Mullins Tribe : 10 Year Anni Part 2

Wednesday was here!! Matt had training until 1 so it was up to me to go pick up our rental car for the rest of the week. I packed up all of my things and off I was on a cab to Oakland Airport. (I was actually nervous about this little venture by myself, but it ended up being no big deal---I actually had a lot of fun). When renting a car it's more economical to rent and return from the same place which is why I had to go to the airport. When it came time to pick up our convertible, the lady showed me this bright blue one and 2 black ones. Now if you know me, you know I love color, fun, and flashy....so it was a no brainer that it was ole bright blue.

And I was OFF to pick up my love and off we were to Sonoma!

We were so excited and so ready for this part of our vacay. Matt and I have had day trips to the wine country, but have never stayed for any period of time. We were ready to explore this part of our beautiful country. We arrived to Sonoma early afternoon and did not have anything scheduled for the day. We stopped at the square, shopped a bit, and walked around. Stopped at a little grocery store and piked up a bottle of Pinot Grigio, fresh cheese and salami, & a baguette...and headed to our hotel. We stayed at the Fairmont Sonoma and it was lovely. We checked in, took our snacks, and headed to the pool for the afternoon. It was such a gorgeous day and it was so nice to veg out and relax by the pool.

Thank you Fairmont for celebrating us!

By this point in our vacation we had completely switched over to the pacific time zone. We wanted to maximize our days so we made our reservations most evenings between 8-9 usually having a late afternoon snack. Never did it feel like we were eating dinner between 10-11 pm. :)

We had dinner reservations for Harvest Moon Cafe. Oh was it ever fantastic. We LOVED this little spot. It is this little restaurant downtown Sonoma that is not fancy in the least. We sat outside and they had an old Alfred Hitchcock movie playing on one of the side walls. The menu there is very short because they come up with it new everyday based on what they were able to buy at the farmers market. Everything was so fresh and so delicious. We give it a perfect 5 from how quaint and cute it was, to the wonderful ambiance, and the food was off the charts fantastic.

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Thursday morning we were up and ready for the day! We got in bright blue, had that top down, and off we went. We stopped at what looked like a little hole in the wall place for breakfast---It was a FIND. Everything there was fresh and homemade from all the breads and biscuits to the jams. The coffee---oh the coffee---it was perfection. Here's the deal with me...I am probably the biggest coffee snob out there. Matt is a close 2nd. We love and appreciate a good cup of Joe and we cannot start our morning without it, so we were happy campers at this little joint.

By this point we have become quite the little packers and unpackers. This was hotel stay #3 out of 4 for our week. (Nashville, SF, Sonoma, and now off to Napa).

After breakfast we had our first reservation at Benzinger Winery. We did the Estate Tour and it really was worth every penny. The property is so gorgeous and learning about how they are bio dynamic/organic in everything they do was fascinating. This tour was very behind the scenes that the other tram tours don't get to do. We saw parts of the property that the public can't explore, so it really was a neat experience. We especially loved their tastings as well as their beautiful caves.

Everywhere you look is a postcard. Beautiful.

After Benzinger we had little bit of time to drive around. It was those times 'in between' that we loved. We loved exploring in our little mustang. The top was always, and I mean always, down. Even at night after dinner and it would be freezing, we would crank that heater on high and enjoy the sky full of stars. That car was a big reason our trip was a 10.

Up next was Gundlach Bundschu (pronounced Gun-lock Bun-shoe...or Gun Bun). We really enjoyed this winery. It was so beautiful and the tour was really fun. Our girl that showed us around was so spunky and passionate about what they do there. Again another organic winery---so cool to learn the behind the scenes things.

From here we hit the road and started our trek to Napa.

I have to say when you have gorgeous scenery, a convertible, good music, and Matt Mullins---life can't get better.

We stayed downtown Napa at The Andez. Matt booked the 'delux large loft terrace.' Boy my man did good....real good. It was beautiful. So cool and contemporary and the location was walking distance to everything. The terrace that was off our room was overlooking downtown, so we left the doors open and would listen to the live music going on. Really, really great.


Thank you Andez for celebrating us!

We unloaded our stuff then hit up downtown Napa. Each Thursday evening they have Chef's Market which the street is shut down and they have all of these food trucks, life music, and vendors. It was a blast. We walked around and shopped the cute little vendors. We bought some unique things for our yard. We walked to Morimoto for a sushi appetizer---SO great. Sushi is the top of our list for fine dining. Excellent. We then took our time walking around enjoying how alive it was out there.

Chef's Market


I posted this picture to Instagram jokingly saying that Matt accepted a job at Wells Fargo Napa. :)

We had dinner reservations at Mustards Grill. I booked these reservations months ago and it was worth the wait. Excellent--delicious in every way. When people say people visit the wine country for the food as much as the wine---well I get it now. Everything is so fresh and made to perfection. The restaurant was so lovely with the prettiest grounds. The sunflower garden was just beautiful.