When we left off last time, we had just finished our Thanksgiving feast; and by the next morning we were basking in the afterglow.  And by “after glow” I really mean “fat tummies”.  We really needed some time moving our bodies in the fresh air.

 

FRIDAY

 

My folks beat everyone to meet the morning, per usual.

 

 

After filling-up our tanks with some Starbucks fuel, we picked up some bikes at a shop near U.C. Santa Barbara and started with a stroll through their beautiful beach-side campus.  I took suprisingly few pictures, but this pretty much sums it up.  We rode all the way out to the end of Stearn’s Wharf and back, about 30 miles roundtrip.

 

 

 

That night we had dinner at Seagrass Restaurant, which had one of the best Zagat ratings we’d ever seen.  The food was very good, but the real highlight was the Melville Pinot Noir.  It smells just like strawberry jelly.  And as luck would have it, we already had plans to visit the wine region the following day, and this one was now on our list.

SATURDAY

Our last day. 🙁  We really tried to take the emphasis off the wine indulgence for this trip, but as it’s our last day visiting one of the best wine regions in the US, we didn’t have to think too hard about how we wanted to spend our last day.  We started with lunch in Los Olivos, followed by a tasting at the Longoria tasting room right in town.  If you like pugs, you’d love this little guy.  He had the saddest face, but don’t feel sorry for him.  He lives in a tasting room for crying out loud!

 

We really wanted to see the country side, so made our way out to…where else?  Melville!  The site that makes that wonderful Pinot Noir we enjoyed so much the night before.  It started to rain, which is actually a great time to go wine tasting.  The tasting room is cozy, and the vino warms our insides…

 

Next up, Dierberg Vineyard.

 

I was looking through some old pictures the other day, and it’s shocking how many pictures if have of Jared drinking wine, taken through a wine glass.  The situation always seems to present itself.

 

 

On our way home we decided to stop in at the Hitching Post.

You know…the Hitching Post!  The site where Miles and Jack met Maya in the movie Sideways!

If you still don’t know what I’m referring to, you really need to watch the movie.  Here’s one of my favorite clips.  The one that single handedly devastated the market demand for Merlot, a terrific wine grape that’s still struggling to rebound.  Just so we’re clear, if anyone tries to seriously tell you that they don’t like Merlot, they’re an idiot.  It’s delicious.

BTW – we also found out that they’re making a sequel!

 

And so it was for this lovely destination Thanksgiving.  The next morning, the rest of the crew was out of the house by 0’dark hundred, and Lea and I made our merry way down the PCH to our new home.