Roasted Chickpeas

Where was this snack last year when we did the Clean Program?! The team over at the Clean Program website released a bunch of holiday recipes and one of them was Roasted Chickpeas. Kinda makes me wish we had started this before the holidays....okay, maybe not. Who can resist cheesy potatoes, spinach dip and chocolate, lots of chocolate.

Roasted Chickpeas

1 lb chickpeas
2 tbs olive oil
your choice of seasoning, I used sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder and red pepper powder

I used a 1 lb bag of dried chickpeas and soaked them overnight in enough water to cover them, with a few inches of water above them. I then drained and rinsed the chickpeas before adding them to a pot with, again, enough water to cover them with a few inches above. After it starts boiling, you lower the temp and let it simmer for 40-60 minutes or until they're tender. Then you drain them, pat them dry and put them on an ungreased cookie sheet, as evenly as possible. Put in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 20-40 minutes or until golden and crunchy (this took almost an hour for me). Immediately add the roasted chickpeas to a bowl with your olive oil and seasonings and mix throughly.

Delicious, nutritious and clean friendly!


**UPDATE** After eating these the next day, I noticed that they did not stay crunchy!! I think next time I'll try making a half batch or quarter batch that can be eaten immediately. If you have a dehydrator, that might help too, but we don't have one so I'll just have to eat fast :)

Gluten-Free Pasta with Butternut Squash

In my last post, I talked about making this pasta later in the week. Well, later in the week turned out to be a day later...

A few things I learned from this dish:

1. The brown rice pasta I used smells funny when you cook it but tastes just like pasta when mixed with sauce. I used Tinkyada brown rice fettuccine.

2. If you accidentally buy frozen cooked squash instead of the cubes, you get to skip a few steps like cooking and running through food processor. Also, I probably used too much squash after looking at the photo on the Chefuality blog.

3. You can add extra garlic and scallions to ANYTHING and it will be awesome. Ditto for red pepper powder and garlic and onion powder.

4. If you add chicken, it's a bit heartier. We added 1 humanely raised breast and it added a nice flavor but it would have been fine without it too if you're trying to have a meatless day.

5. This dish is okay but it's not as good as the broccoli tahini :) I think I didn't like this dish as much because I don't really like butternut squash. I keep trying to eat it in different recipes and convince myself otherwise, but it's a little sweet and doesn't work for me as a savory dish. If it was a pie, that might be a different story! ***UPDATE*** The reheated leftovers tasted a lot better than it did right after it was cooked. The flavors settled and it was pretty darn good!

6. Again, really impressed that this rice pasta tasted like regular pasta! For those of you who are intolerant of gluten, you do not have to miss out on pasta because this stuff is just the best. Make sure to rinse it off after it has cooked, like it suggests on the package.

To accompany my pasta dinner, I also made some fresh squeezed lemonade with half a lemon, a bit of Stevia in the Raw and some filtered tap water. This really helped my craving for a sugary drink like soda.

Getting ready for the Clean Program, Year 2

Okay everyone! It's that time of year again: the time to make resolutions for the new year and then promptly forget about them on January 2 :) Last January, Ryan and I did pretty well during our 21 day cleanse and I'm confident that we'll do even better this year and get the same great feeling we did from eating so healthy during that time (we're also hoping to continue many of the habits throughout the year).

Last year, we did not do the suggested 3-5 days of the Elimination Diet before the cleanse. This year we are trying to do better so when we got back in to town today, I went grocery shopping and only purchased "clean" ingredients using the shopping list found here.

About a week ago, I joined every woman's new favorite addiction: Pinterest and started collecting "Clean" recipes in addition to ideas for crafts I'll never make, but have every intention of doing so :) One recipe in particular, Broccoli and Tahini, caught my eye and so tonight I set about making it (pictured above). It so so good!! At first it tasted a bit bland, but with each bite, I discovered new flavors like the tang of the lemon and the creaminess of the tahini. My taste buds just needed to adjust to the lack of sodium, fat and sugar that usually accompanies all of the junk food I have been eating lately! The blogger who posted this recipe also told me of another Clean recipe she has on her blog, Gluten-free Butternut Squash Pasta, which I am hoping to try later this week (later than I originally thought, the broccoli and tahini makes a TON of food, not complaining!).


Another thing I made today came directly from the Clean Program page on snacking, which is going to be crucial for me to get through the cleanse this year. I think my biggest problem in the past was that I was not eating enough and felt deprived. The website clearly states that you can snack on approved foods but that you need to have 12 hours of fasting each night. I misunderstood that last time and I was miserable more than a few days! Anyway, these balls are made up of dates, almonds, sunflower kernels, sesame seeds, a bit of stevia, coconut oil and unsweetened coconut flakes. If you have ever had a Lara bar, they are pretty similar to that. If you have a food processor, you can make these lil snack balls and they are delicious!

Things I learned from the Clean Program last year that I'll use this year:

- Don't get carried away and buy a bajillion different ingredients for a million different recipes. We got carried away last year and bought way too much stuff and spent more money than we needed to. This year, we know to keep it simple!
-Prepare, prepare prepare! The more food you have ready to eat, the less temptation you'll have! We learned last year to make lunch in advance so we could just grab and go.
-Eat snacks! If you're eating healthy snacks and feeling full, you will not be tempted by the office donuts, the popcorn and soda deal at Target or the gingerbread pancakes that IHOP is advertising right now.
-Avoid the weird recipes that include items that you KNOW FOR A FACT you do not like. If you don't eat it, it doesn't do you any good OR if you eat it and hate every bite, you just may be tempted to hit up Pizza Hut the next day to compensate for the torture food.
-ANYONE can do this cleanse. I don't exactly have discipline, it's one of the reasons I can never be a runner (unless half a block counts) but I still managed to complete this cleanse last year with only a few lapses (did not resist the gingerbread pancakes).
-Cleanses don't have to be the scary, dangerous diets that you hear about. If you're only eating lemon and cayenne pepper, THAT'S A BAD IDEA. If you're eating a wide variety of food and receiving more nutrients than you probably ate the entire year before, that's probably okay! When people ask, "don't you miss real food", remind yourself that a McValue meal or Easy Mac is not real food and that during this cleanse, you're finally eating "real" food.

Key West, FL

Ryan has been going to the Keys for all of his life and so you can imagine how incredibly sad my life was by comparison because I had only been once, for 5 hours (between 7 am-12pm) on a cruise stop. So very sad.

This weekend changed that! We made the 9 hour drive in our rental Yaris (our way of prolonging the inevitable breakdown of one of our high mileage cars) and made it to Marathon, FL just in time for a beautiful sunset right next to the 7 mile bridge at Sunset Grille and Raw Bar. The food was okay but I probably wouldn't eat there again. The view was unbelievable though and is great for a drink on the waterfront deck!

