We left Santa Cruz at 8:00am, arriving in Santa Rosa at 10:15, with plans to meet up with Steve and Denise at Russian River Brewing Company.
Santa Rosa has a super cute downtown, within walking distance to their eldest son's home.
The Empire Building behind us was built in 1908, and is currently being turned into a boutique hotel.
Everyone likes to feel petite.
When we arrived at Russian River at 10:45 Steve was already standing in line, with multiple parties in front on him, waiting patiently for the doors to open.
It is 5 o'clock somewhere!
Mmmm, breakfast beer.
Cheers to Pliny the Elder, good friends and good times.
The food is delicious and the beer is even better.
While we ate, people were purchasing cases of beer, large flights and there was a line out the door for merchandise. No wonder they are building a thirty five million dollar facility in Windsor, just ten miles north.
There is no better way to test your driving skills than driving through a tree.
This actually isn't free. It costs $5. I think some people would say it wasn't worth it, but it is actually really cool to be inside a tree. And we did it twice so it was half price.
Sorry, Eric, you have to go around.
We decided to drive parallel to the 101, on the Avenue of the Giants, which puts you even closer to the Redwoods.
So petite.
We made it to Arcata! Megan and Tyree picked us up at our hotel and took us to Humboldt Brews where we ate, drank and were merry.
I can't believe our timing was so perfect that we could all meet up for a Pliny and an end of the year connect (especially since we had a two year TAHOE tradition going). It was such fun.
ReplyDeleteI love the rest of your day. That photo of the Suburu in the tree should be sent to the manufacturer. It is beyond awesome! And Eric being too tall for the tree and so small in the Hand [I had to learn more, "People like art. There's already a piece of art in the plaza - a giant white marble hand entitled Agraria by Larry Kirkland, and people love The Hand. I see at least 30 people a day posing for photos in front of The Hand. Sometimes they pose in jokey ways to make visual puns out of The Hand, usually they just think it's cool and want to stand within its half cupped fingers."]
Megan and Tyree are a cute couple. Their little guy is going to be adorable. What fun.
Thanks for sharing this day of your trip with us.