Justin
Summerwood
Tablas Creek
Snacking at
Artisan
Habaneros
Il Cortile
drive 194 km (120 miles), 2 hours to
Santa Barbara
(via San Luis Obispo)
Sipping at
Brander
Demeitria
Snacking at
Madonna Inn
El Encanto
Los Olivos Wine Merchant Cafe
StoneHouse, San Ysidro Ranch
drive 552 km (343 miles), 5 hours + to
Las Vegas
Snacking at
Emeril's
Guy Savoy
Joe's Stone Crab
Joël Robuchon
Olives by Todd English
Picasso
Spago
Twist
BON VIVANT: Loosely defined, bon vivants are people who devote themselves to a lively lifestyle especially regarding sipping ’n snacking. Well, folks, we have no choice but to consider ourselves bon vivants because sipping ’n snacking, whether at home or on the road, is how we roll on a daily basis. Whether chopping up fresh veggies from Japan to slow cook in a seafood broth with Norwegian salmon with a drop of French champagne while sipping a California Chardonnay or breaking bread at Le Bernardin in New York City or Pierre in Paris or Robuchon in London or Le Pergola in Rome or Otto e Mezzo in Hong Kong….well, you get the picture. We are devotees of the bon vivant lifestyle. You only get one shot in life…at least as far as we are aware…so go big or go home!
Planning
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
— Benjamin Franklin
We think most people will agree Benjie was a smart fella. As such, we started planning our “annual pilgrimage” to the east coast of the USA to visit family. This visit, given our decision to live on the other side of the planet from one of our families, has been fairly consistent and often more than one time per year, for 30 years. Family
Query: we recognize we caused the problem by moving, but hey, how ‘bout visiting us!? No problem…distance makes the heart grow fonder, and we have never enjoyed a better relationship with our siblings since the move
In any event, to break-up the trip, we decided initially to parachute into California and Las Vegas for some sipping and snacking and catching up with old friends. After all, flying to the east coast of the USA from our home requires several, somewhat grueling flights and layovers and more than a day of travel if you are inclined to do so in one go. Well, we were in no hurry, and we detest hibernating in airplanes and airports for more than 36 hours…actually, we simply consider them a necessary evil
Thus, we sat down more than three months in advance to plan our trip to California and Las Vegas. Searching, clicking, Google-mapping and, generally, learning that California is one very HUGE state! It was fun, educational and offered ample justification to sip good wine during the day as well as evening.
ONE MONTH, CARRY-ON LUGGAGE ONLY: We no longer pack more than carry-on luggage. This trip was for one month. We have travelled for more than three months with only carry-on luggage. The aggravation of lost luggage is something that can literally ruin a trip. Even if you do get your luggage without delay, and without incident, you now have to lug it everywhere you go. When did people forget about laundry service? This is especially true when in a major city where self or full-service laundromats are frequently available and convenient. Of equal importance, if you are like us and buying wine on your journey, you will need the space in your rental car. Clean undies or a beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon? A rhetorical question for us
In any event, we landed at San Francisco International Airport in the evening and hopped into a waiting car destined for our hotel. Exhausted, yet determined to beat jet lag, we popped several pills that advertised a good night slumber and dropped off into Neverland. Whew, talk about a solid 9 hours!!! Living life better via (legal) pharmaceuticals
It had been quite a few years since our last visit to San Francisco. We still had many friends in the “town by the Bay”…sorry, but we cannot seriously consider San Francisco a “city”…New York, London, Tokyo, etc, are cities…San Francisco is an adorable town and should be happy for the moniker. On a side note, we had two choices in terms of direct flights from our home to a destination in California. We were quite pleased to give Los Angeles (not even a “city”, but a sprawling mess) a miss…forever! Easy peasy choice...
On the planning note, prior to our arrival in California, we conducted extensive research and discovered, much to our sadness, that Napa and Santa Barbara were not the only wine regions of high reputation in the United Socialist Republic of California. We write “sadness” because we had visited the state more times than we could remember, and we had missed out on some spectacular wines! Live ’n learn. As such, we rented a car and stopped at several wineries along the way until we settled in Big Sur.
TOO MUCH WINE, NOT ENOUGH TIME: It is rumored or at least claimed by the “experts” that there are more than 10,000 different wine grapes and almost 100,000 different wines in the world. Wow, seriously!? We wake-up everyday with a view to sipping something new. Our dedication to overcoming the challenge posed by supply (too much wine) and demand (well, stretching it a bit, but not enough time) is unwavering. Join the challenge, be a hero, your countrymen and women will thank you!!!
Big Sur was a “must” visit destination because we had heard and read great things about the place. It lived up to and exceeded our expectations, and we now can say, from experience, Big Sur rocks! More later!!!
BUYERS’ MARKET: Turn on your computer, rev-up your search engine and do the hard yards to plan your trip. No one knows what you like better than you do. No one knows your “real” budget better than you do. Travel agents, bless their slowly dwindling incomes, often do not know anything about where you want to go and what you should do there. The Internet is a massive wealth of liberating information offering transparency and the opportunity to get exactly what you want at the best possible price. Fobbing off the work to a travel agent is so, well, ‘80s-like, ya know!
Next, our research uncovered a metropolis called Paso Robles. Well, folks, this was a very, very happy discovery because Paso wines unleashed fond memories of the Rhone Valley where Grenache/Syrah/Mourvedre (“GSM”) were championed…and to which Paso is throwing down the gauntlet in a challenge to THE King of GSM...at more sipping-friendly prices. If you like Rhone-style wines, then watch this space because Paso is producing fantabulous expressions of GSM and other varietals!
With a trunk and backseat full of great wines (as previously indicated, we never have more than carry-on luggage so plenty of room), we stumbled down the road to Santa Barbara to visit our friends and their baby. An exceedingly nice part of the world by any standard. Oh, yes, seeing our friends and visiting their lilliputian made it that much better