It’s TRAVEL TUESDAY!! Today I want to share a day trip we took in July 2019 for my 27th birthday. We had already done a day trip to San Diego for hubby’s birthday. We decided that we wanted to do something a little different, so we picked Temecula for the day to hit three wineries.
This was our first stop of the day; it wasn’t too crowded when we got there, but it definitely was by the time we left. We choose to do the Prelude Passport Tasting option. This $25 per person and includes 6 tastes of any C’est la Vie or Vienza wines from their regular menu. This was pretty cool because we had our own personal sommelier who helped us pick the wines based off of our preferences. There are three different wineries on the Europa Village property! There is a restaurant and hotel on the property. I also just learned that they offer olive oil tastings! OMG I wish I had known this because I so would have enjoyed this!
This place was probably my favorite, but it was the most crowded! We wanted to eat when we got here, so we had to wait and find a table on the lawn area. We ate a quick lunch and had a wine slushie! (You can not bring your own food or drink)
There is a restaurant, but you have to make reservations, so I recommend planning ahead if you want to eat there! After lunch, we went into the tasting room; it was soo crowded inside, it was very difficult to find a spot at the bar. Our tasting was $25 per person and included 6 tastings, a logo wine glass, and a $5 coupon toward wine bottle purchase of $30 or more. I tasted the almond sparkling, watermelon, white cab, peach bellini, and rose. I wish that we could have spent more time here because it was just so beautiful, but like I said, it was really crowded. *There website has all of their up to date offerings and you can find all the info here*
This was our third and final stop of the day. Ponte Winery also has a restaurant, but we did not eat here. We only did the wine tasting since it was getting close to their closing time. Wine tastings are $25 per person and include 6 tastings.
Here is the menu that we got to choose from, it may be different now
There is also a hotel on the property and I think that this would have been such a cool place to stay the night! *They are open for wine tastings outside, but you do have to make a reservation ahead of time. All of their info on COVID protocol can be found on their website. The restaurant and tasting is currently open for reservations, but they are not doing any winery tours!
I can’t wait to be able to do these types of day trips again once things go back to normal and I feel comfortable being around so many people. All three of these places are open and have a COVID protocol in place. I recommend checking out each of their websites before planning to visit so that you can make sure you’ve made the proper reservations and have everything you need.
As always, if you have any questions, let me know and I’ll do my best to get the best answer for you! If you have any recommendations on other wineries to go to while in Temecula, drop them in the comment section.
Since today is hubby’s birthday, I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about one of his favorite places! MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN! Last year for his 30th, I asked him what he wanted to do and his pick was to go snowboarding in Mammoth. My hubby loves snowboarding and I am not the best at it (the last time I went was before I had knee surgery, so before 2015). We left early March 1 (Mammoth is about a 5 hour drive from where we are in Los Angeles) and drove straight, only stopping for gas/bathroom break.
Of course I had to take a pic of my outfit before we left the house! Outfit linked here
Once we got up the mountain, we stopped at a restaurant called The Stove. The food was good and I would definitely go back!
After eating, we stopped to pick up my rental board and then went to the hotel to check in. We stayed at the Westin Resorts – Mammoth Lakes. The hotel was in the perfect location because it was right across from the Village which is where the lifts are to go snowboarding/skiing.
Here are some pictures of our room! I wish we had been able to stay longer, the room was nice and had a fireplace! They also had a little kitchenette area.
After getting settled at the hotel, we decided to go walk around and check out the Village. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty cold and had started snowing at that point. This SoCal girl was not prepared for actual snow fall!
We had dinner at one of the restaurants there in the village. I honestly can’t remember the name, but the food was just ok and they were setting up for a live band (we aren’t huge fans of being right next to that). I would recommend looking for other places to eat, but this was convenient for us since we just walked across the street.
The Village lit up at night reminded me of Christmas time. It was so beautiful!
The following day, March 2 (hubby’s birthday) was snowboarding day! I took a lesson so that hubby could go and do all the hard runs he wanted to while I was in class and learning how to snowboard. I will say that the class was 110% worth it. By the time class was over, hubby was done with the big lifts and we did a couple “not so hard” runs so that I could keep practicing. Since we knew we had to drive home that same day, we didn’t want to stay too long and get tired. We snowboarded for a couple more hours and then called it a day. I wish we could have stayed one more day since I was doing really well.
This was my first time in Mammoth, but it’s one of my husband’s favorite places to snowboard. We can’t wait to come back (hopefully next winter) with our baby boy! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out! Please keep in mind that with Covid, I don’t know what the protocol is for dining or staying so that is something to keep in mind before going.
Hey y’all I hope you had a great weekend! I know my weekend was filled with running around doing errands and then an ALL day cheer competition on Sunday!
So as I’m sitting at work this morning, I can’t help but look back at my pictures and see what a great time I had two weekends ago in my favorite city – NEW YORK! I don’t have vacation time at work yet, so I have to take advantage of long weekends and off days. Since MLK weekend gave me Monday as a holiday, I had Friday and Monday off, I had planned a weekend trip with one of my girlfriends.
