The Husband and I joined 3 other couples in Healdsburg, CA for some wine tasting fun this weekend. I crowd sourced from our group for a quick post. This is the second long weekend vacation that we have taken with friends this year. You may remember that we visited Rhys with Stacy in Medellin, Colombia in August.
Top 5 Reasons to Take Trips with Friends
1. To go places that you may not otherwise go. The last time the Husband and I went wine tasting together in California was in the late 1990s. We love to go new places and have new experiences, so we do not often repeat destinations for solo trips. Being invited by friends meant we had a new experience to look forward to in a familiar place.
2. To have someone (or 6 people) to run with. The Husband stopped running with me during the Clinton Administration. The remaining 6 people we vacationed with all ran with me except one who tapped me on the butt as he sped by. I did a 15 mile long run yesterday for NYC marathon training and not one step was alone! That hasn’t happened for me on a trip in years!
3. You get way fancier digs and drivers, etc. if you pool your money! Our friends found phenomenal, fully furnished house with 4 bedrooms, a pool, a fountain and more on a vineyard. There is even a garden where we picked cherry tomatoes!
4. To enjoy your friends and connect with your partner. All of the couples had a great time catching up, getting to know each other and re-connecting. The Husband was delighted and delightful to be with.
5. To laugh, let your hair down and see who can come up with the best double entendres. I guess this depends on who you go with, but we laughed A LOT. I would share some of the best double entendres but this is a family-friendly blog. Some drunken night when we were not present, it was decided that all of the men would wear red pants to vineyards one day. They even bought some for The Husband. We had a blast making up stories on why they were wearing said pants. The crowd fave was that they were in a barbershop quartet – but no-one asked them to sing. Thank goodness.
Josh and Ryan picked some great spots to do wine tasting and some awesome drivers. Heading to Healdsburg? Check out:
- The personal chef we had to cook dinner the first night.
Day 1:
- Our driver day 1: Wine-A-Bay-Go
- Winery 1: Hanna Winery – make a reservation
- Winery 2: Kachina – make a reservation
- Winery 3: Dry Creek Vineyards – make a reservation
- Winery 4: Soda Rock Winery – make a reservation
- Dinner: Dry Creek Kitchen
Day 2:
- Our driver day 2: Silver Service Tours
- Winery 1: Alexander Valley Vineyards – no appointment needed
- Winery 2: Michel-Schlumberger (a crowd favorite!!) – make a reservation. Go for lunch – the food pairings looked amazing.
- Winery 3: A. Rafinelli – make a reservation!
- Winery 4: Ferrari Carano, no appointment needed
My faves were Hanna, Kachina and Michel-Schlumberger. Ferrari Carano is the Belaggio of Healdsburg – very pretty grounds and kind of over the top. A. Rafinelli makes small batches of red wines only and was a really fun experience as we had a small cave tour and it was very intimate. Other friends recommended Arista, Seghesio, Selby and Lambert Bridge. Basically, you can’t go wrong.
Have you ever been on vacation with friends? Ever been to wine country?
PS. Don’t forget my great giveaways!