Fire and Ice part 2 : A photo travelogue of the cruise ports San Francisco , California and Nawiliwili , Kauai .

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Our first visit to San Francisco was last Fall on the Nieuw Amsterdam on our cruise from Alaska to Ft. Lauderdale . 

 

 

The icon of San Francisco remained fog enshrouded and we did enjoy our day trip there .

 

 

 

We had also been to Hawaii on a cruise from Vancouver covering 4 islands back in September of 2001 for an early 25th anniversary cruise staying an extra 5 days on our favorite island Kauai . With our desire to see both places again for our 45th anniversary , we planned a 9 day stay in a condo in Kauai . To avoid the very long flight from Kauai to Ft, Lauderdale we chose to visit San Francisco  for 3 days first . After leaving Kauai we returned to San Francisco for 4 more nights before returning home . Thus we hope to share these 2 port and what to do there if you should visit either or both on your next HAL cruise or in the future . Please join us and share our vacation with your thoughts and input and Happy cruising from Joseph and Patricia .

[oakridger]

Hi again Joe and Pat!  My apologies for the cold and rainy weather we offered you on this trip!  I will be watching to see your report!

 

~Nancy

[scubacruiserx2]

9 hours ago, oakridger said:

Hi again Joe and Pat!  My apologies for the cold and rainy weather we offered you on this trip!  I will be watching to see your report!

 

~Nancy

 

It's so nice to hear from you again and we hope that you are having a wonderful holiday weekend . We embraced the cold and rain of SF and enjoyed the change from here . Near record warmth and our dry season . Currently at 0530 here it's 72 F with a high of 88 F today . Our normal average is 81 and low of 66 . There is rain forecast for Saturday thru Wednesday which will give us a break from having to move the sprinkler around the yard to keep the grass and plants green and blooming . We were thrilled to see a couple of hummingbirds out of the front windows of our house before we left but haven't seen them since our return . 

 

  We did see one in Carmel when we were there . 🙂😎

 

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 We took thousands of photos on 5 cameras ( including Pat's phone ) and we are culling and editing as we continue during this busy holiday season . We wish everyone who celebrates Passover , Good Friday and Easter Sunday a very happy holiday .

[scubacruiserx2]

We had a very early flight from Ft. Lauderdale to SFO on a Jet Blue Mint Class ( photos to follow ) A 321. We stayed at the RIU Hotel for its location near Pier 39 .

 

 

 

 

There had been a big storm the night or day before with many large broken tree branches littering the streets . You may see one in the photo of the pool across the street . Trucks parked there with chainsaws and the BEEP , BEEP , BEEP of front end loaders and trucks ran ALL night long ! 

 So 2 sleep deprived tourists met our guide Eric at about 9 AM to see beautiful cool and clear weather as our 1st tour of the trip began .

 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 Wednesday March 15th . Our guide picking us up at our hotel or it's an easy day trip from the HAL cruise ship . Ours was the Nieuw Amsterdam at Pier 27.

 

 

The RIU seal of approval 

 

 

Heading out to the Napa and Sonoma wine country

 

Stop at the Artesa vineyards . Photo copied from their web page .

 

 

 

https://www.artesawinery.com/about/

 

Wine before lunch and a small charcuterie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Invasive mustard plants in the region ( a fire hazard ) .

 

 

https://thesimplehiker.com/california-black-mustard-plant-problem/

 

 

Next stop - Lunch at a French Bistro

[scubacruiserx2]

 We had lunch on the way to our next vineyard in Yountville at a place that Eric had recommended named Bouchon Bistro .

 

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g33300-d7141191-Reviews-Bouchon_Bistro-Yountville_Napa_Valley_California.html

 

My Croque Madame and salad

 

 

 

Pat's salad

 

 

 

A great lunch on the way to our next vineyard . ☺️😎

 

We are currently looking at cruises to Hawaii on the Volendam and the Koningsdam 2 HAL ships that we haven't cruised on - yet .

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[XBGuy]

1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 We had lunch on the way to our next vineyard in Yountville at a place that Eric had recommended named Bouchon Bistro .

 

 

 

 

Expiring minds want to know.  What vineyard in Yountville did you visit?

 

So far, your meals and noshes look great.  I wish I was there.

[scubacruiserx2]

Expiring minds want to know. Good one XB Guy ! ☺️ I wished that I would have thought of that but maybe I'm too far down that expiring trail . I guess I wasn't clear and my editor was still sleeping and that one slipped by . We did stop for lunch on the way to Barnett vineyards , coming up a little later .

