Wine Country!

Shh..Surprise Birthday Get Away for Mark!!! read the evite from cousin Kaulu. Mark Hopkins (aka “Dogman”) was turning Fiddy and the goal was to get family and friends from the mainland as well as Hawaii to secretly converge on Sonoma Valley in Northern California to celebrate Mark’s Big Day. Kudos to Ulu for keeping Mark dumbfounded (I think she used a few of her stealth moves from her professional hula dancing days) and thanks to Mark's brother Mike for the hookup of the guesthouse on the grounds of the Arrowood Winery in Sonoma. The property was beautiful and the party a huge success.
The Ghunnies took advantage of this opportunity to spend an extended weekend in Napa and Sonoma, our first trip to the celebrated Wine Country! In Napa we stayed downtown at the boutique hotel Avia, packing in tours of Beringer (great wine aging tunnels), Robert Mondavi (lots of french oak barrels) and Opus One (founded by Baron Rothschild and Mondavi) wineries. We had excellent meals at Bouchon (a Thomas Keller French bistro), Morimoto (contemporary Japanese by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto; located right on the Napa River), Boon Fly Café (a bright red farmhouse in Sonoma; try their bacon bloody mary) and enjoyed baked goods at Butter Cream Bakery (a Napa landmark since 1948).

It was the perfect blend of friends, family, fun and WINE.

Get a taste for yourself here.