Savor the Central Coast
August 23, 2010 by Melanie
Filed under California, Central California, San Luis Obispo, Southwest, The Americas, USA
Whoowhee, but we love us some central California…especially its wine valleys.
Happy for us, then, that Sunset Magazine is soon sponsoring a four-day event on a ranch in San Luis Obispo County to celebrate the tastes and vintages of the entire region.
Central California: The Santa Maria Wine Valley
March 25, 2010 by Melanie
Filed under California, Central California, Los Olivos, Santa Barbara Area Wineries, Southwest, The Americas, USA
View from Firestone Winery - Photo by Minuk
About 20 minutes up above Santa Barbara, the Santa Maria Wine Valley is peppered with gorgeous driving, great food and sweet little places to shop.
And if you’re into wine? Boy, are you two in for a treat.
Central California: The Santa Ynez Wine Valley
March 24, 2010 by Melanie
Filed under California, Central California, Santa Barbara Area Wineries, Santa Ynez Wine Valley, Solvang, Southwest, The Americas, USA
View from the tasting room at Lafond Winery, Buellton, California
In the Santa Ynez Wine Valley, 40 minutes north of Santa Barbara in Central California, the game plan is easy:
Pick up two wine glasses, gaze up at a windmill and head off down a garden path.
Romancing the Old West: Alisal Guest Ranch
March 23, 2010 by Melanie
Filed under California, Central California, Solvang, Southwest, The Americas, USA
* I was a sponsored guest of Alisal Guest Ranch, but all opinions are my own
Last week in Central California, I went back a-ways in time, to the Alisal Guest Ranch’s slow, green and peaceful slice of the Old West.
At this working ranch/rustic chic resort, you can ride horses over rolling hills as as golden light settles on the lake, sip hand-crafted wines beneath a sky full of stars, and sway to some cowboy poetry. It’s a lovely place to rediscover some frontier history… and each other.
Off to California
March 15, 2010 by Melanie
Filed under California, Central California, Marin County, Northern California, Santa Barbara Area Wineries, The Americas, USA
Santa Ynez Valley - Photo by Renee Nichols
True, we live in Los Angeles, but this week is about experiencing two wholly different versions of California:
A ranch resort in the Santa Barbara wine country and a garden cottage in Marin County.
