What I Did On My Honeymoon Vacation
....not like that! (Okay, fair, it is me...)
So we went on a honeymoon adventure to California! And it was a lot of fun. (Yes I know I haven't posted about the wedding yet, but this is done, so there it goes.) BEGIN PART ONE.
We started off with travel delays (who doesn't, really); the Amtrak train was delayed leaving Chicago because the spectacular thunderstorm that we had that same day had apparently washed out tracks in Iowa. We had a sleeper car, which is basically about the size of a twin bed plus five or six inches on the side. The major upsides of a sleeper car are:
1) it doesn't smell like feet
2) your meals are included (food on Amtrak is actually surprisingly good!)
3) you do not hear other people snoring around you.
The major downside, of course, is the cost, but it was still a good time. We had basically three whole days (it's a 50-hour trip, but what with delays and etc. it ended up being closer to 54; we left Chicago at 3:30pm on Saturday and arrived in California at 6:40 pm on Monday) to read, stare out the window at the scenery, and play video games. It was fabulous. We sat with a different group of people at every meal, including two gents on their way to Burning Man and a young man who had set up his camera to take photos out the window every ten seconds (this was the whole point of his train journey, which was NJ to CA and then flying back at the end.) Also an adorable couple - he was French and she was Swedish - who had been living in Chicago for a year while he did postdoc economics and she volunteered. Basically there were lots of rad people and it was fun.
Finally on Monday we arrived in Davis, CA, too late to pick up our rental car. So instead we made arrangements to stay overnight, wandered around downtown, browsed the bookstore, had sushi and ice cream, and then went up to bed.
Tuesday we got up and drove into Sacramento, where we toured the Crocker Art Museum. They have a ton of Meissen porcelain (some day I want to own something Meissen) which was really cool to look at. They also have gorgeous California Impressionist paintings that I enjoyed, and the main reason I wanted to go was that they had a traveling exhibit (though it closed September 1) of historical quilts. holy shit you guys I wish I had the patience for quilting. It was super neat looking, and they had some absolutely stunning crazy quilts that were embroidered and everything. And then I think about sewing all of that by hand and I just want to weep. GOD. I thought about buying some of the gorgeous glasswork they had in the museum store, but it was outside my price range. Saddest kitten. And in other news, my list of "topics to research" has grown exponentially. No one is surprised.
After the art museum, we went to Old Sacramento, which is done very much in the style of an Old West town. We had lunch at an Irish pub (which had killer house-made Guinness mustard and also amazing fish and chips) and wandered the area. I bought way more candy than I should have at an old-fashioned candy store (taffy! rock candy! THE BEST THINGS! Yes, food is a recurring theme on this trip.) Eventually we piled back into the car and made our way to Sonoma, which is where we were planning on spending the first few days.
Sonoma is interesting; it is clearly tourist-focused but also manages to feel very much like a small town. When we went out to dinner, the front desk clerk told us that it was farmer's market night. We went out and wandered around, tasting delicious little samples of stuff. They had a "zucchini race" which seems to be similar to the Boy Scouts pinewood derby, in that you put a zucchini on a little wooden car and see which one is the fastest. Then we picked out our dinners from the vendor stands. Paladin had a banh mi and I got a kefta sandwich. We both got strawberry lemonade; mine was very chunky and not very lemony. I think his was probably better. Afterward, we got a dozen mini donuts (Fried to order, omg, I had forgotten what a fresh-fried donut tastes like and it's SO GOOD) with chocolate glaze and rainbow sprinkles, and came back to the hotel to flop and read and play games.
Wednesday we meandered around downtown Sonoma; I picked up a bunch of little knickknack souvenirs and we toured two California State Parks (the Mission San Francisco Solano and the adjoining barracks). We did a wine tasting at the Sonoma Cheese Factory (omg they had a fabulous Red Chocolate wine that was wonderful, and a sweet Riesling I liked. The Cabernet I tried kind of tasted like nothing and I wasn't thrilled with paladin's choice of Pinot Noir, but it was a cool experience.) We got sandwiches and wine there--peach bubbly for me (not as sweet as I'd have preferred) and a Merlot for paladin--and then sat outside having a meandering conversation in the park.
We came back for a needed nap and then we went to The Restaurant at Meadowood for a ludicrously fancy dinner. The Restaurant is one of those places where you pay a stupendous amount of money to get a series of eleven (or nineteen, but we were not up for that challenge or that price tag) tiny courses. We got a demi bottle of white wine to share, and it was delicious.