After the sunset, we made the final hour drive to Key West and checked in to the Southwinds Motel which was the perfect place for our weekend. The room was only $100/night during the boat races, it was clean, the service was friendly and we were within walking distance of Duval Street...I was quite impressed! (Many other places in the vicinity were either uber expensive or had bad ratings)

After checking in, we wasted no time and headed straight for Duval Street where we were met with hundreds (if not thousands) of people crowding the street to view the powerful racing boats on display from massive hydraulic lifts on semis.

The next morning, we decided to finally test out the inflatable boat that Ryan has been repairing for the past few weeks. Ryan thought it would be a good opportunity to take me lobstering for the first time ever. The photos below depict the series of events that followed:


Hey Brandy! Doesn't this folded up boat look safe?

I just have to blow it up....like water wings with an engine!

Here we go! She's going in the water!

Brandy: Oh dear, why is all that water in there?
Ryan: Well, we both knew this was going to happen.
Brandy: No. No we did not know this was going to happen.

Brandy being forced to get in the boat against her will and all reason.
That's ankle deep water! I'm getting out...

Good luck Ryan! Hope you don't sink!

Ryan: "Maybe there is too much water coming in..."

Moral of the story?: It is difficult to patch inflatable boats with holes in them. Test your repair work BEFORE lugging a boat, giant gas can, diving gear, and engine 9 hours to the Keys.

Quick recap of the rest of the trip:

-Stopped by Kino Sandal Factory, a must for a Key West trip to replenish our Kino supply.
-Walked for miles and miles...the most exercise I've had in years...that is pretty unfortunate.
-Found a neat little coffee shop called Cuban Coffee Queen....delicious cafe con leche!
-Attended the wedding of our friends, then promptly fell asleep at 8:30 pm when we stopped back at the motel to change to go out with everyone on Duval...it started off as a 10 minute nap to rest our feet and ended at 3:40 am when we finally woke up...I want to blame it on the fact that we had been out and about all day and had a few drinks...but I think deep down we all know that Ryan and I are secretly 80 years old.
-Went to the Cuban place (we went when we had been in Key West on a stop for our honeymoon cruise) called Meson de Pepe...plantain nachos are delicious....AND there were baby chickens that stopped by to say hello/beg for food.


Overall, we had a great trip to the Keys and hope to sail there one day soon!

Cape Haze, FL/2 Year Wedding Anniversary

Happy 2 Year Anniversary to me and Ryan! Woo hoo :) We have vowed to visit a place that we have never been each year on our anniversary. Last year, we went to Hostel in the Forest and from there we visited Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island and had an all around adventure. This year, we decided to splurge on a more luxurious vacation and while it was really nice to relax and spend time together, we have both decided that it just wasn't us! We are better suited to hostels and chicken buses :) Anyway, here is a recap of our romantic island getaway:

Cape Haze is situated in between Sarasota, to the north, and Ft. Myers, to the south. The resort where we stayed, Palm Island Resort, can only be reached by car ferry. When we found this out, we expected the car ferry to take us on a long journey to a mysterious place only found by the pure of heart, but in reality, we could have probably jumped the water with our car, possibly even with a running start on foot. The fee for the ferry was included in the price of the vacation package we had purchased (Yeah Groupon!) but if it hadn't been, we may have chosen to stay somewhere else. At $55 r/t, you'd expect to be on the long mysterious voyage mentioned before and not crossing water about 3 arms lengths across. You do have the option of crossing on the ferry as a pedestrian ($6 r/t per person) but then you'd have a pretty long walk to the resort, which is on the opposite side of the island. But, it was included for us, so it wasn't an issue :)

If you drive through Englewood on your way to Cape Haze, like we did, you will find a rare gem that will make your DAY like it did mine: A PASTY SHOP run by a YOOPER! Yeaaah! Pretty good pasty and a root beer from Wisconsin make for a happy Brandy at lunch time. They even sell Trenary Toast! But at $6.50 a bag, I'll just ask my grandma or friends to smuggle some down for me the next time they're in town. If you google "Pasty Shop in Englewood, FL" you'll see exactly where it is and also, a review from some "Brandy" dated October 21.

If the car ferry is not included in the price you pay to stay at Palm Island and you would rather not make a bunch of trips on it, then I would recommend stopping at one of the hundreds of Publix's in the area to stock up on the essentials: ingredients to make monkey bread (or, if you type it wrong into google, it pulls up "Monkey break dancing"...we now have a new name for monkey bread), parchment paper to bake the fish you're about to buy at the Placida Fish Market, ingredients for pina coladas...and that should about cover you.

Recommendation: stay at the resort and just enjoy doing absolutely nothing but eating, drinking and soaking up the sun for a few days. Ryan and I, being Ryan and I, just HAD to try and find some adventure on our second to last day and we were sorely disappointed. Unless you bring a boat, it will take you a few hours to drive anywhere and there isn't a whole lot to see. We had a good time, but we would have had just as good of a time relaxing on the beach with our pina coladas....we would have saved quite a bit of money on gas and eating out too! The only thing I would recommend doing is visiting the Placida Fish Market for some local, fresh seafood and to pay the $5 to cross the bridge to Boca Grande. It's a pretty neat area and there is a lighthouse and beautiful beach to see, plus both of these places are within 10-15 minutes of Cape Haze.


In case you decide to be stubborn like us and TRY to find some adventure, you could follow our 2 hour path to Matlacha and Pine Island. Matlacha is a complete shock while driving down the otherwise very normal road to the end of Pine Island. The buildings are all painted bright colors and there are several neat shops and art galleries. We had a late lunch at Miceli's and sat right next to the water while we listened to live music and Ryan drank a $1.50 beer (They have awesome HH specials and their HH lasts practically all day). Our server was extremely polite and wonderful and it was a breath of fresh air after attempting an earlier lunch at Dean's South of the Border Tex Mex Cantina in Punta Gorda, where we ordered the bare minimum because we were afraid to tell our server that we didn't want to stay for lunch after we had already ordered drinks(If you like Mexican food, friendly service and happiness, this is the absolute last place on earth you want to be!)

If you decide to take my advice and simply enjoy your time at the resort, there are a few different ways to do so. You can play tennis on one of the many courts, ride your golf cart around (also included in our vacation package, awesome!), make shell art on the beach, hold your nose because of all the fish that washed up because of red tide (I really hope this doesn't happen while you're there), visit one of the restaurants, or enjoy coffee from your screened porch while the sun comes up<---by far my favorite moments of this trip

Kingsley Plantation, Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach, Pumpkin Hill State Park

(Sea Island Cotton)

Remember how I mentioned that we were supposed to spend Labor Day weekend on the sailboat, sailing to Cumberland Island? Well, since that was not the safest option without a powerful engine (we have since obtained a 6 HP engine, hooray for Craigslist!) we decided to just get in the car and drive. I had read about the Kingsley Plantation a while ago when I was looking for interesting things to do in Jacksonville and since it was only about 30 minutes away, this seemed like a good start. (Tip for those who don't want to end up in somebody's crab shop in their front yard: don't type "Kingsley Plantation" into Google maps on your phone, instead, google it on the internet, and follow the link from there or else you'll end up buying crab from some backwoods shack.)