[XBGuy]

Barnett is a terrific maker, but aren't they on Spring Mountain?

 

Then, I reread your sentence and I guess you meant that prior to visiting your next vineyard you stopped for lunch at Bouchon Bistro which is in Yountville.

[scubacruiserx2]

2 hours ago, XBGuy said:

Barnett is a terrific maker, but aren't they on Spring Mountain?

 

Then, I reread your sentence and I guess you meant that prior to visiting your next vineyard you stopped for lunch at Bouchon Bistro which is in Yountville.

 

We don't know this area at all and relied on our guide Eric who knows the area quite well . He shares a lot more information that we can remember so we try to write it down and take photos to try to reconstruct it . The next photos and videos are an attempt to be accurate and reconstruct that day after a 2 nights of little or no sleep . 

  The story of Barnett vineyards

 

 

 

Our visit there

 

 

 

Garrett was our excellent host there during our visit

 

 

 

 

 

 

The table below

 

 

 

 

The vines before budding

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Check out the prices for the prices for the Rattlesnake , Cabernet Sauvignon !

 

 

At $2400 we feel like we've been snakebit . Ouch ! 🐍

Edited April 10, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[XBGuy]

🤣🤣🤣

 

I apologize for all, my pontificating , @scubacruiserx2, but I am, in fact, very much enjoying your reports.  Thank you.

 

Let me speak to that $2400 Rattlesnake Cabernet Sauvignon.  First of all, the most expensive place to buy wine is at the winery.  This is due to agreements that they have with their distributors that they will not sell it at the winery for less than retailers are charging.

 

Also, note that this is for a six liter bottle.  That is the equivalent of eight "standard" 750 ml bottles.  Large format bottles are always more expensive than the equivalent of 750 ml bottles.  As you might imagine, generally, it is collectors--and well-heeled ones, at that--who seek out the larger bottles.

 

Also, the Rattlesnake bottling is Barnett's premium bottling.  So, it gets a premium price.  It seems to go for about twice the price of Barnett's "Spring Mountain District" Cabernet Sauvignon bottling.

 

I did some quick online research and it appears that the "street price" for a 750 ml bottle of 2019 Barnett Rattlesnake Cabernet Sauvignon is about $200.  So, if you don't want to spend $2400 for the six liter bottle at the winery, you might be able to find eight 750 ml bottles for about $1600.

[scubacruiserx2]

 After our visit to Barnett we returned to to I believe , the Hawk Hill lookout near Sausalito about an hour and a half away . The view was windy and very cool but spectacular .

 

 

It looks so different from our last ( our first ) visit here on HAL Nieuw Amsterdam 

 

 

You can read about that visit to SF at this link :

 

 

The entire review was called

Fire and Ice : A photo travelogue from Alaska thru the canal to the Caribbean and beyond .

It began on September 25th , 2022 and we began the review after completing the cruise ( like this one ) .

The link for that cruise in its entirety can be seen here

 

 

 

Meanwhile at Hawk's Hill Eric took this nice photo of us

 

 

A video clip and you can hear the wind blowing 

 

 

 

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on a clear day

 

 

 

Being good cruisers we're always hungry and after returning to our hotel we went to dinner next and hoped ( and prayed ) for a good , quite night . We had another day trip planned for the next day that could easily done from your HAL or other cruise lines that make a call there .

 

[oakridger]

Did you try the Barnett Chardonnay?  I know they are known for Cabernet, but I prefer whites.  

 

~Nancy

[scubacruiserx2]

 We walked down to pier 39 a couple of blocks away with our 15% discount coupon that we had received at check in and nosed around for something quick and filling at a reasonable price . We were feeling a little crabby because of our hunger and not in the mood for Dungeness since we had it during Fleet Week on our HAL cruise the last time that we were there .

 

 

We didn't want crowded and found something that met our seal of approval

 

 

 

And so we tried Pier Market

 

 

 

We did see an Artesa Sauvignon for a more reasonable price but really wanted a fluid flush and stuck with  water . We had hoped that the clam chowder would be as good as what we had in Avalon on the HAL trip but alas , not so . Still and nice warm up on a cool night .

 

 

We had high hopes for the fish and chips with the Laughing Halibut in London being our Gold Standard .

 

https://thelaughinghalibut.has.restaurant/

 

The Fish was not the crisp and crunchy Cod that we love and the chips were not chips just more french fries . We do rate the Dive in fries on HAL much higher than any fries that we had on this trip . But all things considered we did enjoy our visit there .

