San Francisco 2014. Day 4.

Today we rented a car and drove to wine country. It turned out to be a delightful day! Full of different sights and things to see. The drive was beautiful. The whole experience was well worth it.

Of course, to get to wine county, one has to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. If you notice, I have a picture of Drew driving across the bridge.



We stopped in Sonoma for some coffee. Let me take a minute to explain the San Francisco coffee situation. They drink it strong. Extremely strong. There isn't enough cream or sugar to rectify that situation. This coffee we had in Sonoma was the first coffee that we enjoyed. Finally. It was a little surfer/hippie place. Nothing fancy. Just decent coffee!




The landscape was different. Coming out of the city, it was nice to see open, rolling green fields. Full of sheep, cattle, and grapevines.



Our destination was the Viansa Winery. Since the morning was a bit misty, there was not a lot of people there. It was quiet and serene. I have never been to Italy, but this felt like we walked into a Italian village.



Down the hill was another winery/olive pressing farm. I believe it may have been part of the Viansa Winery, but I could be wrong. As I was taking photos, one of the workers told me to go through the door at the far end of the room and walk through the courtyard. She said the doors are Eucalyptus. They were full of knots and beautiful wood grain. And they were massive.





When we finished up there, we went back into Sonoma to have lunch at The Girl & The Fig. We had a very French lunch of exotic and domestic cheeses, fruits and french bread.



After we had lunch, we made our way to Muir Woods. The rode there was full of hairpin curves and steep cliffs. We drove through the clouds.





Then...were were in the most magical place. It was quiet. Soft. Drizzly. Mystical. Damp. And the air was so fresh and cool. And we were in one of a few such remaining stands of the Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens).












Leaving the Muir Woods, we winded around and around and found ourselves at the Muir Beach Overlook. This was rugged. Foggy. Rocky. The fog and the ocean melted into one and you couldn't tell where one started and the other ended. Drew loved this spot.







As we left the lookout, we winded down and down and down. Till we came to the bottom and a crossroad. Across the road was this line of most colorful mailboxes.



Back across the Golden Gate and into town. We returned the car and walked to a little cafe for dinner that was not too far from our hotel. As a matter of fact, I took a picture of the cannery through the cafe window.