this great Irish pub in downtown and ate a bunch of fish and chips. Sufficiently stuffed, we returned to their apartment again for a few rounds of Catan before bed.
Sunday started off right - a visit to Cracker Barrel, Leslie's ultimate vacation breakfast stop. Nick and Jenny then drove us to the airport where we said goodbye before heading even farther west. Before long we were in San Francisco! Kelly, my sister, is in grad school at Stanford, so we decided to take some time and visit her (but mostly she was a good excuse for a fun vacation). She picked us up from the airport and took us back to Palo Alto for some 'za (and it was an incredibly good Chicago style pizza... not what I expected from California) and a tour of the campus. Stanford has a gorgeous campus and it was cool to see it with our expert tour guide. After that Kelly packed a bag and joined us at our Airbnb stay for the night in San Francisco in preparation for the next day's early morning.
It was a very early morning. We went on a Napa Valley tour that left at 7:45, so we were up nice and early. Luckily we were staying right in the marina district, so our departure point at the Ferry Building was only a short ride away.
The first stop was just over the Golden Gate Bridge for some scenic pictures before heading to the wineries.
Our first winery of the day was at Robert Mondavi Winery. They gave us a great tour and some great tastings. This was probably my favorite of the day.
The next stop was at the Franciscan Estate. The highlight here was that we were given an opportunity to sample some of the grapes right off the vines. It was really interesting to taste the raw ingredient and right after tasting wine that was made from them. Oh, and the nervous / drunk tour guide that didn't seem to know what she was suppose to say was entertaining too. Leslie also liked one of the wines so much that we bought a bottle - somehow our only bottle purchased that day.
Next up was the Andretti Winery. I'm not a huge race fan, but it was still cool visiting his winery. The cool thing here was that they offered a barrel tasting, which I'd never done before. It was very different, and I recommend trying it if they ever offer it to you. We also ate lunch here before moving on to our final destination.
The highly awarded V. Sattui Winery was last for the day. Apparently they made over 60 different wines with dozens of them rated over 90 points. I guess they're a big deal. They also don't distribute past their retail shop onsite and their online orders, so I doubt may of you will know them. I was pretty burned out on wine by now, so I sat this one out while Leslie and Kelly did their tasting.
After our last winery we rode the bus back towards the city and topped it off with a ferry ride across the bay back to where we started. From there we walked along the coast to Pier 39, where we checked out the sea lions, got some taffy, and ate dinner. Then it was a quick ride back to home base and some much needed relaxing. It was a lot of fun, but a very long and full day. I also didn't want any more wine for the rest of the trip after that... even if it was so good.
Tuesday involved a lot of walking for us. We started off with a short walk to a little place nearby for breakfast. This was probably the cheapest meal we ate all vacation, and it was so good. But we just love breakfast, so that's at least part of it. After eating we kept walking west and made it to the Presidio, a park just south of the Golden Gate. We walked allllll the way through it to Baker Beach, which features some impressive views of the bridge, a great sandy beach, and lots of naked old people hanging out. The views (I mean the scenery, not the naked people) were worth the long walk and it made for a good adventure.
But good adventure though it was, afterwards we were pretty pooped. So, to offset our fatigue, we hopped a ride to Ghirardelli Square for some ice cream and shopping. The ice cream hit the spot, especially with as hot as it was (it was over 90 every day we were there... and to think I bothered packing a jacket!). We aren't much for shopping, but did pick up some fancy olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We love that stuff and hey, it's vacation. Live a little. After that we headed over to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (boy that's a mouthful). They've got some cool historical stuff about how the city started out and grew to what it is today. Plus it was air conditioned in there, so that was a plus. We checked out the displays and museum stuff there and then headed towards Fisherman's Wharf (stopping to get some In-N-Out on the way, because you just have to when you're in California).
We then took a ferry from Fisherman's Wharf to Sausalito, a city just over the bridge a bit. The ferry ride is also supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the world, and, while I'm no expert, it was pretty cool. We walked the streets of the city, checked out the little shops, got some cold beverages (because it was still hot out), and then eventually ate dinner at the Barrel House Tavern. This place was very cool and had an amazing view of San Francisco across the bay. Plus the food was delicious - we'll definitely check this place out again next time we're visiting (and maybe go a little later so we can see the sunset and the city lights reflected on the water). After dinner we took a quick Lyft across the bridge and back to base camp. Yes, it was another long day, but it was a fun one! (We were also supposed to go on a Duck Tour, but they decided to close on the day we were suppose to ride. Bit of a bummer, but not the end of the world.)