We had told them that we were celebrating our honeymoon, so when we were seated there was a charming little card with well wishes to us on our marriage waiting at the table. All in all, the whole experience was amazing, even if I feel a little like I was not even qualified to be at a restaurant with that caliber of food and wine. XD
The first amuse bouche was olives with an olive oil mousse; it was incredibly light and fluffy and delicious, and the olive itself was satisfyingly salty and a bit crunchy. The second was tiny root vegetables from the on-site garden (two each turnips, radishes, and carrots, each about the size of my last pinky finger joint) marinated in champagne yeast. The last was kale chips, served with a book that had photos of the gardens and little notes from the chef. (I am recently discovering I really like kale.)
The first actual course was sun-dried cherry tomatoes with a creme fraiche sorbet. Then we had a roasted cucumber with caviar. (Tiny cucumber! Very adorable and very tasty. Also my first time having caviar.) Then, surf clam belly with avocado mousse, and separately the adductor muscle of said clam. We then went on to stuffed day lily blossoms with the tenderest prawn I have ever eaten in my life, and a grilled salmon with a buckwheat crust and braised turnips and a sauce made of turnip greens.
Next was a poultry stock with resin from the beehive they keep on the premises. We also had a grilled pork, a poultry breast, housemade bread with cheese as soft as butter and a marmite made of apples and truffles, peaches cold-poached in peach syrup with mandarin ice and a coffee sorbet (oh my god, you guys, oh my god), and a pastry thingy that was very crisp and light and delicious. Since we were celebrating our birthdays, we also got a delicious chocolate cake with a happy birthday note. We also got a glass of a dessert wine to share and it was really sweet and tasty.
It was a ridiculous amount of money to spend for one meal, but it was awesome and I am really glad we did it, if only for the experience. (Plus, it was our honeymoon celebration AND our birthday gifts to each other.) We got to peek into the kitchen and talk with one of the line chefs, and then we had some really outrageously good Earl Grey tea to close out the night.
Thursday we went for a trail ride in Jack London State Historic Park and then for a wine tasting at a local vineyard, Benziger, which is apparently certified as "biodynamic" or the highest grade of organic it is possible to be. They have a really cool self-guided tour through the concept of a biodynamic vineyard, which explained both how vineyards work in general and how theirs is structured. We did a tasting in their reserve room and the wine was really fabulous. I am generally more a fan of white wine than red, and will always prefer sweet wines to dry (yes I'm terrible at wine you may mock me at will) but it was a lovely range of pinot noir and bordeaux.
And that concludes Stage One of the honeymoon, since this entry is long enough already JFC. We will pick up again next post with Friday morning, since the second week was just as cool as the first!
I've posted this at http://lassarina.dreamwidth.org/1097181.html and you may comment there or here. On Dreamwidth, this entry has
comments.
So we went on a honeymoon adventure to California! And it was a lot of fun. (Yes I know I haven't posted about the wedding yet, but this is done, so there it goes.) BEGIN PART ONE.
We started off with travel delays (who doesn't, really); the Amtrak train was delayed leaving Chicago because the spectacular thunderstorm that we had that same day had apparently washed out tracks in Iowa. We had a sleeper car, which is basically about the size of a twin bed plus five or six inches on the side. The major upsides of a sleeper car are:
1) it doesn't smell like feet
2) your meals are included (food on Amtrak is actually surprisingly good!)
3) you do not hear other people snoring around you.
The major downside, of course, is the cost, but it was still a good time. We had basically three whole days (it's a 50-hour trip, but what with delays and etc. it ended up being closer to 54; we left Chicago at 3:30pm on Saturday and arrived in California at 6:40 pm on Monday) to read, stare out the window at the scenery, and play video games. It was fabulous. We sat with a different group of people at every meal, including two gents on their way to Burning Man and a young man who had set up his camera to take photos out the window every ten seconds (this was the whole point of his train journey, which was NJ to CA and then flying back at the end.) Also an adorable couple - he was French and she was Swedish - who had been living in Chicago for a year while he did postdoc economics and she volunteered. Basically there were lots of rad people and it was fun.
Finally on Monday we arrived in Davis, CA, too late to pick up our rental car. So instead we made arrangements to stay overnight, wandered around downtown, browsed the bookstore, had sushi and ice cream, and then went up to bed.
Tuesday we got up and drove into Sacramento, where we toured the Crocker Art Museum. They have a ton of Meissen porcelain (some day I want to own something Meissen) which was really cool to look at. They also have gorgeous California Impressionist paintings that I enjoyed, and the main reason I wanted to go was that they had a traveling exhibit (though it closed September 1) of historical quilts. holy shit you guys I wish I had the patience for quilting. It was super neat looking, and they had some absolutely stunning crazy quilts that were embroidered and everything. And then I think about sewing all of that by hand and I just want to weep. GOD. I thought about buying some of the gorgeous glasswork they had in the museum store, but it was outside my price range. Saddest kitten. And in other news, my list of "topics to research" has grown exponentially. No one is surprised.
