"Wine A Bit, You'll Feel Better"...

is one of the garden flags that I often hang. And what better place to wine, then Sonoma and Napa Valleys in California. Oh, I learned something about the valleys. The Napa River provides water for Napa Valley and just 30 miles to the west, the Sonoma Valley is watered by the Russian River. The old established wineries are on the Napa Valley side. (Info you couldn't live without, right?)

Our base for the exploration of wine country was Santa Rosa at another county fairgrounds. We visited San Francisco one day; we rode the trolley cars, ate clam chowder at Pier 39 and chinese food in Chinatown. The wait person at the Imperial Palace was as unfriendly as the one we had years ago when we visited Chinatown... you would think they made good money off the tourists but obviously they don't feel the need to be friendly.

So, on to wine. Our first stop of the day was Beringer. This is one of the oldest wineries in Napa and even operated during the Prohibition - sold wine to churches for use in religious ceremonies. They know how to treat visitors. We loved this sign - at last, we get some respect!

We decided we wouldn't do the sampling for $15 because we had all tasted the wines before but we did enjoy the gift shop. Mike could not decide if he wanted to be a hand model or model hats. Barry decided on hats.

What fun to act like kids in a store and have no one yell at us. We did a self-guided tour and loved the grounds. I talked to one groundskeeper who told me there were only four people who work full time on buildings and grounds upkeep - they do a great job. This is the Beringer home that was built in the late 1800's.

It is easy to step back in time and imagine what it was like for the old movie stars who visited this winery and others in the valley.

This bronze urn is embossed with the history of the Beringer Winery.

This is one of the scenes from the urn showing the estate with old vehicles in front.

The sculptures were tastfully placed throughout the grounds.

California is known for its poppies and they were in full bloom in this yeard.

This is the view from one of the windows in the Beringer home. The old leaded glass gives a nice distortion.

And this is a view from one of the gazebos on the grounds - they were constructed from old oak laths from barrels no longer used for wine maiking.

When we left this magnificent estate, we headed to Sterling Winery. Keith at Redlands Truck Service had recommended this winery so we had to stop. It was another highlight. The entrance was a beautiful and modern landscape.

And you get to the winery via a tram. So the four of us paid our fee and hopped aboard. Although the cost was $20 each, it was worth it. The tour was self guided and the samples were generous and all the staff (but one old bitty in burgundy leggings) were gracious.

The views from the top of the mountain were a delight.

We learned that the bells, which ring every 15 minutes, were from an old church in London that had been bombed out during WWII and rescued and shipped to the states by the owner of Sterling Vineyard. The vineyard itself was not started until the 1960's.

From there, our tour went downhill... even after the tram ride.

The Francis Ford Coppola Winery is currently under construction. Only the gate was impressive, but I am sure it will be something in another year.

When we left there, we headed back to Santa Rosa to a winery that I had read about - the sculture garden was suppose to make it worth taking time to visit. Suffice it to say that the only thing we came away with was a new "screen saver" for Mike. Any of you other guys wanna use it, feel free.

Overall, our trip to wine country was very enjoyable. And now, we are off to see the Redwoods. But before we get there, we are going to spend a few days in casino parking lots "Along The Side Roads".