Kingsley Plantation is open every day from 9a-5p and there are limited tours of the plantation house, but even if you show up 25 minutes before they close, like we did, you'll still be able to see quite a bit before the park ranger makes you leave. Things like the crops that were grown by Zephaniah Kingsley and his slaves. If you go to this website you can read more about the history of the plantation and the Kingsley's. Interesting fact: Zephaniah's wife and children were his slaves until he "gave" them their freedom. It is sad to think of the lives that slaves had (especially the ones who worked turning indigo into blue dye, they had about a 5-7 year life expectancy) but it is important for us to learn from this period in history, so that we don't make similar mistakes in the future. Even if you have absolutely no interest in history, it is a pretty cool place to walk around and maybe have a picnic, the house sits right on the water and boaters pass by it constantly.




After you leave the Kingsley Plantation, it's about 20 minutes to the Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach area. It's a very beautiful and peaceful place to visit and reminded us both of New Smyrna Beach. There are shops and restaurants and, of course, a gorgeous beach with white sand. The drive from Jacksonville is one of the prettiest drives I have taken; you go from heavily wooded areas to rivers to ocean and I think the drive alone is worth the trip! If you bring a bottle of wine disguised in a water bottle (not that we'd ever suggest such a thing) you could enjoy a very romantic picnic or you could head to one of the local restaurants for a bite to eat and a drink. We went to the outside bar at Sliders, mostly for the view, and enjoyed a few drinks and an appetizer without breaking the bank.


I should probably mention that we came out to this area two days in a row. We wanted to stay overnight but we had a few obstacles: 1. Romeo, our dog and 2. There are no affordable places to stay if you wait until the last minute, during Labor Day weekend.
The second day we brought Romeo and a romantic picnic because dogs are allowed on the beach. It was so romantic in my mind, but Romeo wanted to make sure that no birds, dogs, humans or waves hurt us, so he spent the entire time lunging at any moving thing and barking at, well, just everything. This cut our romantic picnic short but we felt ripped off, so on our drive home, we followed the signs to Pumpkin Hill State Park.



We enjoyed a nice hike on a sandy trail for about 10 minutes before Ryan shouts "HOLY CRAP". This instills fear into my heart and I freeze. This instills Ryan's photographer instinct and he closes in on the following creature:


That, my friends, is a dusky pygmy rattlesnake (it's pretty hard to see in the picture). Once Ryan told me that, I decided that this wildlife sighting concluded our nature hike. We spent the rest of our visit on the safety on our car, listening to the wind blow through the trees, a rooster in the distance and....absolutely nothing else. It was pretty cool.

Please learn from our mistakes

(At least we got to see a beautiful sunset!)

August 29 was my sister's birthday! Happy belated birthday lil sis! Since her birthday fell on a Monday, she asked that we take her sailing on Sunday, August 28. Earlier that week, we thought we might have to cancel because of Hurricane Irene, but Miss Irene ended up going North instead and so the sailing was back on.

My sister and her boyfriend and two friends arrived around noon, so that we could get our sailboat out of the slip while the tide was still pretty high (At low tide, our boat sits in the silt on the bottom). We were planning on surprising my sister by sailing to Fort Caroline, an old fort just brimming over with history (My sister loves history)...but about 2 hours in, Ryan informs us that it would probably take us another 2 hours to reach Fort Caroline, putting us there at around 4-5 pm and not home until 8-9 or even 10 pm. (They had a 2.5 hour trip back to Orlando after the trip ended).....so we all decided that it'd probably be safer to turn around, so we'd be able to take our time getting back to the dock.

We turned around and sailed back towards the curve in the channel (Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that we were in a part of the river that is used by commercial freight boat things?) that we had just passed. Since the wind was blowing towards us, we had to turn to the left (tack) once we reached the far right side of the channel. As we turned to the left, to make the most of the wind, the current pulled us right back to where we had started. Awesome. Since we lost our propeller on the gas motor, we were using a trolling motor that ran off of a battery charged from our solar panel. This motor was so quiet and eco-friendly, we were in hippie heaven until we realized that it is good for maneuvering around our dock but not so much for going against strong currents. We tried changing to a bigger jib (sail that goes on the front of the boat, not the main sail) for more power and we were just about to make it around the corner when a GIANT freight boat (I have no idea what they're called, but they're the size of a cruise ship and blast an ear splitting horn at you if you happen to be in their way) came up and made it very clear, via ear splitting horn, that we needed to move and...lose all the ground we had just made.

This all went on for about 2 hours, with spurts of almost crashing into the rocks on the shore, cursing, one of the little cable thingies that keep the mast from crashing down and killing everyone came undone, more cursing and Brandy's famous "Sailing Induced Nervous Breakdown" (ex: I hate this boat!! We are selling it when we get home!!!) before a really nice couple pulled up in their motor boat and offered to tow us out of the current. They ended up towing us for a good hour to make sure we didn't get stuck again and brought us right up to where our dock is. Thank God for nice people!!

The moral of the story is this: test your boat in the safety of the river to learn all about the kinks and terrible things that can happen. Better to learn them in the river than in the ocean...which is what we were planning to do the following weekend. Thanks to this slight hiccup, we decided to postpone our first venture into the ocean, which could have been a real nightmare.

You know, as this entire day was happening I was thinking "I hope my sister and her friends are prepared to be riverpeople now because we may never leave the St. Johns" but I was also thinking this: "I can't wait to blog about this so other new sailors can avoid our mistakes!"....but now I'm starting to think that making mistakes and learning from them is all part of the sailing experience. We can't possibly plan for every bump in the road! So now, my philosophy is this: once you get your sailboat, do not bring people on it that do not have experience sailing OR if they don't have experience, they don't mind when you get stuck in the river for 2 hours, the propeller falls off, etc.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Even if you have ZERO interest in football (or sports in general), you must experience at least one pro football game at Everbank Stadium. It's your duty as a Jacksonville resident! Plus, it's kind of exciting to be a part of a professional sporting event with the pyrotechnics, 9 year olds belting out the National Anthem, and "cheerleaders" who slightly resemble drunk strippers.

If you can score free tickets, even better! That's what happened to Ryan and I this past Friday for the pre-season game against the Atlanta Falcons. The game started at 8, we got there about 7:30-ish, with plenty of time to get a few drinks and snacks before we found our seats (Practically nosebleed section, but they were free, so I'm not complaining!)

Here are a few tips, should you decide to do your Jacksonville duty and attend a game:

1. Parking is $20-$30. Do yourself a favor and take the shuttle! Prices range from $7-$12 and includes free parking and the calm that comes from not having to nearly run over hundreds of people who do not understand traffic laws. They have pick up locations downtown, at the beaches, Southside, Mandarin, and Orange Park. If you are going to fork over the money for parking, go to the one with the bar :) You'll see it when you get there!