After the art museum, we went to Old Sacramento, which is done very much in the style of an Old West town. We had lunch at an Irish pub (which had killer house-made Guinness mustard and also amazing fish and chips) and wandered the area. I bought way more candy than I should have at an old-fashioned candy store (taffy! rock candy! THE BEST THINGS! Yes, food is a recurring theme on this trip.) Eventually we piled back into the car and made our way to Sonoma, which is where we were planning on spending the first few days.
Sonoma is interesting; it is clearly tourist-focused but also manages to feel very much like a small town. When we went out to dinner, the front desk clerk told us that it was farmer's market night. We went out and wandered around, tasting delicious little samples of stuff. They had a "zucchini race" which seems to be similar to the Boy Scouts pinewood derby, in that you put a zucchini on a little wooden car and see which one is the fastest. Then we picked out our dinners from the vendor stands. Paladin had a banh mi and I got a kefta sandwich. We both got strawberry lemonade; mine was very chunky and not very lemony. I think his was probably better. Afterward, we got a dozen mini donuts (Fried to order, omg, I had forgotten what a fresh-fried donut tastes like and it's SO GOOD) with chocolate glaze and rainbow sprinkles, and came back to the hotel to flop and read and play games.
Wednesday we meandered around downtown Sonoma; I picked up a bunch of little knickknack souvenirs and we toured two California State Parks (the Mission San Francisco Solano and the adjoining barracks). We did a wine tasting at the Sonoma Cheese Factory (omg they had a fabulous Red Chocolate wine that was wonderful, and a sweet Riesling I liked. The Cabernet I tried kind of tasted like nothing and I wasn't thrilled with paladin's choice of Pinot Noir, but it was a cool experience.) We got sandwiches and wine there--peach bubbly for me (not as sweet as I'd have preferred) and a Merlot for paladin--and then sat outside having a meandering conversation in the park.
We came back for a needed nap and then we went to The Restaurant at Meadowood for a ludicrously fancy dinner. The Restaurant is one of those places where you pay a stupendous amount of money to get a series of eleven (or nineteen, but we were not up for that challenge or that price tag) tiny courses. We got a demi bottle of white wine to share, and it was delicious.
We had told them that we were celebrating our honeymoon, so when we were seated there was a charming little card with well wishes to us on our marriage waiting at the table. All in all, the whole experience was amazing, even if I feel a little like I was not even qualified to be at a restaurant with that caliber of food and wine. XD
The first amuse bouche was olives with an olive oil mousse; it was incredibly light and fluffy and delicious, and the olive itself was satisfyingly salty and a bit crunchy. The second was tiny root vegetables from the on-site garden (two each turnips, radishes, and carrots, each about the size of my last pinky finger joint) marinated in champagne yeast. The last was kale chips, served with a book that had photos of the gardens and little notes from the chef. (I am recently discovering I really like kale.)
The first actual course was sun-dried cherry tomatoes with a creme fraiche sorbet. Then we had a roasted cucumber with caviar. (Tiny cucumber! Very adorable and very tasty. Also my first time having caviar.) Then, surf clam belly with avocado mousse, and separately the adductor muscle of said clam. We then went on to stuffed day lily blossoms with the tenderest prawn I have ever eaten in my life, and a grilled salmon with a buckwheat crust and braised turnips and a sauce made of turnip greens.
Next was a poultry stock with resin from the beehive they keep on the premises. We also had a grilled pork, a poultry breast, housemade bread with cheese as soft as butter and a marmite made of apples and truffles, peaches cold-poached in peach syrup with mandarin ice and a coffee sorbet (oh my god, you guys, oh my god), and a pastry thingy that was very crisp and light and delicious. Since we were celebrating our birthdays, we also got a delicious chocolate cake with a happy birthday note. We also got a glass of a dessert wine to share and it was really sweet and tasty.
It was a ridiculous amount of money to spend for one meal, but it was awesome and I am really glad we did it, if only for the experience. (Plus, it was our honeymoon celebration AND our birthday gifts to each other.) We got to peek into the kitchen and talk with one of the line chefs, and then we had some really outrageously good Earl Grey tea to close out the night.
Thursday we went for a trail ride in Jack London State Historic Park and then for a wine tasting at a local vineyard, Benziger, which is apparently certified as "biodynamic" or the highest grade of organic it is possible to be. They have a really cool self-guided tour through the concept of a biodynamic vineyard, which explained both how vineyards work in general and how theirs is structured. We did a tasting in their reserve room and the wine was really fabulous. I am generally more a fan of white wine than red, and will always prefer sweet wines to dry (yes I'm terrible at wine you may mock me at will) but it was a lovely range of pinot noir and bordeaux.
And that concludes Stage One of the honeymoon, since this entry is long enough already JFC. We will pick up again next post with Friday morning, since the second week was just as cool as the first!
I've posted this at http://lassarina.dreamwidth.org/1097181.html and you may comment there or here. On Dreamwidth, this entry has
comments.