That weekend we went out for dinner and celebratory drinks starting at Oyster House.
We had a dozen at the oyster bar and then sat for a delicious lobster roll. Yum!
After dinner we went for a few drinks at Misconduct Tavern. Its a fantastic dive bar that simulates being in the hull of a ship with cheap beers and a different flavored shot every night.
The next night we went to a housewarming party at our pal's house in Manayunk. He kept it simple with pizza, chips, and an ice luge (which he had to modify with a drill when it wasn't working property at the start of the night).
Don't try this at home kids!!
It was a great weekend in Philly before our anniversary trip to California. B's high school friend was getting married in Solvang (wine country about an hour outside of Santa Barbara) on our 5-year anniversary so we decided to go out a few days early and make a trip of it.
For the first few days we stayed at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara. When we arrived there was a bouquet of tulips (my fav!) from B waiting for me.
After a good night's rest, we woke to a beautiful view, a work out, massages, a fish tacos by the pool.
That night we went to a fantastic dinner at Seagrass in Santa Barbara. For starters B had the oysters and I had the grilled watermelon with pistachios and a red wine syrup.
The oysters were fresh and the watermelon clean with a nice zip. For dinner B had slow baked sea bream and I had the diver scallop appetizer.
The sea bream was served over creamy leeks and topped with matchstick potatoes. I didn't love the taste of the fish, but the contrast of textures was nice. The scallop, served with a turnip and parsnip puree and carrot orange sauce infused with vanilla bean and cardamom, was perfectly cooked and absolutely delicious. Paired with a nice bottle of wine, it was a great start to the trip.
The next morning, B and I hit the breakfast buffet at the hotel to carb up before a day of wine tasting. The buffet was amazing - lox and bagels, eggs benedict, omelets made to order, fruit, pastries, etc. - and for the price of the buffet you also had free reign to order anything off the regular menu at no additional cost. I opted for the blueberry waffle with maple cinnamon butter.
It was to die for. After the buffet we met our driver, who took us to Los Olivos and surrounding areas. We started at the Fess Parker winery, which was featured under another name in the movie Sideways (the scene when Paul Giamatti's character finds out his book hasn't been picked up and ends up drinking out of the discard bucket.
We loved our barista and randomly met two old couples from South Jersey to chat up. Next we went to another vineyard owned by the Firestones, as in Andrew Firestone former bachelor. It was a little smaller and our barista wasn't as interested in making friends so we finished our wine quickly and moved on to Los Olivos - a cute little town with tons of tasting rooms and little shops. On recommendation from our concierge we did a tasting at Carhartt - a cute log cabin of a tasting room run by a friendly hippie - and then grabbed sandwiches to take on a picnic at our final vineyard.
We ended our tour with a bottle of wine and a picnic under the trees at the Rustica vineyard.
It was an amazing day, which came to a perfect end when we ordered pizza in our hotel room that we ate on the balcony while watching the Olympics.
The following day we packed up and headed to Solvang for the wedding weekend kick off. We did a bike tour from Solvang to Los Olivos and back (with a much needed chipwich break half way).
That night the weekend began with a cookout at a nearby national park. The food was great, and the vibe very chill, just like the bride and groom.
Saturday we went into Los Olivos for lunch with the group before catching the buses to an amazing vineyard for the ceremony and reception.
We had an amazing trip and could not think of a better way to spend our 5 year anniversary than celebrating the union of a great couple!
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