Glorious Monterey

Richard and I had an absolutely wonderful time with Uncle Wes and Marcella at their beautiful home in Monterey, CA. We flew into San Francisco late on Thurs. Nov 10 and they were there to meet us and whisk us away two hours south to Monterey. Their condo is in a forest on the hill. You can see the ocean through the trees from the balcony. Their newly renovated guest bathroom is amazing (it's inspiring us to finish our project in the basement). We spent our time enjoying delicious food, great wine and driving along the coast and through the forest. Lunch at Nepenthe in Big Sur was a highlight: the restaurant is perched atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. The clear blue skies, unseasonably warm weather and crisp Chardonnays made us feel like we had recaptured summertime. We also saw the Monterey Bay Aquarium and took a trip to the Carmel Valley where we had lunch outside at the Corkscrew Cafe. On the way home we stopped at Bernardus to pick up some wines. This was our second visit to Bernardus - on Nov 11 Uncle Wes and Marcella had treated us to an unforgettable WINO dinner at the Bernardus Lodge. My parents had been their guests last year and met all of the wonderful people in the Carmel WINO chapter (Wine Investigation for Neophytes and Oenophiles) The final WINO dinner of the season was absolutely amazing: delicious food, awesome wine pairings from Stephen Ross Dooley (a native of Minnesota) and the most outstanding service we had ever experienced. I'll be posting photos soon (please come back!)

Many, many thanks to Marcella and Wes for their bottomless hospitality - you are truly the greatest and most gracious hosts around and we thank you for every glorious minute we spent in the Golden State! Here are some haiku for you:

Bernardus WINOs
The friendliest bunch around
Pour us some more wine!

Marcella and Wes
You are such amazing hosts
Thanks for everything

Love, Marusia and Richard