2. Beer is $8 for a 20 oz cup, plan accordingly.

3. Make your arteries hate you, get some cheddar/caramel popcorn. I got regular popcorn and the regret stays with me to this very day.

4. Dress comfortably! Chances are that you will be walking quite a bit and those 10 inch heels will probably murder you. Bonus points if you wear teal, black or gold. Super bonus points if you wear Jaguar gear.

5. People watch. Be prepared to be amazed by the variety of people that come out for Jaguar games.

6. Enjoy the show :) Also, try to stay for the entire game. Jacksonville fans seem to be in a hurry to leave. Sure, it can be boring to see your team being beaten or playing like highschool football players but when they pull ahead in the 4th quarter, you're going to be pissed that you missed the only exciting part of the game.

The Joys of Sailboat Ownership

Step right up, ladies and gents! Do you want a peaceful mode of transportation that relies only on the quiet and gentle breeze that blows your hair back as you lounge majestically like a bronzed goddess on the deck of your sailing vessel?...Yeah, so do I.

Instead, I have found that sailing isn't as peaceful as I thought it would be. It's a lot of hard work, but so far, I still want to keep the damn thing. After this weekend, though, it's starting to look more like Stockholm Syndrome than dedication to our new hobby. This wiley boat has wormed its way into our hearts and even an experience like the one I'm about to describe has not yet sent us running for our axes to chop the thing into tiny pieces (although the thought has crossed my mind, many, many times. It's probably a good thing that I don't actually have an ax that I could run for).

This weekend, I had finally convinced a friend of mine that her motion sickness would not be activated by our little darling. This statement proved to make me a liar for two reasons: 1. There was absolutely no wind, so we had to motor the entire way, and 2. The engine was acting up, so it took forever. Even though we weren't on a very bumpy ride, it was a much longer ride than anticipated and so my friend ended up catching a cab back to her hotel instead of the sail back with us to avoid covering us with the partially digested contents of her lunch. (Thanks friend!)

Wouldn't you know it, we had great wind on the way home! Instead of the 2+ hours it took us to get there, it only took 45 minutes to get back. AWESOME. One problem: the giant, black clouds that seemed to be rolling in at an alarming rate. Even though we knew the tide was going to be pretty low, which would result in the water being too shallow for us to make it in our boat slip without getting stuck...we decided to risk it. About 50 feet from our dock, the boat stops moving. The engine is "I think I can-ing" its little heart out but we are not going anywhere. Then, the little engine that couldn't started making an unusual noise. Ryan makes a funny face and says calmly, "That's not good"...I don't know anything about engines, so I'm thinking, okay, maybe some seaweed got in there (We're in the St. John's River, pretty sure we don't have seaweed but whatever) but apparently when Ryan says "Not good" what he reallys means is: THE FRICKIN PROPELLER FELL OFF THE ENGINE INTO THE KNEE DEEP SILT THAT COVERS THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER.

Side note: When we renamed our boat, we dumped a whole lot of champagne into the water for the renaming ceremony PRECISELY so that these things would not happen. The gods of wind and water have totally ripped us off.

We pull up the engine to see that, yes, we no longer have a propeller, so our engine is now useless. We both kind of laugh these crazy little laughs and nervously look at the lightning and blackness that is now closing in on us. (Maybe a little overdramatic, the storm was actually pretty mild in terms of wind and waves...but I have no idea what happens to the occupants of a sailboat when lightning hits the mast, do you?)

It starts sprinkling and then full on bucketing water at us, so we decide we should probably get in the cabin to stay dry. This would have worked out pretty well if it weren't extremely hot and stuffy in the cabin. I thought taking my chances with the rain would be more comfortable, so I made my way back up to the top. At some point, Ryan joins me and then promptly theorizes that if he jumps in the water, he could pull us to the boat slip. I should have realized that his brain was addled with storm fever, but it seemed like an okay idea at the time. He jumps in and...stands up. The water is currently so shallow that he can stand. In knee deep silt, but still standing. He pulls the boat as hard as he can for a while, which amuses a few of our neighbors who are now out in their yards taking pictures and asking us to "Smile" and calling Ryan a "Hero". I'm not sure "Hero" is the word, but it is pretty entertaining to watch a human trying to pull a very heavy sailboat through the mud.

Eventually, one of our neighbors offers to come get us in his canoe. I jump at the chance to escape the boat until the tide comes back in and we can move the ol' girl, but Ryan thinks it's best to keep pulling the boat (which has not moved since he began). Feeling quite smug and proud of myself for escaping the situation and being the clear intellectual in this situation, I walk to our condo once I reach solid ground. I make it all the way to our front door before I realize that my keys are in the boat. (I have also forgotten my sandals on the boat. Did I mention that I walked barefoot through our condo complex barefoot, drenched, and generally looking like a vagabond?)

I slowly make my way back to the dock, kicking anything that won't hurt my bare feet and muttering the whole way about "that stupid, frickin boat". Ryan is still doing his he-man thing but when he sees me, he gets on the boat, grabs a few beers in a sail bag, and holds the bag in his teeth as he swims on his back to the dock. He looked like a little sea otter but instead of shells on his belly, he had a sack o' beer. I want you to picture that for a moment and tell me that I did not marry well.

We thank our new canoe hero friend and head back to our place for a few hours to relax while the tide comes in. Around 8:30 pm, freshly scrubbed and in dry clothes, we make our way back to the boat. Ryan again leaps into the water in his t-shirt and board shorts, grabs a rope and, like a half-man/half-fish or MerMan, he quickly has our sailboat pulled to the dock. From there it was simply a matter of moving it into its slip and spending many hours cleaning the black silty mud off the ropes, sails and deck (Our canoe neighbor friend pointed out to us that the silt was somewhat similar to, pardon his French, "warm shit").

Still want a sailboat?

Hair Adventure! Going "No 'Poo"

After reading about the "No 'Poo" movement, it took longer than I care to disclose to realize that by poo they mean, shampoo. (I had very unpleasant visions of a no poo movement) Once I realized that it was my brain that was moving slowly and not the bowels of the movement, I thought I'd give it a whirl:

I tried to just rinse my hair instead of using the suggested method for easing into the no 'poo movement...I made it about 4 hours before I rushed out of bed at 11 pm and decided that maybe I should use the suggested method after all because I felt disgusting.

Suggested method for going No 'Poo:
Step 1: Take 1 tbsp baking soda and mix with 1 cup water. Apply to roots and work through the rest of your hair.

Brandy's Note: My hair is waaay past my shoulders, it was nearly impossible to apply to my entire head because my stupid hair kept getting in the way. Also, this is baking soda, not shampoo, so it doesn't exactly lather. It kinda sandpapered its way to my scalp through parts of the hair jungle and it felt like maybe I was tearing my hair? I could just be a wuss.

Step 2: Add 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to 1 cup of water and apply to ends of hair to condition.

Brandy's Note: I don't think this conditioned my hair. Maybe I should have doubled this whole thing since my hair is long?

