Good friends and good times

What if a genie came up to you one day and asked you for three wishes. What would they be? I would hope that I wouldn't get lost in the moment and ask for something trivial like a brand new Ferrari. What I hope I would say is continued good health, solid relationships with my family members, and great friends. On this last long weekend trip into San Francisco, I enjoyed the latter two. It was a whirlwind couple of days that left us exhausted, but happy to say that we'll be back.

We started off the weekend with a happy hour get-together at the Redwood Room. It's a great intimate bar inside the swank Clift hotel. It's a must see if you're near Union Square. It's hip and happening even after all these years. We had a great time reconnecting with old friends. Even though we haven't seen or talked to some of them in a while, time and space did little to break the initial bonds of friendship. We chatted into the night with only fatigue from a long week getting in our way.

For the rest of the long weekend, we spent more time with family and friends and indulging our passion for good wine. Our trip to Napa was wonderful though it didn't meet our high expectations. The area is down-right beautiful with manicured vineyards in the forefront and rolling hills in the background. With this beauty comes a price - in this case that price would be the hoards of tourists. With yearly numbers exceeding Disneyland; they invade the one-lane roads and quaint tasting rooms. On our next trip, it's tastings on the weekdays and appointments on the weekends.

We would be remiss to not thank our wonderful host and friend, Mehdi and his beautiful family. He is truly one of the good guys. Thank you Mehdi and Luciane for all of your hospitality. We also want to thank Mike for cooking us one of the best meals, at home or in a restaurant, that we've had in a long time. The meal started with homemade mushroom soup, the main course was cinnamon curry lamb with stir-fry sugar snaps and corn, and we finally ended things with caramel drizzled chocolate cake and ice cream. The meal, beautiful wine, and great company we shall not soon forget. And many thanks to all of our friends that made extra special time to hang out with us in the city. We had such a great time with each and every one of you!