Livin' in the Land of Angels: Wineos

D and I did an overnight trip to Santa Barbara wine country in July. I recognize that it is now October (where the heck did all the time go?!), but I think it’s still fun to revisit our trip. I heart Santa Barbara and could definitely commit to living there. Its go beaches, mountains, and wine! A fabulous combination with only occasional spouts of bad weather (June Gloom is pretty oppressive . . . but I guess that’s merely by Socal standards). Anyway, back to our trip . . .

We drove up from LA and went straight to the Santa Ynez Valley. D used to live in a small town outside of Napa, and since we hadn't made it to any wineries since we moved to SoCal, we were pretty over due for this trip. In fact, one of our first dates was an outing to some wineries in Napa! Without a particular route in mind, we kind of followed the same trail that the wineos used in the movie "Sideways,” but luckily we avoided all of the kerfuffles that the movie's two main characters got into. My favorite part of visiting wineries, other than the wine tasting, is talking with the tasting room attendants. D and I are educated wine drinkers, but definitely not snobs about it. We really enjoy learning about the whole process of making wine and also all of the vineyard dramas that go along with it. My Alma Matter, Washington State University, began offering a Wine Business Management degree right after I graduated from grad school. Since leaving WSU, I’ve wondered if that major had been available while I was in undergrad, if I would have pursued it rather than my Hospitality Business Management degree. Hmmmm . . .we shall never know! After our winery tour and checking into our little hotel in Solvang, we went to dinner at the Hitching Post (which was also in the movie and is a local favorite). Dinner was delicious and the Pinot was even better! The next morning we packed our car up with an array of clinking wine glasses and bottled concoctions, and made on last stop before heading home. We stopped in Solvang to sample their delicious butter cookies. Although we resisted buying the 5 lb. drum of cookies, we definitely snagged a few for the road, ending our trip on a wonderfully sweet note.