San Francisco/ Wine Country

Trey and I had been planning a getaway right around the time I got the job with King and Spalding so we decided to wait until next summer for the big trip and took a trip to San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma for four days last week. We had an amazing time sipping on wine at the tastings in Napa and Sonoma and loving riding the cable cars, touring Alcatraz prison and shopping (Stefanie's favorite past time) in Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square.

Here are some pictures from the trip. Enjoy!

DAy 1- crossing the Golden Gate bridge on our way to Saulsalito and wine country...

We stopped at the Redwood Forest on the way up to wine country. It was so neat to see such huge trees so well preserved and untouched.

Wine country!!! As you can tell- this was our only sunny day and it was so pretty out there. Those people have the life...

Our first winery tasting- Sequoia Grove

V Sattui winery...

Day two- Sonoma County (which was where we were staying). We started the day with a tour of Simi winery...

Every vineyard had the most beautiful flowers out there. It was so picturesque!

Francis Ford Coppola Winery- it was like an amusement park! Coppola is a famous movie director and they have all of this memorabilia from his movies inside the tasting room like Apocalypse Now and Dracula...

Inside the Pelligrini tasting room...

Our last stop- Martinelli winery...

Next stop- San Francisco!

You could hardly see the Golden Gate Bridge through all the fog.
Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies... Recognize the middle yellow house? It's the one they shot in the beginning of Full House!

Trey's favorite- Cable Car Ride from Union Square down to Fisherman's Wharf

The ride lasted almost 40 minutes and you really got a neat view of the city hanging off the rails- you could see Alcatraz straight ahead as we were riding down the last hill.

Next we headed over the Ghirardelli Square- home this world famous chocolate factory. Mmm!

Trey thought this was so cool- it's the world's crookedest street off Lombard St.

Fisherman's Wharf (a very touristy fun area which was so close to our hotel). Definitely a good spot to stay.

View from Fisherman's Wharf of Alcatraz- it's so close- kinda creepy!

On Saturday morning we woke up early to make our tour of Alcatraz. We lucked out that rain held off until that afternoon and got to tour the island rain free. Here's a neat shot we got through the barbed wire fence looking at San Francisco's Golden Gate Bride from Alcatraz' recreation area that the prisoners got to spend 5 hours over Sat.- Sun. every weekend (their only time outside during the week).

Trey took it so seriously when he stepping into the cell... ha

Not a place you'd like to get sent to- the worst of the worst were sent to Alcatraz- like Al Capone.

This is the cell of the one the prisoner's they never found who escaped Alcatraz by making a fake head out of soap and hair from the prison's barber shop and leaving it in bed while they dug their way out the back vent into the utility corridor and up to the roof.

Alcatraz watch tower where the prison guards kept watch for escapees.

We left Alcatraz and walked up the hills toward Little Italy and Chinatown- you can tell which pictures are Chinatown. It really felt like we entered another country. Trey and I wanted to be adventurous and eat lunch there but we both said to each other after a few minutes walking through the district that we thought the food might be a little too authentic for us. We opted for some good old American sandwiches and the world famous Boudin bakery in Union Square instead :)

Entryway to Chinatown

It was a great trip- if only the weather would've cooperated a little more it would have been amazing, but still like daddy always says a rainy day on vacation still beats a sunny day at work ;)

Goooo Dawgs! / Welcome Olivia

Two weeks ago Trey and I were lucky enough to get tickets from one of my bosses at work who's a huge UGA fan and got to make it back to Athens for the homecoming game against Vandy. We had such a good time tailgating with good friends and got to see Maggie's little brother Hugh dress out for his first UGA game. The weather was perfect and the Dawgs pulled off an easy victory.

Tailgating with Maggie and Martin...

Hugh (#75) coming down the Dawg Walk. Go Hugh! He's redshirting this year but we can't wait to hopefully see him play next year.

We even got pics with Hairy dawg and got field passes to take pictures of the new UGA VIII...
j/k ;) (we handed our camera over the fence)

After the game we headed over to see Terrie and Chris and finally got to meet little Olivia. She's precious and it was so great to see them!

It was such a good day with great friends that we just don't get to see enough. Trey and I kept saying how much we miss Athens and the "good ole days." It's amazing how quickly they seem like a distant memory but we're always thankful when we get to spend time with everyone... especially in the best college city in the world.

Next post- San Francisco/ Napa/ Sonoma...

Happy Birthday Kevin!

I can't believe my little nephew is already 1 year old! How time flies. Today Lisa and Jon had a nice party for him at Taylor Brawner Park in Smyrna. It was a fun filled family event and the weather here was great (minus the wind) It was a perfect fall day. Happy Birthday Kevin!