I know some of you may be shaking your heads wondering how on earth a girl from SoCal can make NYC a weekend trip!? You get up and go every morning that your there and you don’t stop going until your head hits the pillow at night, that’s how you do it!
But in case you’re still confused, let me break it down for you:
Thursday:
I took a red eye flight leaving at 9:30pm California time and landing at JFK at 5:30am. I personally LOVE red eye flights because I don’t feel like I’m wasting a whole day and I get to sleep on the plane! It’s like killing two birds with one stone. It’s this feeling of getting to your destination before the rest of the world is awake and I personally already feel ahead of the game.
Waiting to board our plane on Thursday night!
Friday:
Landing day: We landed at JFK at 5:30am and headed down to baggage claim to pick up my luggage (it’s January in the City, of course I needed to check a bag!). I personally enjoy taking the train into Penn Station (right by the hotel I stay at), but my friend was not on board to do that. We ended up taking a Taxi (worst experience EVER!!) and it was soo expensive!! (Side note: taking the train from the airport is less than $20 and the taxi was $60+tip) We finally got to the hotel and, if I’m being honest, was hoping that the room wasn’t ready yet (my plan was to have the hotel hold our bags, go grab breakfast, and get started on the day). Our room was ready and of course my friend wanted to nap, so I let her, but then our day got started later than I hoped and I was hungry. We FINALLY left the hotel closer to 11am and found a diner to eat breakfast at and then made our way to Central Park (there are a ton of different things you can do in the park). The weather was crisp, but it was so nice feeling the cool air on my face. We spent a little time in the park walking around and sitting on one of the many big rocks.
Such a picture perfect moment in Central Park
Then we took a little trek to The Met steps so we could sit and of course take a Gossip Girl inspired picture.
Laughing and loving the great weather in the sun
Once we were done with that, we went back to the hotel where we sat and relaxed for a while then walked down the block to get pizza. The big highlight of the day was signing up for a Paint and Sip Night at the Painting Lounge a few blocks from our hotel. It was soo much fun and definitely not something my Mr. ever wants to do! (If you have never been, an instructor takes you step by step through the painting process and you get to drink wine while you do it!) I absolutely love how my painting turned out and being from SoCal, you don’t normally get to paint the NY scenes.
I absolutely love how my painting came out!
Saturday:
Another late start… when we FINALLY left the hotel, we took the subway to the 9/11 Memorial site where we got off in this really cool mall. We made our way across the street to the Memorials where we sat and reflected for a few minutes in silence. That day had such a huge impact on so many people and when you sit and think, it brings so many different emotions to you at once. It makes you think about where you were at the moment you found out about the attack.
There are no words to accurately describe this moment
After reflecting for a few moments, we got in line to buy tickets to go to the top of One World Trade Center. It’s a short elevator ride up to the 102nd floor where you can see breath taking views of the city below you. You could literally spend all day looking over the city (I love views like this, so I will definitely go back again).
Views from the top!!
Once we were done there, we took the subway down to Wall Street to see the Charging Bull. It was pretty crowded so we didn’t stick around long.
Grabbing life by the horns
It was getting late into the afternoon, so we headed back towards our hotel and got to Shake Shack right as it started snowing!! Lunch was delicious (I absolutely love Shake Shack, but I’ll only eat it in the city) and the view of the snow falling was like the cherry on top of a sundae!
oops, I might have been to hungry to wait for my picture
Later that evening, we headed over to The Rink at Rockefeller Center to ice skate. We had to wait a while to even get on the ice since it was between skate times. While we waited, we saw a man proposing to his girlfriend right there on the ice! It was picture perfect with the snow still falling as he got to his knee. We skated for a while until we were both tired and hungry. We took a short walk to Junior’s for dinner (they have the best cheesecake!!) and then called it a night after that.
Skating through life without a care in the world
Delicious chicken parm and veggies from Junior’s
Sunday:
The final day… I really wanted to get up early and get going, but my friend had other ideas (sleeping lol).But, I finally made it into Brooklyn and got Rainbow Bagels from The Bagel Store!! It’s this tiny little store that you will literally pass if you’re not paying attention. I ordered my rainbow bagel with confetti cream cheese and then ordered 5 more bagels to bring home with me! I enjoyed my bagel so much that I brought 5 home for my family to enjoy too (you can now order online and have them shipped to you)!
basic bagel and bridge picture
Since New York is all about great picture taking, I knew I just had to tote my bagels all the way over to the Brooklyn Bridge for the perfect picture! I made it to the bridge and snapped a picture, but I would have liked to walk all the way across the bridge. We didn’t too much the rest of the day since our flight was later that evening. We took the train from Penn Station to JFK and got there soo fast that we were way too early and ended up sitting at the airport forever!!
Literally couldn’t have asked for better weather on my last day
As always while I’m in the city, I take the Subway everywhere I go. I think that it is an inexpensive way to get around the city and get to where ever your heart desires! I also think that it helps you get acquainted with the city and definitely makes me feel at home when I can navigate the subway system without looking at a map.
This was the view from the street my hotel was on!
While my trip was a short one, I always enjoy my time in my favorite city and I can’t wait to get back there as soon as possible.
Feel free to leave your comments and let me know what your favorite things to do in the city are!
Not Another LA Blonde 