From Today: Looking Back at Sonoma and the Fairmont

I'm feeling a little hazy today. I've been in LA for the last few days. Nothing too much to report on here (well, a little), but I do need to catch up on the posts leading up to my return. Last night I saw my childhood friend Amy. It was really fun, and I'm looking forward to getting to know her as an adult. It's been about nine years since we last saw each other. We're going to hang out again for hamburgers. Yum.

Anyhow, so Sonoma... I have some photos. We really had a lovely time.

On our way from LA, Ryan was reminiscing about stopping at Andersen's for their famous split pea soup as a child. We decided we should go too. I'm not a big split pea fan as a general rule, but I really liked this one. I can see why it's famous.


Velkommen... my family and I in front of Andersen's.


The interior of the restaurant. Ryan said it's looked like that for years.


There we have it... the famous Andersen's Split Pea Soup.


It's Hap-pea and Pea-wee :-)


They look a little different this time.


Hahaha.... :-)


Hap-pea and Pea-wee like flowers.

We continued our journey and arrived in Sonoma. We were a little surprised on arrival by the location of the hotel. The Fairmont Sonoma is located in a slightly run-down part of town. The reason for this is because the original hotel is over 100 years old. The neighborhood grew around it. The hotel itself, however, was lovely.




The grounds at the Fairmont- very well maintained.









I read some reviews on the hotel that weren't completely positive. We got a great deal- friends and family discount through a friend of Dave's- but the original prices at the hotel were really high. Our experience with everyone was great- despite the concierge who implied we were all fat. We enjoyed the wine-tasting in the afternoon, the pretty grounds, and the lovely rooms with jet tubs.

That first night, we headed to Mustards, a restaurant recommended by friends of Ryan's mom. I really enjoyed my blood orange cosmo, and the corn enchiladas were fabulous. Everyone else's meals were fantastic, but mine was a little disappointing. I selected the rabbit which the waitress said was one of her favorites, but the meat was quite dry, and the turnip puree almost completely tasteless. I think just a little salt and pepper would have made it better, but it didn't seem worth it to try. I don't want to scare anyone away from the restaurant though because I tried everyone else's, and apparently mine was the only dud. The steak was AMAZING!



Stay tuned for more on Sonoma- our day of wineries and a bit of over-indulgence.