Greetings from Healdsburg. Our first day began with breakfast at the Omelette Express in Santa Rosa. After gorging on what must have been a six egg omelette (mine with bacon, tomato, avocado, and jack cheese, Andy’s with sausage and zucchini) we went for a bit of a drive through the countryside. We took the “Bohemian Highway” through Occidental and wound up in Bodega Bay (where Andy spotted a pod of grey whales not far off the coastline).
Around 11 we hit our first winery, Iron Horse Vineyards. I am not entirely sure, but I think we were led here by a episode of The Thirsty Traveler that featured their sparkling wines. Anyhow, it is located at the very end of a road with virtually no signage. The tasting room is an open air stand up bar made of reclaimed wood, with a fabulous view of the surrounding hillside. We really enjoyed this tasting.
After four flutes of sparklers, we were in need of food so we headed back to Santa Rosa. The plan was to go to Zazu Farms, but I forgot that it was only open during the day on weekends so instead we wound up at Henweigh (next to a place called Mom’s Apple Pie). I had a fabulous tomato pesto panini and the outdoor terrace was perfectly pleasant (GREAT weather here !).
After lunch we headed to Gary Farrell, which had a great view from the tasting room, and then drove up Westside Road which has some great vineyard views along the way back to Healdsburg.
We just returned from an excellent dinner at Bistro Ralph. The food coma is setting in so hopefully we will be able to sleep past 5am tomorrow !
Tags: california, healdsburg, Travel, winecountry
