The L.A. Dime

Nana & Opa invited us our for a weekend get-away to help celebrate Opa’s birthday and enjoy the beautiful wine country just two hours north of us. We stayed at the beautiful Wine Valley Cottages & Inn where due to some AC troubles with our first room, we ended up in the Executive Suite. After checking in and a yummy cheese & wine lunch, we explored Solvang. This quaint little Dutch town was established in 1911 and was full of cultural attributes from the architecture to the bakeries to the clothing selections. Brad and Opa took advantage of a couple of wine tastings while Nana, Sophie and I checked out this fabulous playground. Although it was quite warm, there was a nice breeze but apparently riding the horses and running through the little wooden village made Sophie too hot to wear her skirt (so she took it off).

Opa’s birthday dinner at Patrick’s Sidestreet Grill came highly recommended by the locals.  Brad started with an Heirloom Tomato Bisque which after one bite, I decided to order for myself as well. It was absolutely incredible – creamy, yet light and bursting with flavor. For a main dish, Brad, Opa and Nana all had prime rib while I had ribs. All our meals were prepared on a grill in front of the restaurant with Patrick (the chef and owner) carefully adding just the right amount of wood, watching the smoke patterns very closely and ensuring nothing disturbed the meat while cooking. According to Nana and Brad, it was the best steak they’d ever had. It was a very lovely evening where the entire restaurant seemed to chat with each other, Patrick would float from table to table sharing his wisdom about life & cooking and the couple sitting next to even got engaged!

Sunday morning was a bit gloomy so after Brad cooked us some eggs (which came from Patrick’s chickens, or as he called them “his girls”) and bacon, we headed back to Hamlin House. It’s been a wonderful 2 weekends of having my parents in town and I know we are going to miss the long talks, laughs, enjoying great meals and mostly – just being together. Sophie has woken up every morning since Nana & Opa first arrived asking for them and has so enjoyed having them around. She’s always looking to see where they are, plays with them for hours and giggles when they are together. Thank you M & M for your visit and generosity!

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