Our last day, Wednesday, was a lot more relaxed than the other two days. It started off with sleeping in (by comparison, at least) and then packing up. Kelly arrived to pick us up around 10 and from there we headed to Chinatown. SF has a huge Asian population, and their Chinatown is appropriately large and impressive. We walked around there for a bit, but we were mostly there for the food. And food we did eat. I LOVE dim sum, and I bet you do too if you've had it. (Leslie can tell you that for weeks before our trip I would just randomly exclaim how excited I was to eat massive amounts of dumplings.) I spent a lot of time online before the trip trying to find a good dim sum place - somewhere with good food, but that wasn't a hole in the wall. I'd be down for trying the dirtiest, non-English speaking place if they had the best dumplings in town, but I didn't think that would go over with Leslie or Kelly too well. I had managed to find a place that looked like it would probably be good, so that's where we headed. As we walked there I began to get nervous. The street it was on was more like an alley and there weren't any signs that a nice restaurant would be anywhere near there. We got close to where it should be and, sure enough, there was a little wooden sign on the sidewalk with the name of the restaurant and an arrow pointing to it. The windows were heavily tinted and I figured this place must be a dump... but then we opened the doors and were greeted by a lovely, clean interior with plenty of linen-topped tables and steam carts running up and down the aisles. There were also Asians and white people eating here - a good sign that we would get good food, but also be able to order (plus I saw one of the white guys with one chopstick in each hand... clearly we wouldn't be the whitest people here today). We ordered a ton of dumplings, sticky rice, honey walnut shrimp, and other goodies. Everything was delicious and exactly what I'd been looking forward to. (But now it's been a few weeks and I'm craving dim sum again... if anyone in the Indy area wants to go get some with me, let me know.)
Unfortunately, after our Chinatown exploration and dumpling eating celebration, it was time to head to the airport. One long flight and three time zones later we finally landed in Indianapolis around 11pm. We headed home, said hello to the cats (Leo was boarded and would be picked up the next day), and went to bed dreading work the next day. But hey, all vacations must end eventually.
We had a lot of fun in both Colorado and California and can't wait to go back. The whole trip was great and we were so glad it worked out for us and our hosts in each city. Thank you so much to Nick, Jenny, and Kelly for shuttling us around and for hanging out. And thank you, dear readers, for checking us out today (even if you just looked at the pictures and that's all). That's all, so take care and we'll see you next time!
The next day, after a quick international breakfast of pancakes, we hit up a pretty crazy mini golf course and played a few rounds there. This place was seriously impressive with three different themed courses and a ton of decorations. Plus there were dinosaurs... what's not to love? After that we headed to Garden of the Gods. Since it was Labor Day weekend it was pretty packed, so we didn't spend too much time hiking around but still got a good view of everything. We then visited a little tea house for some refreshment and relaxing. We then went back to their apartment and soon it was dinner time. We checked out this great Irish pub in downtown and ate a bunch of fish and chips. Sufficiently stuffed, we returned to their apartment again for a few rounds of Catan before bed.
Sunday started off right - a visit to Cracker Barrel, Leslie's ultimate vacation breakfast stop. Nick and Jenny then drove us to the airport where we said goodbye before heading even farther west. Before long we were in San Francisco! Kelly, my sister, is in grad school at Stanford, so we decided to take some time and visit her (but mostly she was a good excuse for a fun vacation). She picked us up from the airport and took us back to Palo Alto for some 'za (and it was an incredibly good Chicago style pizza... not what I expected from California) and a tour of the campus. Stanford has a gorgeous campus and it was cool to see it with our expert tour guide. After that Kelly packed a bag and joined us at our Airbnb stay for the night in San Francisco in preparation for the next day's early morning.
It was a very early morning. We went on a Napa Valley tour that left at 7:45, so we were up nice and early. Luckily we were staying right in the marina district, so our departure point at the Ferry Building was only a short ride away.
The first stop was just over the Golden Gate Bridge for some scenic pictures before heading to the wineries.
Our first winery of the day was at Robert Mondavi Winery. They gave us a great tour and some great tastings. This was probably my favorite of the day.
The next stop was at the Franciscan Estate. The highlight here was that we were given an opportunity to sample some of the grapes right off the vines. It was really interesting to taste the raw ingredient and right after tasting wine that was made from them. Oh, and the nervous / drunk tour guide that didn't seem to know what she was suppose to say was entertaining too. Leslie also liked one of the wines so much that we bought a bottle - somehow our only bottle purchased that day.