Step 3: Rinse.

Step 4: Rinse hair with water when needed. Cleanse weekly or less.

Brandy's Note: I had a friend's birthday party to go to the next day, so I broke down and shampooed and conditioned before the party so that my hair would be soft and pretty instead of dry and scraggly like a street urchin.


Conclusion: I have straight hair that I rarely blow dry and and it is even more rare for me to use styling products or style my hair in any way. So, for me, this gave my hair a texture somewhat akin to a giant broom that fell in some mud and then walked through a desert. If you use product and style frequently, this might work for you because it makes your hair more pliable. Also, if you have short hair, it might work out pretty well because you could actually get the baking soda to your scalp and the texture would probably look cool.

I will probably try it again because I'm all for weird experiments with home remedies. From what I've read online, if you keep it going your scalp eventually regulates and you rarely need to wash your hair and you save money and your hair isn't so broomy.

Even if you don't want to go no 'poo completely, the baking soda and apple cider vinegar thing is supposedly good for removing any build up or gunk. On a slightly unrelated note: I have also tried the coffee grounds in the hair thing and it did make my hair softer but I'm not sure if it gave me "great highlights for brunettes"....it DID make my husband look at me weird though, so bonus for that!

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Whenever I meet someone new in Florida, we can usually chat for a good 15 minutes, sometimes longer, before an accidental "ruff" (instead of roof) or "ya hey? betrays my origin and I'm asked with a suspicious glare: "Where are you from?"

That's when I usually get into the complicated explanation that yes I'm from Michigan but no it's not anywhere near Detroit. There is usually some demonstration with my hands but eventually I will give up and say with a sigh, "It's almost like I'm Canadian". "Ahhh..." they finally say with an understanding nod, "I have seen the movie Fargo."

Even for those who are from the Midwest, to say I'm from the Upper Peninsula or U.P. only draws blank stares and the "Is that by Detroit?" question. Very rarely, I meet someone who hears "Upper Peninsula" and says "Oh! You're a Yooper" and then I awkwardly hold back my initial desire to kiss them and usually just go with "Holy crap, how did you know that???" Then we reminisce about pasties, deer and the tree to people ratio of the Upper Peninsula.

Now that we've cleared all that up, let me tell you about Ryan's second journey to this magical forest land and my journey home...

Pioneer Days

Every year during the week following the 4th of July, hordes of ex-Negaunee residents migrate to Negaunee, MI for Pioneer Days. Pioneer Days is a time when Negaunee can enjoy the spotlight without the distraction of other holidays and can attract visitors from around the world (well, maybe just the country, depends on the year) for fireworks, nights out on the town, a parade and good old fashioned small town fun. It's during the month or so that the UP is not covered in snow and participants all around town can be heard saying how "muggy" it is while slapping at mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds.

We arrived just in time for the annual "Night on the Town" and I was excited because it was the first time I had been back during this event that I was over 21 and able to enjoy the festivities. Before we hit up the bars, we ate our weight in the best homemade pizza I have ever had at our host's mom's house. When we were confident that we could not fit another piece of mushroom/pesto/marinara or prosciutto/arugula/lemon pizza, we made the trek to Iron Street.

For this "Night on the Town" you have to walk down to Iron Street (yes, walk, no drinking and driving!) and choose from bars named "Barr's", "Rookies", "Chappers" or even "The Hard Rock". Barr's Bar was jam packed full of Negaunee-ans, so it was an excellent choice for our first stop. At Barr's Bar, you can buy a round for a sizeable group of people for around $20. That is both a bargain and a recipe for disaster! Luckily, we all managed to be reasonably responsible adults but I have heard more than a few tales of those who haven't! I made a point to introduce Ryan to absolutely everyone I have ever known so that when I tell him a story later on I can say, "Oh you remember so and so, you met them at Pioneer Days!" He will then nod and smile while thinking "You crazy Brandy, I have no idea who you're talking about"...our marriage is beautiful.

From Barr's we walked to a few other bars (they're all on the same street) and ended up at a place where our host abruptly handed us a bottle of Boone's Farm "wine" and told us to "Drink and pass". I can't say that I have ever been offered Boone's Farm outside of a 7-11 or from the inside of a paper bag from a bum on the street, but it makes for a good story and it tasted like kool aid. All in all, this little town was an excellent party host and we had a really good time....man, those Yoopers can drink!

Marquette and Republic

The next day, we went with my sister, her boyfriend and her friend (who is like my other little sister) and my grandmother to visit my grandfather at the Jacobetti Home for Veterans in Marquette, MI. He has Alzheimer's and while I was very nervous that he wouldn't remember me, he seemed to remember both me and my sister and maybe even Ryan from 3 years ago! It was hard to see him looking so fragile and his arthritis has made his body quite stiff and hard to move but I was so happy to see him and I hope that we helped to brighten his day!

After leaving the home, we had lunch at The Vierling, which is right next to Lake Superior and serves the best blueberry beer (according to Ryan) and whitefish (according to me). Whitefish is a Northern specialty that you won't find in Florida. It's a freshwater fish that is caught in Lake Superior and so I had to sample some while we were in town, even though I normally try to stay away from meat. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting and looking for something local. The breadsticks and cheese dip are really good too!

Another tourist tip that I have is to make sure to visit Presque Isle on Lake Superior. It is gorgeous 365 days a year, but if you go when it's cold, like we did in 2008, you may have to enjoy that beauty from the inside of your car :) On this day, it was a little windy but a local assured us that the wind was blowing in the warm top water and that the water was warmer than normal at McCarty's Cove. (Just outside of Presque Isle) I should have remembered that "warmer than normal" still means pretty darn cold when you're talking about Lake Superior whose annual average water temperature is 40 degrees! We dipped our feet in for about 2.5 seconds before jumping out and bravely stating that "it's not too cold, we just don't want to be in the water right now". We'd make terrible Yoopers.

From the cove we made our way to the breakwall which extends to an adorable lighthouse at the end and we then went to The Black Rocks and to various points around the park. Presque Isle is absolutely stunning and you could spend days there, but we wanted to get to my grandma's house in Republic (about 45 minutes-1 hr away) so we didn't spend as much time there as we could have.

Republic, MI (Population just under 1,000) is an even smaller town than Negaunee (Population around 4,400) but what it lacks in population and businesses, it more than makes up for in beautiful rivers and landscape. My two aunts share 3 acres on the Michigamme River and one lives in a house full time and my other aunt and her family use the smaller cabin for a vacation home. Both buildings are right on the water and make an excellent place to go swimming or to launch a kayak or paddle boat. My sister and co were staying at my aunt's cabin and they hosted us for some fire roasted hot dogs (humanely raised Applegate from the health food store!) and marshmallows. We stayed as long as the mosquitoes allowed us to, but eventually made our way into the safety of my grandma's house for the best night's sleep I had enjoyed in days.

