All Aboard for a Getaway Weekend

For Christmas last year, my parents gave us a gift certificate toward a B&B we found out about while camping and wine tasting.  The Featherbed Railroad is a unique railroad themed B&B on the north shore of Clearlake in Northern California (about 2 1/2 -3 hours north of us).  Your room is an actual caboose and each has it's own theme.

Get ready for a lot of pictures!

To set the scene for the amount of stress Dave and I were under ahead of this trip - my parents were watching Drew, but that morning our plumbing went out - a tree root broke into our sewer line and they couldn't fix it.  So we were fighting with plumbers before trying to get up to the B&B before the 7pm deadline.  We didn't make it.

Thankfully they were nice enough to leave us a key in the lockbox at our room so we could get in whenever - so we stopped and had dinner in Ukiah.

We got to our room and I said a jacuzzi bath with wine was all I wanted that night. 

The next morning we enjoyed coffee from our cupola - the "upstairs" of the caboose (notice the cupola on the train next to us - it's sort of hidden in the trees).

Looking directly down from our cupola you can see the fountain.  While we were here in November, if it was a bit warmer it would've been so relaxing to have our windows open and hearing that!

The selfies from the cupola with our coffee.

The view behind us on the other side of the cupola.  We stayed in the Wine Country caboose.  Each one has it's own theme.

Here is the tour of our Wine Country Caboose... View from the cupola to the back...

... View from the tub to the front door.  The cupola is just before the front door.

 ... See Dave was still up there!

The caboose from outside.

They are all still on tracks.  It's really really cool.  They even have their own Featherbed Railroad radio station!

The view of the private pier/dock.

View from the Main house (where they served breakfast every morning) looking out toward our rooms and Clearlake is in the background.

Here is the main house.

The detail is so amazing here - right down to the bird houses!!

And there are cute little antiques... the telephone booth (no telephone inside.. only spiders)

And back at our caboose.  We made friends with our "neighbors" and after taking this picture we looked inside both of their rooms.  Next time we'd pay the extra to go for theirs (the Orient Express or La Loose Caboose).

Dave inside the train up in the cupola.

After posting for pictures we set out on our Wine Tasting adventure.  We met a few friends along the way...

First stop (and our only intended stop) was Brassfield.  We've heard folks talk about this winery the last two times we camped up this way, but we never made it there because it's on the opposite side of the lake and well when you've dragged kids to a few wineries the last thing you want to do is take them 45 minutes out of their way.

While this wasn't a convenient location - it was amazing!

We really enjoyed their wines - and the grounds are amazing.  Here is a shot of the lake and town on our drive back down the hill from Brassfield (we took home maybe half a case).

We then hit up 2 other wineries - Gregory Graham (the former winemaker for Rombauer) and one of our favorites Loujor Estates.

After wrapping up at the three wineries we headed back to the B&B and we played one game of bocce ball - where I whipped Dave's butt!  Then it was time to head out to the pier to watch the sunset.

Of course you had to have wine to watch the sunset...

It was a perfect night!  It was cold and windy as the sun set, so we just went grabbed dinner then went back to sleep - Dave caught a chill on the water and wasn't feeling well.

The next morning it was more coffee in our cupola.  I also filled out the journal they have in our room - where guests write their thoughts.  It was awesome  to read everyone's thoughts over the past nearly two years.  All of which stayed in our room.

While many said how great the place was, thank to the owners etc... here's what I wrote:

11/1-11/3, 2013

Our list of recommendations:
1) Enjoy wine in the tub to unwind
2) Walk the grounds
3) Savor breakfast
4) Play bocce ball through the grounds
5) Make friends with others (so you can see inside their cabooses!)
6) Wine and snacks while you watch the sunset over the lake/hills on the dock across the street
7) Coffee in the morning in the cupola while you take in the sights of the lake
* Must play FRR Radio while doing so

Wineries we visited:
Brassfield - beautiful grounds & great wine
Gregory Graham - Former Rombauer winemaker
Lajour Estates - views cannot be beat!!

Mix all together with lots of love and R&R = perfection!
Brenda & Dave

Then it was getting time to say goodbye to the B&B - so we walked the pier again..

And hung around our caboose...

Did I mention they pay serious attention to detail?  In the room where we have breakfast, there's a train that travels over your heads!

It was an amazing weekend and one we needed in a bad way - especially with the plumbing drama (which is ongoing).  But one slice of peace.

I warned you there was a lot of pictures!

Aloha!

I'm still not used to the time change, so while I'm awake at 4am Hawaii time, it's 7am at home.  That's sleeping in for me - if you consider California time acceptable on the islands... I do not, but I cannot help it.  So instead I'll torture update you on our first two nights in Maui.

Our flight was totally uneventful which is good, and we were giddy with excitement when we landed.  Of course who wouldn't be if you're on the islands driving a convertible!

That's Dave at the helm of our red Ford Mustang...

We landed at about 9am Maui time, so while we tried to drive to the timeshare and check in early, our room wasn't ready.  We decided to park the car and walk and explore what there is in the area.  We found a fantastic shopping/dining location and had lunch with our first cocktails of the trip (on the flight we did receive a complimentary Mai Tai but we won't count that).

We managed to get in about an hour ahead of schedule so we went upstairs and got ready to hit the pool and enjoy the sun (I was already a little red from walking around).

We found some people who were doing these adorable family pictures of the sunset so we offered to take pictures of the whole group.  They returned the favor by posing us so I have palm tree hair....

It didn't take away from the gorgeous sunset we saw right from our lounge chairs.

We then went up to our room to enjoy a few beverages on our balcony and made dinner in our room - the frugal people that we are.

The next morning I of course wasn't used to the time change and was up long before the sun was.  Rather than run, I enjoyed coffee on the balcony and waited for the rest of the world to wake.  It was designed to be a do nothing day.  And well, that's exactly what we did.  Nothing. Unless you count laying by the pool, snorkeling and drinking as doing something.  Yes we had our first adult beverage in our hands poolside by 9:45am.  It's 5 o'clock somewhere right? 

Those would be our 2nd or third drinks....

And this would be our happy hour bar.  We brought a cooler with our beverages down, but we had to order mai tais from the experts for Happy Hour!

The entire day we just lounged around and people watched. 

That night we decided to have a late dinner and BBQ some Beef Tenderloins, made mashed potatoes and salad.  And lived up the views of our pools and fountains with all the lights and tiki torches.

I love that it's 9pm at night and you are not the least bit chilled by the night air... ahhhhhh.

Today we're beginning our week of excursions.  By day we're doing some shopping and exploring a few towns.   By night, the luau - and more drinking :)

Aloha!

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

Today's blog wraps up our weekend getaway to Monterey, and boy were we feeling like we were the rich and famous - ok so not so rich and not so famous....

After we  had breakfast at our amazing B&B, we did the 17 mile Drive (the famous Pebble Beach route).  The last time I did this was apparently in high school - I thought it was longer - and Dave's never done it.  Of course we came upon one or two dream homes...

There are about 19 different turn outs where you can park the car and explore.  This one was one of the few beaches you could walk on, most were gated off.

Further down the road is the world famous - Lone Cypress.  This tree has sat alone on the rocks for more than 250 years.  These Cypress trees have a life expectancy of 300 years.

And then there's the very ritzy Pebble Beach - this is the Lodge/Golf Club.

After doing the 17 Mile Drive, we went back to Cannery Row to do some wine tasting.

 

Unfortunately responsibility called - we had to drive out to pick up Drew who stayed at Camp Grammy's.  Of course the 2:30 trip took more like 4 hours - since it took us 2 hours to get about 40 miles.