Next up was the Andretti Winery. I'm not a huge race fan, but it was still cool visiting his winery. The cool thing here was that they offered a barrel tasting, which I'd never done before. It was very different, and I recommend trying it if they ever offer it to you. We also ate lunch here before moving on to our final destination.
The highly awarded V. Sattui Winery was last for the day. Apparently they made over 60 different wines with dozens of them rated over 90 points. I guess they're a big deal. They also don't distribute past their retail shop onsite and their online orders, so I doubt may of you will know them. I was pretty burned out on wine by now, so I sat this one out while Leslie and Kelly did their tasting.
After our last winery we rode the bus back towards the city and topped it off with a ferry ride across the bay back to where we started. From there we walked along the coast to Pier 39, where we checked out the sea lions, got some taffy, and ate dinner. Then it was a quick ride back to home base and some much needed relaxing. It was a lot of fun, but a very long and full day. I also didn't want any more wine for the rest of the trip after that... even if it was so good.
Tuesday involved a lot of walking for us. We started off with a short walk to a little place nearby for breakfast. This was probably the cheapest meal we ate all vacation, and it was so good. But we just love breakfast, so that's at least part of it. After eating we kept walking west and made it to the Presidio, a park just south of the Golden Gate. We walked allllll the way through it to Baker Beach, which features some impressive views of the bridge, a great sandy beach, and lots of naked old people hanging out. The views (I mean the scenery, not the naked people) were worth the long walk and it made for a good adventure.
We then took a ferry from Fisherman's Wharf to Sausalito, a city just over the bridge a bit. The ferry ride is also supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the world, and, while I'm no expert, it was pretty cool. We walked the streets of the city, checked out the little shops, got some cold beverages (because it was still hot out), and then eventually ate dinner at the Barrel House Tavern. This place was very cool and had an amazing view of San Francisco across the bay. Plus the food was delicious - we'll definitely check this place out again next time we're visiting (and maybe go a little later so we can see the sunset and the city lights reflected on the water). After dinner we took a quick Lyft across the bridge and back to base camp. Yes, it was another long day, but it was a fun one! (We were also supposed to go on a Duck Tour, but they decided to close on the day we were suppose to ride. Bit of a bummer, but not the end of the world.)
Our last day, Wednesday, was a lot more relaxed than the other two days. It started off with sleeping in (by comparison, at least) and then packing up. Kelly arrived to pick us up around 10 and from there we headed to Chinatown. SF has a huge Asian population, and their Chinatown is appropriately large and impressive. We walked around there for a bit, but we were mostly there for the food. And food we did eat. I LOVE dim sum, and I bet you do too if you've had it. (Leslie can tell you that for weeks before our trip I would just randomly exclaim how excited I was to eat massive amounts of dumplings.) I spent a lot of time online before the trip trying to find a good dim sum place - somewhere with good food, but that wasn't a hole in the wall. I'd be down for trying the dirtiest, non-English speaking place if they had the best dumplings in town, but I didn't think that would go over with Leslie or Kelly too well. I had managed to find a place that looked like it would probably be good, so that's where we headed. As we walked there I began to get nervous. The street it was on was more like an alley and there weren't any signs that a nice restaurant would be anywhere near there. We got close to where it should be and, sure enough, there was a little wooden sign on the sidewalk with the name of the restaurant and an arrow pointing to it. The windows were heavily tinted and I figured this place must be a dump... but then we opened the doors and were greeted by a lovely, clean interior with plenty of linen-topped tables and steam carts running up and down the aisles. There were also Asians and white people eating here - a good sign that we would get good food, but also be able to order (plus I saw one of the white guys with one chopstick in each hand... clearly we wouldn't be the whitest people here today). We ordered a ton of dumplings, sticky rice, honey walnut shrimp, and other goodies. Everything was delicious and exactly what I'd been looking forward to. (But now it's been a few weeks and I'm craving dim sum again... if anyone in the Indy area wants to go get some with me, let me know.)
Unfortunately, after our Chinatown exploration and dumpling eating celebration, it was time to head to the airport. One long flight and three time zones later we finally landed in Indianapolis around 11pm. We headed home, said hello to the cats (Leo was boarded and would be picked up the next day), and went to bed dreading work the next day. But hey, all vacations must end eventually.
We had a lot of fun in both Colorado and California and can't wait to go back. The whole trip was great and we were so glad it worked out for us and our hosts in each city. Thank you so much to Nick, Jenny, and Kelly for shuttling us around and for hanging out. And thank you, dear readers, for checking us out today (even if you just looked at the pictures and that's all). That's all, so take care and we'll see you next time!
