Wine Country: Part 1

I started my trip in the amazing countryside of Sonoma Valley.

Our first stop was the St. Francis Winery

St. Francis offered spicy red wines (my favorite type), beautiful mountainside views and amazing gardens.

Next stop was our FAVORITE winery on the whole trip: Ledson Winery

Ledson was incredible, probably the best wine of my life! I am a huge red wine fan and these were delicious; both Evan and I agreed that they were bold, spicy and smooth. Needless to say we bought a few bottles from this winery. Oh and the "castle" where the winery was held was pretty cool too!

After our tastings we headed over to our hotel in Sonoma called: The Inn at Sonoma

This hotel felt like a mix between a bed and breakfast and a hotel. Once we arrived we were greeted by snacks and wine! We enjoyed the cocktail hour and then settled in to our quaint room equipped with a lovely patio. Thanks Kath for the recommendation!

For dinner, we went to Zazu, a farm to table restaurant, in which the head chef was featured on Top Chef!

To start, Evan and I split the brussels sprouts salad.

Best salad of my LIFE, the fresh hazelnuts made the salad! For my entree I enjoyed (for the first time) Tikka Masala Quail with cauliflower simosas

and a glass of red French wine.

The quail was so good, kinda like a more flavorful little chicken and it was SO fresh. In addition, the Indian spices were a nice complement to the bird. YUM! And the wine was good and a nice change from the California wines of the day. Zazu was my second favorite meal of the week!

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Monday, Evan and I woke up and decided to go on a hike in lieu of running (or other exercising) that day. We had heard that the Armstrong Woods state park offered nice trails and large redwoods. And that it did!

We chose a strenuous 3.3 mile hike around the forest. We are not much of hikers, so this hike was a bit steep for us. Luckily, we are in pretty good shape so it was not horrible, but it was definitely a work out!! However, the scenery was wonderful and the trails were wide and well marked. I highly, highly recommend this state park if you are in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. 

To be continued.......