After packing our carry-on-only baggage this morning, our super-duper friends Jared and Chelsey drove us to the Mobile airport for our 11:30 (later delayed till 12:00) flight. It’s been about 8 months since I’ve flown and I forgot how much I love flying/people watching! As luck would have it, while on vacation from all things medical this week, the loud-voiced man waiting behind us at the airport just so happened to be from an electronic medical records company based out of Mobile. And, boy, he loved talking about his job. He loved health records and all things related to the medical field, and also from his vast and varied hospital experience he thought physicians need to do a better job at choosing KCl drip rates on their IV’s, among other things. And then of course he sat right by us on the plane. Sigh.
I’m sure Stu and I looked like an unlikely pair on that plane – him reading his oil and gas articles and me reading my Jimmy Carter “We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land” book. We both read away and had a good flight despite the fact that American Airlines doesn’t serve snacks (I’ve always liked Delta for a reason …); therefore, by the time we landed in Dallas for our layover I was getting hangry. (Hangry: adj., meaning hungry + angry; a combination achieved when one’s blood sugar drops after long hours without a meal; or, a negative mood instantly improved by a meal.)
Since Stuart fears me in my hangry state, we popped in to the closest airport food location: Dickey’s BBQ. The food was decent, but the taste mattered a lot less to me than the calories at the time. After lunch it was time to wait yet again and people watch – one of my favorite past times. Let me tell you friends, the people in this large airport of Dallas are a bit different than people you may encounter in the tiny Mobile airport. We sat across from: a couple alternating speaking to each other in Spanish and English, a Stanford football player, and a cushingoid-appearing USC student who dropped the F-bomb every 5 seconds and stayed on her iPhone constantly. There was also a rather rotund lady immediately across from me who was dressed all in black and blatantly staring at me every time I looked up. Perhaps it was because I had a pink polo on, a blue paisley Vera Bradley bag, and another Orange paisley VB bag. (On a somewhat unrelated note to that, the last time I flew alone I had a layover in Qatar on my way to India, and made the mistake of wearing a bright orange rain jacket in a Muslim country on a Muslim holiday [i.e., everyone wears black or white]. Good times.)
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| Snow covered mountains from the plane |
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| A thawing lake |
Anyway, we finally boarded our flight and were off to San Francisco! The second leg of the journey was about 4 hours long and we both got a bit antsy before it was over. When we touched down, we landed in a cold and rainy San Fran. We were both starving (yet again) and were excited we didn’t have to wait at the baggage claim! We just moseyed on over to the Hertz rent-a-car counter where a not at all friendly lady gave us the keys to our new Toyota Corolla! By this time it was about 7:30pm Cali time and we still had about an hour and a half drive before we reached our destination of St Helena. Me being the obsessive planner that I am had decided that we would eat at a cutesy but delicious diner called Gott’s Roadside. They were supposed to serve a mean burger, and it was the only restaurant in the valley open after 8pm!
However, as we drove it kept getting later and later. We realized we weren’t going to make it there by 9pm. Our tummies were growling and neither of us could imagine eating ANOTHER nutri-grain bar since we had already had 4 on the plane. I called our bed and breakfast (The Wine Country Inn) to inquire on places to chow down. The friendly desk lady took my number and said she would try to find a place open for us. She called back about 10 minutes later and said our only chance at food would be at a place called Bouchon. Well, folks, it turns out that the Bouchon is a little French bistro-type restaurant that was opened by none other than Thomas Keller. Keller is the chef at the French Laundry – the best restaurant in the world. We originally wanted to go to the FL on our trip, but couldn’t stomach the $500 price tag that goes along with it (!) Bouchon, however, was a much cheaper and more relaxed version of the same thing!
So about 9:30 pm (11:30 pm home time) we rolled into the sleepy little town of Yountville and pulled up at Bouchon. It was a really nice atmosphere, with dim lighting, white paper covering the tables, and hip music playing. Our waiter immediately came up and introduced himself after bringing some homemade butter and hummus for dipping our bread. He talked us through our choices and gave a few of his recommendations for wine pairing with the meal. It was so nice to have someone so knowledgeable about the menu! He could tell us where the ingredients came from, how the mussels I ordered were grown, what flavors we would taste in our glasses of wine, etc, etc.
After much anticipation (and much bread eating), our food arrived! I had a mixed green salad with herbed goat cheese and red wine vinaigrette, while Stuart had wild mushroom soup to start. The main course was white sausage (made of pork and turkey) with creamed potatoes and sautéed prunes for Stuart, and steamed mussels in a saffron broth with frites (french fries). This was my first introduction to French food. It was so rich and delicious! This may sound silly, but those french fries were the most perfect fries I have ever tasted! Thin and crisp, and perfect plain or with a garlic aioli (mayonnaise). And I’m thankful Stuart had eaten mussels before so he could teach me how to eat them properly!
Anyway, the meal was wonderful and I’m sure was heads and tails above the hamburger we would have gotten at Gott’s Roadside. With full and happy tummies we headed to our B&B, which is nestled away in a quiet vineyard. Our room is very homey – even with it’s own fireplace which we have already used!
Tomorrow we’re off for more adventures!
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