I should have titled this “San Francisco” weekend, but I went for the wine. If you’re traveling Delta and want to visit Napa and Sonoma, then San Fran (SFO) is your airport.
This was one of my favorite non-rev trips and I can’t recommend it enough. A weekend out west may seem daunting, but I think they’re worth it. (You might also find some useful tips if you’re traveling as a revenue customer and spending longer than a weekend, so read on.)
Thursday – Friday
I headed to SFO from ATL on Thursday night after work. Arriving at my hotel (Beacon Grand) around midnight, I grabbed a burger and local beer next door before getting some sleep. On Friday, I worked remotely from my hotel, staying on eastern time so I didn’t disrupt my teammates. I don’t think they even noticed.
Because of the time change, I finished work around 2 p.m. Pacific time. I closed my laptop and walked around a bit (it was a beautiful 70 degrees and sunny), grabbed some ice cream and then got take out for the hotel. With an early start the next day, I was snoozing by around 9 p.m.
Saturday: The Big Day
This is what I came for, so let’s go. I booked a Small-Group Muir Woods with Napa and Sonoma Wine Tour through Viator that included two hours at the Muir Woods (those huge redwoods California is known for), followed by an afternoon at three vineyards in Napa Valley and Sonoma. The tour included transportation and tastings at the vineyards, plus we stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge for photos.
I hadn’t been much of a “tour group traveler” until this year, but they’re great for making the most of a short amount of time. Viator was my company of choice and never disappointed.
Pickup was at 6:30 a.m. near my hotel. We stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise, taking pictures for about 10 minutes before hitting the road again.
After a leisurely drive and about five mentions from our tour driver about how amazing the weather turned out, we arrived at Muir Wood National Monument. We were let loose to explore it on our own. The walk was easy and took about 45 minutes each way. Our driver was right about the weather — it was nice to enjoy the moderate temperatures and see the giant trees.
We took another leisurely drive and arrived at our first winery in Sonoma. Our small group (about 8 people) got chatty, bringing energy and liveliness to the group. We spent the rest of the afternoon sampling wines at the vineyards, with a mid-day stop for lunch in Sonoma, where we had the best Mexican food. West coast Mexican food just hits different.
Near the end of the day, our tour guide recommended a restaurant in Chinatown and offered to drop me off there instead of the regular spot downtown. Not one to miss out on “the best Chinese food ever” (House of Nanking) if I can help it, I took him up on his offer. The weather was still incredible, so I grabbed a table outside, ate until I was stuffed and got an Uber back to my hotel.
While I was sipping wine earlier that day in Napa, I thought to myself, “the alternative was sitting on my couch in Atlanta.”
Four hours on a plane each way was worth it for an incredible day like I had. Beautiful weather, a walk in nature, good company, vineyard hopping in wine country and dumplings that were better than anything I could find near my zip code.
Sunday
In typical non-rev fashion, I was trying for the first flight out of the day. More people miss those flights and they aren’t impacted by misconnects, so they’re generally the safest bet when you travel like this. I was up at 3 a.m. (which felt like 6 a.m. to me, so it wasn’t bad) and thought I’d need to fly through Minneapolis (MSP) to get home. Luckily, I got a seat on the direct flight to Atlanta (ATL) and had time for a nap when I got home early Sunday afternoon.
Domestic flights are pricey these days — you could be looking at over $1K roundtrip on a transcontinental flight — so this is a great way to take advantage of those employee flight benefits.
Meg Straight Up 