Santa Cruzing - Week 2

Week 2 here we go! Here’s a recap from Week 2 of my time in Santa Cruz!

August 21

  • Pipeline Trail at Henry Cowell State Park in Felton, CA
    This is one of the most gorgeous hikes I’ve done, the Redwoods here are GORGEOUS, even bigger and prettier than the other Redwood parks I have been to so far this trip and perhaps one of the most popular for this park.

  • Tacos at Taqueria Vallarta

August 22

  • Capitola

    • Lunch at Zelda’s on the Beach
      I bumped into an old co worker from AMEX while we were having lunch, what a small world!

    • Ice Cream at Polar Bear
      Polar Bear has so many fun and unique flavors categorized by vanillas and chocolates to coffees and caramels to fruits and sorbets, needless to say I was very happy with the variety of flavors! I ultimately went with a double scoop of lavender & Honey and Olallieberry & Honey, which did not disappoint and I will definitely be returning!

August 25

  • Hanging out with Ivy at Black’s Beach after work

  • Dinner at Café Gratitude
    Café Gratitude is a vegan restaurant, which was surprisingly delicious! I had a delicious sandwich! Fun story - I did not know Café Gratitude was a chain and the first time I went was this past April with my friend Yasmine in Venice, CA.

August 26

  • Road trip to NAPA!
    Matt, Lisa & I took a road trip to Napa, my first time to NAPA! We made it to 3 wineries:

    • Rutherford Hill Winery

    • V. Sattui Winery

    • Priest Ranch Winery

    Check out my last blog post on Napa for more details: https://www.elizabethtam.com/blog/2021/8/26/first-trip-to-napa

  • Dinner at In-N-Out & a pit stop at Petco to get Luke the cat a cat toy

    Luke’s dad never got him any toys, what a sad kitty

  • Bonfire at Black’s Beach

    We made another bonfire, but came prepared with s’mores this time - yum!

That’s it for Week 2 in Santa Cruz!

First trip to Napa

Today my friends and I took a road trip to Napa for some wine tasting! This was my first trip to Napa, we decided to go t a few wineries to get variety of samplings.

I learned a lot about why Napa is so famous for wine. Apparently the soil and climate in Napa is one of the most sustainable for growing the grapes needed for the wine. Thank you Matt & the man at the Rutherford Hill Winery for the learning moment!

Here are the wineries we went to:

Rutherford Hill Winery

Family owned winery off the beaten path with what is known to be best picnic spot in Napa

This was my first wine tasting and I was very happy with the selection - the wines here had nice fruity notes and were quite tasty. The outdoor setting was really relaxing and a perfect way to end the work week!

V. Sattui Winery

Voted 2020 Winery of the Year by San Diego International Wine & Spirits Challenge & Monterey International Wine Competition

We came here for a lunch picnic, the food did not disappoint! I ordered some Shrimp and Chicken Salad, which was delicious!

Priest Ranch Winery

A small tasting room for a much larger conglomerate owned by the family

The tasting room here was very cute and modern, however the wines were a bit more dry than what I like.

This trip, we went to 2 wine tastings - one at Rutherford Hill Winery and one at Priest Ranch Winery. Of the two, wineries Rutherford Hill was the clear favorite all around from the wine & hospitality to the gorgeous property and views.