In the morning, we were greeted by the songs of crows. Some may argue that it's more like the God awful squawking of crows, but these are the sounds of my childhood! Let me have this. We made a stop at the Republic Historical Museum where my grandma volunteers a lot of her time before heading to "The Restaurant" for breakfast. The museum is a house from the 1800's that has been restored and filled with all sorts of information and is currently set up to educate visitors about the Great Depression era. It was special for me because many of the old photos were of people that my grandma knew personally and even a few that I knew (it was so weird to see my great grandma Helmi as a young 20 something!) My favorite items were a dress made out of a flour sack and the basketball uniform that they wore back then...who wears short shorts? Republic High School basketball players during the Great Depression!>
When we finally walked into "The Restaurant" (actually named The Summer Place, but we all call it The Restaurant because it's really the only one in Republic) we were greeted by my grandma's brother and sister-in-law as well as a few other Republic residents. I have been going with my grandma to the restaurant since I was little, so I already knew I'd be getting french toast and Ryan bravely ordered the cudighi. Cudighi is another Yooper specific item that is essentially a spicy Italian sausage. It has been said that you know a good cudighi if you burp it up several days later. That is disgusting.

Back to Pioneer Days

Breakfast was lovely but it was now time for one of my favorite things: a parade! We made the drive back to Negaunee just in time to see the honorees of the parade: the fireworks crew of the Negaunee fireworks...they take their fireworks pretty seriously. We had a great spot to watch the parade in front of my friend's cousin's house with the rest of her family. Ryan and I resisted the urge to grab the candy being thrown from the floats and instead gave it to the small children seated near us, plus or minus a few Airheads or Frooties (I cannot find those things anywhere but parades! Maybe that is the entire reason I like parades?)

When the last float in the parade had passed, we hopped into a car with our host to her aunt and uncle's cabin on the Dead River where we were again presented with more food than we could ever eat (Yoopers are very hospitable!) and then led to a boat for some wakeboarding. Ryan did pretty well considering he hasn't been that often and I haven't been wakeboarding in at least 5 years, so I shouldn't have been surprised when the rope was yanked out of my hands rather than pulling me up out of the water...I did feel like a 90 lb weakling, but at least I didn't have the threat of a Florida gator ripping my leg off while I waited in the water with a wakeboard strapped to my feet. UP Pros and Cons- Pro: No gators or really anything poisonous and there are loads of friendly people, Con: 97% of the year is freezing. Perfect for gator phobic, gregarious Eskimos, bad for Brandy's who get cold in 70 degree weather with a sweater on. Sigh.

After a full day of The Restaurant, a parade, food, drink, and boating, it was time for the fireworks. The crew of which had just been honored with the entire theme of the Pioneer Days parade! We climbed up a ladder onto a rooftop and watched the whole show from a birds eye view...pretty cool.

The next morning, with our host hours away from waking up, Ryan and I borrowed her car and drove to Irontown Pasties for the most Yooper-centric item of all: the pasty. Pronounced "pass-tee" not "pace-tee", this culinary delight is a blend of straight up lard, potatoes, rutabaga, onion and ground beef. This hearty, football shaped meat pie was a favorite of early Yoopers who spent long hours in the mine and needed something warm to keep them going. If you're lucky, you'll find them at an English pub since they originated in Cornwall, England as early as 1510 but more than likely, you have not ever heard of them and will only be pitied if you bring it up. "What? You've never heard of pasties?? I swear it's a real thing!"
With a pasty in our bellies, we decided to make the hike out to "Swede", a cliff overlooking Teal Lake in Negaunee. People have been going out to Swede for as long as anyone can remember and at times it even has a dock built onto the rocks for swimmers to jump off of into the lake. Since I hadn't been out there in about 10 years, I should have known that I would get us lost but the important thing is that we eventually made it and it totally didn't live up to the stories I had told Ryan. When you're little, everything seems HUGE, so I think I overexaggerated the height of the rocks that you jump from and when we finally got there, I was in a bit of denial. "No, this can't be it...it was super scary and a million feet high"...after I realized that I had been lying to my husband for years, I took my first jump in the freezing but shockingly refreshing water. I only jumped in twice, which just means I'm getting old because I remember jumping in over and over as a smaller person. Poor old lady. If you can avoid getting lost like I did, maybe by asking a local for directions, Swede offers a beautiful hike and view of the lake, even if the jump isn't a million feet down :)

To summarize: the Upper Peninsula of Michigan has more trees than people, many strange and wonderful foods, interesting accents that are confused with everything from Canadian to Irish accents, lovely people, unspoiled wilderness (I think I stole that from National Geographic somehow) and above all, unless you are a gregarious Eskimo: IS BEST VISITED IN JULY OR AUGUST.

Note: One of my very best friends in the whole wide world hosted us while we were in Negaunee but to respect her privacy, I'm not using her name and "very best friend ever" takes too long to type, so I'm calling her our host. Another very best friend ever drove me from Chicago to the UP and back to Chicago, but unless you're interested in our stop at Maria's Mexican Restaurant in Suamico, WI or how I tried to bribe her dog with dog treats so that he'd love me, our drive was mostly uneventful and just a good chance for us to catch up! I also left out a few other things that were meaningful to me, but I didn't think anyone else would really care about!

An adventure to avoid....

This weekend our lovely neighbors gave us a bag of hot peppers. They warned us that the peppers are REALLY hot and so I decided to make hot pepper jelly with them to cool them off a bit. The recipe I followed for Hot Pepper and Peach Jelly suggested wearing gloves while cutting the peppers if you have sensitive skin. My skin isn't especially sensitive so I cut them in the nude...well my hands were nude anyway. I was even scraping the seeds out with my nails...no big deal!

After the peppers were sufficiently chopped, I had to run to the store to buy sugar and pectin (main jelly ingredients) and I noticed that my lips were sort of burning where I had touched them to put on lipgloss, but it wasn't anything to cry about so I didn't think too much of it.

Then, when I was boiling the soon-to-be jelly, and the steam was engulfing my hands as I stirred the mixture, I cried out in pain, "Ouch, I'm in pain" or maybe it was more of a curseword, but you get the idea.

For the next 12 hours, I was in agony. I tried soaking my hands multiple times in half and half, I tried olive oil, salt, aloe vera with lidocaine, lots of soap and water (the water burns the worst), lotion, 2 tablespoons of hard butter, and at a moment of sheer desperation, I even shoved my fingers into a half of a watermelon...it was cooling for a moment but the burning quickly returned.

At about 10:30 pm, I took a Tylenol PM, thinking that maybe I could just sleep through the horrifying pain. It made me really sleepy, but not sleepy enough to set my hands on anything or to fall asleep. It did make me sleepy enough to almost fall asleep standing up with my hands in half and half, but once I took them out, the burning resumed and I was awake yet again. At about 11 pm, I drove to Walgreens to get some burn cream thinking that was my only option for relief (sounds like a hemorroid ad) and so I bought the Emergency Burn Relief cream and followed the directions to apply a thick layer and leave on for 30 minutes. For 30 minutes I paced around my darkened living room crying my eyes out. The pacing brought the pain from a 10 to an 8, probably because it slightly distracted me but it STILL REALLY HURT. After 30 minutes, I realized it was doing nothing and actually made it burn more, so I washed it off...which also really hurts because the water intensifies the burning.