 

 

We did have a little flashback to the 60's when we walked on the floor in one of the shops .

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

17 hours ago, oakridger said:

Did you try the Barnett Chardonnay?  I know they are known for Cabernet, but I prefer whites.  

 

~Nancy

 

Yes we did . There were 5 pours - but no Rattlesnake .

[scubacruiserx2]

On 4/10/2023 at 1:59 PM, XBGuy said:

🤣🤣🤣

 

I apologize for all, my pontificating , @scubacruiserx2, but I am, in fact, very much enjoying your reports.  Thank you.

 

Let me speak to that $2400 Rattlesnake Cabernet Sauvignon.  First of all, the most expensive place to buy wine is at the winery.  This is due to agreements that they have with their distributors that they will not sell it at the winery for less than retailers are charging.

 

Also, note that this is for a six liter bottle.  That is the equivalent of eight "standard" 750 ml bottles.  Large format bottles are always more expensive than the equivalent of 750 ml bottles.  As you might imagine, generally, it is collectors--and well-heeled ones, at that--who seek out the larger bottles.

 

Also, the Rattlesnake bottling is Barnett's premium bottling.  So, it gets a premium price.  It seems to go for about twice the price of Barnett's "Spring Mountain District" Cabernet Sauvignon bottling.

 

I did some quick online research and it appears that the "street price" for a 750 ml bottle of 2019 Barnett Rattlesnake Cabernet Sauvignon is about $200.  So, if you don't want to spend $2400 for the six liter bottle at the winery, you might be able to find eight 750 ml bottles for about $1600.

 

No worries @XBGuy . The 6 L bottle is a lot more wine than we buy at once at a much higher price than we pay for Cabernet Sauvignon . The 6 L is equal to eight bottles @ $ 300 - too steep for our tastes . On both our last HAL cruise the Nieuw Statendam on 1-1- 23 and our last anniversary cruise ( The Enchanted Princess ) we bought a Dom Perignon for $ 200 on board the ships to celebrate our anniversary and a chance to return to SCUBA diving after COVID . There was no corkage fee so it was cheaper than buying it on the street and bringing it on board . The trip on the Nieuw Statendam was a second chance after a less than stellar Anniversary cruise on her in 2019 .

 

 

We had wanted to compare a Princess aft corner wrap to our many HAL aft corner wraps and so we went on that cruise before our actual anniversary which included a Valentine's Day Winemaker's event in addition to a lavish Chef's Table . We do most of our wine drinking on ship where we can relax and wander back to our cabins safely and easily 

 Next up Big Sur and and a coastal tour , again another easy day trip from San Francisco .

Edited April 11, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We went to the buffet breakfast when they opened and it was packed so on the 2nd day we went a half an hour later and it was much better .

 

 

 

 

[XBGuy]

On 4/10/2023 at 9:59 PM, oakridger said:

Did you try the Barnett Chardonnay?  I know they are known for Cabernet, but I prefer whites.  

 

~Nancy

 

I agree that the Barnett Sangiacomo Vineyard Chardonnay is excellent;

 

@scubacruiserx2 Good call on the Dom.  👍

[scubacruiserx2]

6 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

I agree that the Barnett Sangiacomo Vineyard Chardonnay is excellent;

 

@scubacruiserx2 Good call on the Dom.  👍

 

 Thanks XBGuy and Nancy . We will try it based on your recommendations . 🙂☺️

[scubacruiserx2]

We have a lot of good photos edited of our next stop which is Carmel . But we are currently eating and watching our TV programs . May after that or if not tomorrow Lord willing . The photos we think , will be worth the wait .

[scubacruiserx2]

We drove through the city of Carmel.

 

 

We went to the beach at Carmel, but it was closed.

 

 

 

Some pretty and unique houses including one with a wavy roof

 

 

 

A pano shot of the beach

 

 

I spied some Lupines that I wanted to shoot 

 

 

And a hummingbird feasting on them

 

 

My wife shot a sideway video of it  . Are there any techies out there who can flip it upright ?

 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Over 25 inches of rain has fallen in Fort Lauderdale in the past 2 days forcing the airport and a fire station to be closed . The schools in Broward County are closed today . This was the area where we got married over 45 years ago and where we bought our first hose back in 1977 . On one day when we lived there we got 18 inches of rain in one hour ! 🌧️