A Long Weekend in Mendocino, CA

Over Labor Day weekend, we took advantage of the long weekend and headed north to Mendocino. It's an area of Northern California that we hadn't even heard of until we moved here, but it's definitely worth checking out!

Along the way, we stopped at Mosswood Market in Boonville for a delicious lunch and then made a few stops in Anderson Valley to do some wine tastings. Our first choice was sparkling wine at Roederer Estates. They had a nice (dog-friendly) patio that overlooked the valley and some yummy wine!

Next up, we went to Lula Cellars. This place was also super dog-friendly, but maybe a little too crowded (with a rowdy crew), so we split a tasting and moved along.

  

The drive to the coast lead us through some AMAZING redwood trees in the Navarro River Redwoods State Park. We rented an AirBnB in Little River for a few nights that was right across the street from a great little cove. We took Indy over there for some swimming and the seals were QUITE interested in him!

We took it easy that first night, but woke up bright and early to walk along the Glass Beach in Ft. Bragg the next morning. They actually used to dump lots of glass off the coast, leading to all of the small fragments washing up on shore. They've stopped doing that now, but the evidence remains!

There are lots of great trails to hike in the area and it's definitely less crowded the further away you get from the glass beach. 

We grabbed some tasty fish and chips and clam chowder at Sea Pal Cove before we jumped on the Skunk Train with Indy! This is a fun hour-long ride that takes you right into the heart of the redwoods. 

It's great because there is a cart that is open air and they also provide beer/wine and snacks on board. There was even someone playing live music on board. Indy was definitely a crowd favorite - his biggest admirer being a little baby that got licked in the face a few times, ha!

We decided to check out a nearby lighthouse because the weather was just SO beautiful. Point Cabrillo was a great added stop! We ended up sitting on a bench and just admiring the views and sun-bathing seals for an hour or so.

That evening, we had a great meal at Little River Inn. The oysters and Merry Edwards wine were the clear standouts, but everything was fantastic.

Our last morning, we headed to Russian Gulch State Park to tire Indy out before our drive back home. He got to play on the beach, explore some tidepools, and then go hiking along the coast. Next time we come here, we have a perfect little picnic area that we plan to come back and enjoy.

The hiking trails were great and dogs are allowed in the state park anywhere west of the road (basically anywhere along the coast). We saw tons of people fishing off the rocks, sinkholes, and more seals!

Our final stop was again through Anderson Valley. It's hard for us to pass by wineries! We stopped at the sister winery of Roederer - Scharffenberger. We agreed that we liked the first more, but it was still lovely!

Our last stop of the trip was Navarro Cellars, which ended up being our favorite. We grabbed a couple of bottles to go and headed home. Our little pup was definitely over the drive, which is hilarious since he used to make 4 hour trips once a month when we were living in Texas! 

The whole time we were there, we kept talking about "next time", so I definitely think a return trip will happen sooner rather than later! 

Next up: My mom and I are heading to ITALY for a girl's trip in a few weeks! I can't wait to show her one of my favorite places in the world!

Coimbra, Batalha, & Obidos, Portugal

While we were driving from Lisbon to Porto, we stopped in Coimbra to break up the trip. We grabbed lunch a local place that literally had 3 dishes. It was great, but the service was even better!

The University of Coimbra's students wear robes that were (again) said to inspire Hogwart's uniforms. They also have a fantastic library, called the Joanina, that we wanted to see.

Our entire stay was probably 4 hours, but we enjoyed our brief stop!

We stopped at Batalha to see the Unfinished Chapels there - magnificent! Funny story - there was no one at the entrance, so we just assumed we could walk right in. While we were walking around, some kept yelling "Guten tag", but we didn't think anything of it. 

Come to find out, the lady who was supposed to check our tickets was standing around and was yelling that at us because we were supposed to pay to enter.  In German...in Portugal? Oh well. Super confusing experience, but we got to see the inside for free! HA!

Our actual stop for the night was in a walled city called Obidos. We stayed a little hotel right outside the city walls called The Literary Man. Such a cute place!

That afternoon, we walked around the walls, explored the adorable little streets, and had a few shots of the cherry liquor (Ginja) from the street-side stalls.  We basically explored all of the town in a few hours, and once the tour groups left, we had the entire place to ourselves!

That evening, we ate dinner at A Nova Casa do Ramiro which was the perfect ending to our trip. The service was fabulous (as was the food of course)! At the end, they invited us to have a glass of ginja with them. The perfect "Saude" to our trip!

The next morning, we jumped in the car to head to the Lisbon airport. Unfortunately our first flight was delayed, causing us to miss our connection. We had a brief night in Frankfurt (where we stopped at a beer house for a beer and some schnitzel) before we finally arrived home.

Portugal was such a nice trip! Everyone was so welcoming and honestly, everything was much cheaper than the majority of Western Europe! We're still talking about the pastel de nata and vinho verde!