Spring Weekend Getaways!

Castle Court Images is ready for Springtime!  Enjoy YOUR Spring moments by taking a weekend getaway....!  Don't forget your camera, bike and dog (they LOVE the beach)!  

Athena loves the beach!
(Though sometimes
the sands gets stuck in her wrinkles!)
Amagansett - Memorial Day 2010

The Hamptons:  Bike from Amagansett to Sag Harbor, through beautiful farmland. For dinner, bring your own bottle of wine to Duryea Lobster Deck down the road in Montauk for beautiful outdoors, low key seafood eats.  Stop at any farmstand along Montauk Highway to buy your herbs (Rosemary, Cilantro, Basil are my favs)!  Then bring them home and pot them in big enough pots in the sun (you'll be surprised how fast they grow). You can also plant them in your garden. No matter if potted or planted, water your herbs very frequently & make sure they have plenty of sun.

Here is some inspiration to look cute 

while biking in Nantucket!

Nantucket: Beat the tourists! Check out the annual Daffodil Festival and Parade April 29-May 1st. Fly from Laguardia if it's a quick weekend or drive to Hyannis on Cape Cod and take the ferry if you have a few extra days! Go biking to Sconset to see the beautiful hydrangeas, have a picnic at Something Natural, the tastiest (and biggest)sandwiches on the Island. 


Martha's Vineyard: Head to A Taste of the Vineyard on June 16th, 2011. All the best food, wine and handcrafted beers on the vineyard. Dance the night away to a live band. If you love dessert like me, don't leave the island without eating Merdick's Fudge and Mad Martha's Ice Cream.



Mystic, CT: Wine tasting and Antiquing for a low key weekend. Check out the picturesque town of Stonington along the winery route for shops, antiques, jewelry, historic homes. Hit the harbor in Stonington for seafood lunch or diner.  You will hit more crowds, but the Mystic Aquarium is fun for Kids and the nearby Mohegan Sun is fun for adults.  If you want to stay in the countryside, rent bikes at Mystic Cycle Centre and bike throughout the country throughout the small towns.


Santa Barbara: Stay at the Four Seasons in Santa Barbara and pamper yourself with a massage. Take a beautiful day trip and do some wine tasting in Santa Barbara Valley including Kalyra Winery in Santa Ynez, CA and Foley Estates Vineyard & Winery in Santa Rita Hills.  This is the area that you saw in the movie 'Sideways'.

Dry Creek General Store - Established in 1881

Healdsburg, CA: Sonoma Valley Wine Tasting at its best is up north.  Where you will pay minimum $25 for tastings in Napa, those in Healdsburg area are $10, $5 or sometimes free!  Head to Dry Creek Valley and stop at historical Dry Creek General Store to pick up your picnic (Cheese and a Delicious sandwich) as your head out to wine tasting! Do some wine tasting through Dry Creek and Alexandra Valleys close-by. Before you know it, It'll be snacktime! A great vineyard to picnic is Dry Creek Vineyard.  

Porter Creek Vineyards - Russian River Valley
www.portercreekvineyards.com

My Favorite Hotel in Northern Sonoma is Hotel Healdsburg which is a beautiful contemporary hotel built into the side of the town square. They will pamper you with excellent service, beautiful rooms, super comfortable beds and incredible food at Charlie Palmer's famous Dry Creek Kitchen. The spa is excellent, there is a pool and hottub, perfect for relaxing after a day at the vineyards. The hotel is also situated among great boutique shops, restaurants, tasting rooms and an ice cream shop and the closest vineyards are 5 minutes down the road. 


The excellent concierge service at Hotel Healdsburg will familiarize you with Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valleys. They will provide you with discounts and free tastings at tasting rooms in the area that you may be interested in, based on what you are looking for. For an excellent and fresh Italian dinner, check out Scopa, the local favorite and my favorite! Scopa is more rustic and much smaller than the modern and spacious Dry Creek Kitchen.  Scopa's ingredients are all fresh from local farms and they serve the most amazing homemade pastas and pizzas and have a fabulous wine list featuring wine from the local vineyards. Scopa is a special place - don't be fooled, make this reservation early - as it has become a favorite to many!  At all of the restaurants in Healdsburg, you are likely to have wine from vineyards you visited earlier in the day!  It really helps you end the day by realizing that you have probably learned your favorite wines in the Northern Sonoma (mine being Pinot Noir and Riesling).  Though after a few glasses they all taste pretty good!



Don't forget to Take Photos of your getaway! Castle Court can design a printed photo album for you or a video on DVD set to music to keep your memories forever!  Don't let your days pass you by...Enjoy!  XOXO




Kimberly Grad
Castle Court Images
(203) 561-0974
kim@castle courtimages.com
www.castlecourtimages.com