THE ONLY THING THAT WORKED: I filled a bag with ice cubes and would take an ice cube, rub it on my hands and keep my hands on the side of the bed so they didn't have to touch anything and kept most of the melting ice cubes from soaking my blanket. I would sleep for 5-10 minutes until the ice cube either melted or fell out of my hands and then I'd wake up and start the process again. Ice melts pretty quickly so I had about 6 or 7 trips to the kitchen to refill my ice bag.

Finally at about 9:30 am (after I had already let my boss know I'd be late to work because I had gotten about 1.5 hours of sleep) the pain finally was gone and I had gotten an additional 2 hours of sleep from 7:30-9:30 am.

Moral of the story?: WEAR FRIGGIN GLOVES.

First Overnight Sailing Trip! Doctor's Lake and Green Cove Springs

I have been putting off blogging for a full month and I feel like there is no good reason for this! Just plain old fashioned laziness. We even had an exciting adventure over Memorial Day weekend and what did I write about it? ZIP (Well, I did put captions under the photos I published to Facebook but that hardly counts)

So here we go:

SAILING...and sometimes FAILING (Fake Sailing)

Day 1
Saturday evening, May 28, after a long day at the Riverside Arts Market(I make things out of plastic bags...usually I knit beach bags but I get bored and stray from that from time to time) Ryan, Romeo (dog) and I made our way out of the safety of our slip to the dangerous high seas! Okay, that's not accurate. We made our way into the river-which is not even remotely close to the ocean-where we proceeded to take roughly 5-6 hours to sail to Doctor's Lake...a 25 minute drive from where we keep our boat (I'll get to the benefits of "enjoying the journey" in a bit). It was the most windy (windy-est?) day we have encountered on the sailboat and we were both freaking out a bit. Ryan managed to freak out quietly on the inside while I had a full blown mental breakdown complete with incoherent muttering and hyperventilating (I'm a natural sailor!) After this expedition, we realized that I'm best at putting up and taking down the sails and definitely NOT steering while this is being done. I feel safer nearly being chucked from the boat than I do steering us (potentially) right into being tipped over and dying a horrible death. Lesson learned.

Back to "enjoying the journey"...sailing is slow. REALLY slow. Ryan laughed when I told him that I had previously informed a friend of mine that our sailboat went about 30 miles per hour...that seemed like a very slow speed to me and I couldn't remember exactly what it was. Ryan was happy to educate me, with the most condescending tone imaginable: At TOP SPEED, our boat goes about 5.7 knots or 6.5 mph. Top speed. A great majority of the time, we go about 2-4 mph. And if the wind dies down and we use our motor (fake sailing=failing) we could go even slower. Also, when our boat is going top speed, chances are we will be tilted so far over that the edge of the boat is underwater...this increases our speed! It also increases my likelihood of dying before my 27th birthday but it's all part of the majesty of sailing.

So while I'm all gung ho and ready for adventure, I watch as motor boats, jet skis, jon boats and old ladies in walkers just blast by us. I have been embarrassed many a time as I call to the Ortega Bridge, which has to raise to let our boat through, and watch in horror as they stop traffic for the 13 or so million years it takes for us to actually get to the bridge with our tiny motor (It's too dangerous to sail through it, so we motor until we pass it). I keep reminding myself that this is what I wanted! The silence that comes from being powered by the wind, the gentle rocking of the water, enjoying our surroundings without holding on for dear life as our boat jumps over the waves. Now our boat just kind of makes friends with the waves, hangs out, eats a sandwich, gets real comfy and we get to watch...for 5 hours. It's an adjustment.

By the time we made it to the dock of Whitey's Fish Camp, it was nearly 11 pm and while they serve food until midnight, our server informed us that it will actually only be edible for the next 15 minutes. I don't know what they would have done to our food if we hadn't ordered in that time frame, as it was, the fries were at least 2 hours old. (Having worked in a restaurant for a large portion of my professional career, I know the taste of fries that are too old to be served to paying customers, but not old enough to deter hungry servers)

While we were chatting with our server, we casually asked if "people" ever spent the night moored to their dock and she told us "I wouldn't do that. The docks are completely open to the public and drunk people could mess with you"...we thanked her for her advice for our hypothetical "friends" and after contemplating searching for a place to anchor for the night in the dark, unfamiliar area (with a mast light that apparently decided to stop working) we decided to risk it.

Fun tip: Bring blankets, sheets, pillows or at least some form of bedding with you if you plan on sleeping on your boat. Ryan's idea of beach towels serving 2 purposes because "How cold can it get?" will leave you shivering, wet and uncomfortable for the 5-6 hours of sleep you will be able to get before you just can't take it anymore. Also, it would be nice to have something to protect your head if you have a fear of spiders crawling through the port windows.

Day 2

The next morning, it was absolutely beautiful and quiet. The only other people around were probably still drunk and peacefully passed out in the two boats next to us. I walked Romeo to the shore to do his doggie business and I realized how closely I resembled a hobo as I wandered through the empty outdoor bar area to get to the grass....

