sonoma (day 1)
For a host of reasons, most notably a few life changes and some preposterously busy weeks at work, I fell off the blogging wagon in a big way. It goes without saying that I owe you, my reader(s), an apology, however many of you there are left.
This post is long overdue, as it documents a trip I took over two months ago. I had just moved to the Upper Mission, where parking is surprisingly easier to come by than in Lower Haight, but also requires an S permit. I could now BART to work and easily get to a number of other neighborhoods via various modes of public transportation. I no longer needed my car. My mom generously offered to come up and help me turn my car in to the dealership (we’d leased it). I was to be officially car-less in a less than two weeks. Nina and I decided we needed one last hurrah, one last trip. Sonoma was the obvious choice, since we like eating and drinking, a lot.
We decided to stay at Valley Ford Hotel in Bodega Bay which is kind of far from everything but we had our reasons (oysters).
~~
Iron Horse, famous for its bubbly, was conveniently on the way (kind of) to our hotel. We stopped to enjoy their latest releases and the view.
We ended up taking a bottle to go, and I don’t even remember where we drank it.
~~
The main reason we decided to stay at Valley Ford Hotel, other than that it was way cheaper than all other alternatives, was that we wanted to eat at Rocker Oysterfeller’s (the resto in the hotel) and not have to drive anywhere afterwards. Our logic was a little faulty — turns out Rocker Oysterfeller’s closes pretty early — at 8.30pm — and there is *nothing* to do in VFord. It was all for the better though, an excuse to go to bed early so we could get an early start on our jam-packed itinerary for the next day. And believe me, Rocker Oysterfeller’s was worth the trip alone.
[Oyster shooters -- a first for both of us.]
[A mandatory starter of raw oysters and the restaurant's namesake dish -- baked oysters with arugula, bacon, cream cheese & cornbread crust.]
[Negronis for the second round.]
[Louisiana Hots, garlic butter, basil-walnut pesto -- hot damn these were good!]
[Chicken-fried duck steak with vidalia onion gravy.]
[Grilled asparagus with chopped egg aioli.]
So juicy, so medium-rare, just the way chicken-fried duck ought to be! OH GOD YES.
~~
I’m so tempted to continue this post but it’s getting late and I need to pack for an early (real early) flight to NYC tomorrow. If you most know, I’m going to relive the 90s and sing my heart out (i.e. go to a Third Eye Blind concert) and spend some much-needed quality time with my best boy mates. I also might be fulfilling a certain New Year’s resolution… 
So anyway, days 2 and 3 are forthcoming. I may be a shitty blogger, but I’d never leave this series unfinished! (…)
