TRAVEL

Whining and Wine- A Trip to Healdsburg

Mini getaways might be my favorite type of trip. There is no stress packing, no plane flight, and very little planning required, even with a toddler. Last weekend we took a short drive up to Healdsburg. I fell in love with this small town nestled between rolling hills covered with vineyards. There are over 190 wineries in Sonoma County. We made it to three of them. With a toddler three was the perfect number. I was awestruck by the beauty everywhere I looked. We started at Ridge Vineyards, the scenery is beautiful and they have good red wines but this is NOT a child friendly winery… It seems like Piper can sense when people aren’t ‘kid people’ because she was whining much more then usual. We stayed away from the crowd and enjoyed our tasting on a bench in front of the vineyards while Piper ran around looking at the grapes.

Dry Creek was my favorite place by a landslide. The atmosphere was perfect for us. Shaded lawn with picnic tables, bocce ball and bean bag toss kept Piper (and us) entertained for hours. They have a large selection of wines, which were all pretty yummy. I’d go back there tomorrow if I could! It was so nice and relaxing.

Last we went to Truett Hurst Winery. If I had the chance to redo our trip I would have come here first. They have chickens, sheep and pigs which were fun for Piper to see and there is a huge grass area to run around in. By this time of day it was 102 degrees outside and there is very little shade at Truett Hurst. We still found a cute little table and chairs tucked away in the shadiest place we could find and enjoyed a picnic and a glass of ice cold 2013 Bluebird Sauv Blanc that tasted perfect in the sweltering heat. We had such an enjoyable, laid back, relaxing weekend away from all the stresses of the real world. I’d love to go back to Healdsburg sometime soon! If you like wine and your kids like to play outside this town is for you!