Napa Extravaganza!

who knew you could pack so much into a 3-day weekend road trip? (especially with a 400-mile drive at the start and finish.) well, this past weekend, i ran away to napa with brooke and naomi, and it was one awesome adventure!

thanks to naomi's connections in the wine business, we were treated royally everywhere we went. we even got to stay in the guest house on the property of the rocca family vinyards. it was gorgeous!

and we were lucky enough to have private tours and tastings at each winery we visited, where we were offered an amazing amount of history, not only about the wines, but also the development of napa and the california wine industry. (WIKI has some good tidbits.)

if you ever visit napa, be sure to book tours with your tastings. (some require you to tour in order to taste.) napa is rich in history and the local people are passionate about sharing their heritage.

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we really enjoyed our experience at each of the wineries we visited. if you are headed to napa in the future, i would definitely recommend visiting these winemakers:

OPUS ONE

the story of how this project began is fantastic!

and their state of the art facility is a must see!

MINER FAMILY VINYARDS

see if you can get in on a grand cru tasting in their hillside (cave) room.

SHRAMSBERG

their grounds are amazing, but nothing tops their caves!

you'll soak up a ton of history here.

the tour at shramsberg was wonderful, but the highlight at shramsberg was the picnic they set up for us out in their vineyards. it was so beautiful!

and finally...

THE HESS COLLECTION

be sure to plan enough time to visit their incredible art gallery, before tasting their wines. (or after, it is mostly modern art, so the wine might actually add to your interpretive skills.)

and beyond the wine, definitely budget some time to enjoy the atmosphere of the little towns that make up the napa valley. (it really is a pretty big area.)

there are tons of boutique restaurants with unbelievable cuisine, and great shopping as well. you can find a good amount of info at napavalley.com, but it's not a one stop shop, so be sure to use other resources when planning your trip.

The Big LP

oh yeah baby! #16!!! we're famous!

(well... at least according to CNNMoney.com)

from their website:

Best Places to Live: Top 100

For this year's list we focused on smaller places that offered the best combination of economic opportunity, good schools, safe streets, things to do and a real sense of community.

check out our stats HERE.

(there are 211 public golf courses within a 30 mile radius of la palma?!!)

thanks for sending this my way, jamie! great find!

Pageant of the Masters

The Pageant is celebrating its 75th year of creatively promoting the arts. This year's theme is "Young At Heart" and they pulled out all the stops with the show. We saw it last week and it was unbelievable!

You can check out the program HERE to see what art they are bringing to life this year.

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The show runs through August 31st, and although the best tickets can be hard to come by, they're out there. You just have to be a little creative to find them. (We went via a dinner package through Mr. Stox.)

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Don't forget to arrive a little early to check out the local artists' exhibits. Here is my favorite of the night...

If you can't make it this year, keep it in mind for next summer. It's something every southern Californian should see at least once. Truly amazing!