The English Maximalista

In my last blog [Traveling Light], I explained the whys and wherefores of my recent mini-break to California. In case you missed it — and why have you not yet read it?! — here follows a quick debrief:

Who? The English Maximalista and her sister-from-another-mister. Which? Rebecca. Where? Napa and Sonoma. Why? To celebrate our respective milestone birthdays. How? Via plane, and cherry red Jeep Rubicon. When? This past weekend. What? Read on, and I shall tell you more.

Rebecca and I both live relatively full lives, it seemed logical to pick a location convenient for us both, somewhere we could optimize our time away from home. The question was, where could we go that would capture both of our interests for the duration of our short stay?

Somewhere sunny was a prerequisite for us both. Ditto a pool and spa environment… hence our choice of FlamingoResort.com, in Santa Rosa, California.

We were already aware that the two major things we have in common are:

1. Our shared love of shopping 

2. The fact that we are both rather fabulous

Ironically enough, given the destination we ended up choosing, neither of us are heavy drinkers. When she goes out with her husband, Rebecca is the abstemious designated driver. When I go out with Mr Maximalista, he refers to me as a cheap date, since I am a lightweight, and half a glass of wine is all it takes for me to get squiffy. 

Although in my defense, I’m not exactly cheap, per se, as my one glass of wine often costs more than my meal.

*****

Rebecca and I agreed that we wanted a relaxing break. No rushing around from one place to another. No alarms waking us up at the crack of dawn. Basically, our schedule was thus:

• Get up whenever TF we wanted
• Saunter down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast on the terrace
• Drive the scenic route to our daily destination
• Browse all morning at antiques and boutiques
• Luncheon al fresco at a charming establishment
• Spend the afternoon exploring the area
• Find a top notch winery for a tasting
• Head back to our hotel to spend the remainder of our day reading next to the pool
• Go to bed at a reasonable hour
• Repeat

This is precisely what we did. Plus we talked non-stop. It was HEAVENLY.

*****

Our first day was Thursday, when, as recounted in my previous blog, we landed in California around noon, had lunch at the Yemeni restaurant, drove to our hotel in Santa Rosa, settled in and spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the glorious Californian sunshine on the hotel grounds.

Friday was Napa day. Rebecca had never been to Napa Valley; I had only been once before, over 25 years ago, when my ex-husband and I went to his cousin’s wedding there. My only true recollection of the trip was that we had had a lovely time… so why had it taken me this long to go back?

The town of Napa was indeed charming. Rebecca and I enjoyed strolling up and down the pretty streets, admiring the architectural details, and ducking into many of the boutiques, which abound. At Muguette Renee, I purchased a fabulous new straw hat, which was so obnoxiously large that I felt obliged to ask Rebecca’s permission whether she would mind if I wore it that day. 

We popped into the Napa County Historical Society, housed in a handsome stone building on 1st Street. Unexpectedly, there was an exhibit called The Valley Beautiful: Music, showcasing how Napa Valley has inspired art and music for generations. [VisitNapaValley.com] 

The artwork of Hunt Slonem features prominently in Napa — we saw two large gallery spaces downtown that were dedicated to his art. We only went into Serge Sorokko Gallery (the other gallery was closed), and it was wonderful. I have always admired Hunt Slonem’s famous rabbit series, and really loved the massive Yellow Macaws (2016), which I saw for the first time on Friday. [Sorokko.com]

Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of tasting rooms dotted abundantly around. Admittedly, they all looked rather inviting, but Rebecca and I wanted the full-blown wine-tasting experience, which for us meant going to the actual wineries. We wanted to whiff the air of the vineyards, and feel the climate-controlled chill of the cellars on our sun-kissed skin!

I’m so glad we stuck to our plan.

*****

Having scouted out online our options the night before, a few well-known wineries had jumped out at me, but in the end I suggested we visit Opus One. I have tried their wines a few times in the past, and felt confident that we would not be disappointed by their winery. [OpusOneWinery.com] 

Opus One is one of the nicer labels that I have tried, and bearing that in mind, I forewarned Rebecca to expect to pay a premium for the privilege of tasting their wines. No Two Buck Chuck at this establishment! So the sticker-shock was less intense when we were invited to pay $75 and $55 for our respective glasses.

We were each offered a glass of champagne, gratis, whilst we waited… which took a bit of the sting out of the price we had just paid.

Once the hostess arrived, carrying our wine glasses on a tray, she led us up the travertine steps to the rooftop terrace. It was relatively quiet up there, and after the hostess kindly took our picture, she proceeded to leave us unattended for the rest of our visit. No refills. No water. No crackers. Crickets.

While the hospitality team at Opus One was certainly very pleasant when we arrived and when we departed, my only complaint was that they did not come to check on us AT ALL in the interim.

Nevertheless, Rebecca and I had the most enjoyable time. We strolled around the terraces and public areas of the beautiful building, which was undergoing renovation during our visit. The glass pyramid atop the center roof terrace reminded me a lot of I. M. Pei’s pyramids at the Louvre. Very cool.

In Friday’s blog, I shall tell you about our trip to Sonoma, and the winery we visited. Will the hospitality team there make up for our somewhat deflating experience at Opus One? Find out on Friday!

Lots of love,

M xo