Birthday Day Off

For my birthday this year I asked for a day off. (Sad, I know.) But about 3 weeks after my actual birthday, which falls mid-harvest here, I got that day off. Joe and I started out by renting kayaks at Big River, near Mendocino. This is a great place to kayak because it's a tidal estuary (or some such formation of those words). If you time it right, the tide will either effortlessly float you up the river, or back down. We floated up, paddled way too far, then struggled all the way back. It was a good arm and shoulder workout, that's for sure. Along the way we saw otters, birds, fish, and a bunch of bicyclists and a few other kayakers. We opted to not take any dogs, which I think was smart for our first visit. It was great (Catch a Canoe is the name of the company, located out of the Stanford Inn).

After kayaking and beating Joe at a kayak race, we changed in the parking lot, then went to Mendocino. We tasted at Breggo's new Mendocino tasting room, then caught a very early dinner at Cafe Beaujolais. Neither of us had been and the food was fantastic. The wine list was solid but brief. We finally selected a glass of Roederer L'Ermitage for starters and a half bottle of Skewis Pinot Noir for dinner. MMMmmmm...

We even made it home and into bed early. Yes, I must be getting old. ;)