Doctor's Lake was a lot more beautiful in the light of day and a lot less terrifying. The previous evening, whenever motor boats would pass us, they seemed to stick close to the shore and we were just hammering through the center of the lake because we didn't really know where we were going. We started to think that maybe they knew something that we didn't know like, for instance, about the giant lake monster that only eats people and boats in the center of the lake or, contrary to everything I've ever learned about bodies of water, it got shallow in the very center of the lake and deep on the sides. When the big light in the sky is giving you a heads up as to your surroundings, you feel a lot safer.
Bla bla bla, we sailed some more and nobody died, bla bla bla, I used an umbrella as a bimini....okay, that actually deserves some more explanation. We ordered a bimini (the thing that goes over your head to provide relief from the sun, like a massive umbrella...if you still have no idea what I'm talking about you can google it) and it didn't arrive in time for our journey, so I brought along 2 black umbrellas for a little extra SPF. For some odd reason Ryan didn't want to use his fancy bimini, so there I was, all by my crazy self with my personal umbrella bimini...sometimes Romeo would join me in my circle of shade, but he only did so after suffering as long as he could in the heat and then only with a look of great shame. Ryan did let me put my blue zebra print bandana on his head under his hat to protect his neck though, so I wasn't the only one looking slightly off balanced.
When we finally made it to Green Cove Springs, about a 30-45 minute drive from where we keep our boat, it was like noon...or maybe it was 2 or 3, I can't really be expected to keep track of time on these trips as part of the point of going on them is to not keep track of time...but we left Doctor's Lake around 6 am or 7 am, so you figure it was a long time. We pulled into the public dock, right next to a big Memorial Day festival and were pointed in the direction of the permit office because it is now $10 to moor your boat at the public dock. We are cheap, so this made our decision for us of whether or not we would spend the night there. (Once you've spent a whopping $10, you sort of feel entitled to 1 night's lodging) We made friends with the neighboring boats and were even invited onto one of them and were amazed at what an extra 6 feet on a sailboat can mean in terms of head room, a real bathroom and shower, a real kitchen and beds aplenty. I guess what they say is true: the minute you get your first sailboat, you're already thinking about what your next boat will be like. We won't upgrade for a few years, but eventually, it would be nice to have a bigger boat that we could live on or at least not hit our heads on the ceiling every 3 minutes or so.
After making some drinks, playing the ukelele and hanging out on our boat until we were hungry and tired of eating Doritos, we made our way onto shore and walked around the festival. There weren't a whole lot of people or a whole lot of vendors, but it was still a really cool experience and not one we would have normally stayed for. Later they had an outdoor concert and fireworks and the whole town seemed to come out of nowhere to take part. Reminded me of the UP and Pioneer Days, which we are going to next month! Romeo had a little doggie panic attack and leapt into the cabin during the fireworks, but we enjoyed them and felt like super old people when we went to bed after the grand finale.
After another moist evening of fitful sleep, we woke to find the vendors already starting to set up for another day of the festival...we were not too upset about missing the second day since we had seen the entire festival in about 15 minutes of walking around the day before :) The sail back to Jacksonville didn't take nearly as long without our pitstop in Doctor's Lake but there were many intervals of FAILING when there was no wind and we didn't feel like floating slowly back towards our slip. All in all, I would say our first overnight trip was a huge success and we learned more about ourselves and about our boat. We have a laundry list of things we want to do to the boat (paint the deck, fix the mast light, wood flooring and possibly walls in the cabin, etc) and we learned more about the order in which we needed to do things in order to be the most comfortable while sailing!

Rutherford, Napa and Yountville

Last Friday we flew into Sacramento, CA because I had training for work on Saturday and Sunday and we thought this might be a perfect chance to see California Wine Country.

From Sacramento International Airport, we rented a little red car and hit the road towards Napa! We wanted to see wine country, but we wanted to do it on a budget, so we decided to make a picnic. Ryan's first suggestion was the "Walmart coming up on the next exit" according to his phone, but something about that statement did not seem to mesh well with the visions I had in my head of Napa. So he did another search and found a co-op in the little college town of Davis.

Davis is absolutely adorable and the co-op was the perfect place for picnic shopping! We were able to get a freshly baked loaf of a multigrain bread with pumpkin and sunflower seeds (yum!), 2 pears, a pint of strawberries, a bar of 70% cacao chocolate, blue cheese from a local dairy, havarti with dill and a very sharp white cheddar...all for $25! Delicious? Yes! In budget? Double yes! While we were sampling cheeses, we also spoke with a very nice woman who informed us that yes, we could take the freeway to Napa which is faster, but it would only take a few minutes longer to drive through the mountains and past the dam at Lake Berryessa and it was a much more beautiful drive and worth the extra minutes. We thanked her profusely and made our way to HWY 128 for one of the most gorgeous drives I have ever been on. Breathtaking only begins to describe it.



Our first stop in wine country was Frog's Leap Winery. I had read about Frog's Leap after doing a search for organic vineyards. Frog's Leap is not only organic, but they also do not use irrigation to grow their grapes, meaning that they rely only on the rain, a rarity in California. They also are completely solar powered and are using many other environmentally friendly and ethical practices in their business, for more information you can read this article.

This was, by far, my favorite stop of the trip. It was so beautiful and peaceful and the people who worked there were so kind and helpful. The tasting is $20/person and it is definitely worth it. In addition to 4-6 wine samples, they also bring out a plate with a delicious aged gouda, dried berries, almonds and breadsticks. You can enjoy your wine on the back porch of the building overlooking the vineyards or walking through the gardens, admiring the fig trees, flowers and chickens :) They also have cornhole, but I suggest setting down your wine glass before you throw the beanbag...not that I spilled any...





We almost didn't want to leave Frog's Leap, but we felt that we'd be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn't explore further! We didn't really have any plans other than: find cool wineries. We drove along a main rode and past names like Hall, BV, Sutter Home and other recognizable wines. (I didn't say good, just recognizable!) We stopped at V. Sattui but after walking about 10 feet from the parking lot towards the entrance, we realized that it was not for us. (Families, kinda crowded and loud, commercial)

We hit the road and I had to pull a U-turn to make it back to the "place where there are rosebushes at the end of each row of vines" aka Heitz Cellar which also happens to be an organic vineyard. It was a very beautiful place and the tasting was free of charge. We bought a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc for about $20 (to have with dinner later) and then we got back into our little red car and started off again. (Pictures below: flowers and vineyards at Heitz Cellar)


While trying to find Sterling Vineyards, we accidentally stumbled onto Steltzner Vineyards (We were actually going to just turn around in their parking lot but decided to stay when we saw this hobbit door leading to their cellar)
The tasting here was $10 person, which we decided to split since I was driving. The man who poured for us was very nice and informed us that our trip would not be complete without a trip to Yountville. He made a few suggestions and after we finished our tasting, we made our way to Yountville.

Yountville is very quaint and the main street is lined with restaurants and tasting rooms. Our final stop was Hill Family Estate, a tasting room which offers tastings for $10/person. Again, we decided to share one since I was driving and honestly, I was starting to get sick of wine. I'm sure that's blasphemy, but I was over it! Both the owner and his son were on hand to say hello and the staff was kind enough to give us this complimentary plate of cheese, bread and prosciutto. (The cheese was a soft type of mozzarella that spread, I can't remember what it was called but it was really good) This place was cool because they create items that have been stained with red wine. They had a surf board stained with wine and the front wooden doors had also been stained. We got a bottle of Chardonnay for about $30.
Side note: the entire day we wanted to buy more wine as gifts, but we carried on our luggage and were unable to bring wine on the plane :( Even the tiny bottle of grapeseed oil I wanted to buy wouldn't have made it past security...boo

We walked along the main street in Yountville but then decided we were hungry and broke from our day of vino, so we decided to check out this little Mexican place in Napa called Taqueria Rosita that had an amazing vegetarian burrito ($5) and their chips and salsa were really good too :) Originally, we were looking for places that didn't charge a corkage fee so we could drink one of our bottles from the day, but after considering the almost 2 hour drive back to our hotel, I thought that would probably be a terrible idea! (I'm a super lightweight and Ryan had been fully participating all day in the tastings....we would have ended up sleeping in a Toyota Matrix on the side of the road...uncomfortable, probably illegal and all around terrible idea)

So that was our day in Napa! It was beautiful and I'm really glad we were able to do it and not go too far overboard on our budget. My favorite part was the drive out there and Frog's Leap, since it had such a relaxed atmosphere and beautiful gardens.