Russian River May 2007

Here's a few pics from our long weekend in Duncan's Mills, which is right along the Russian River near Guerneville. Beautiful area that combines redwoods, the river, and the pacific ocean right up the road.

The house was very cool in a great spot on the river and awesome backyard. We BBQ'd every night, played poker & dominoes(Alicia learned how to play while in jail), drank micros & wine, good times indeed.

We went on a tour of Korbel in Guerneville, golfed, found an awesome bakery in nearby Freestone, and mostly hung out.

We did find some time to use the canoes. Here's the captain & his first mate preparing the vessel for launch.

Kenny manning the "dumb end" of the canoe.

We ventured out to Occidental, a small town about 20 miles away, for an awesome italian meal at Negri's restaurant http://www.negrisrestaurant.com/ and couple drinks at the Occidental Hotel

About 7 miles up the road is Bodega Bay, where Alfred Hitchcock filmed The Birds. Oh, and the pacific ocean.

Look forward to heading back next year.

Anchor Steam Brewery

Ronda & I(mostly me) decided to take a tour of the Anchor Steam brewery in San Francisco. Had to make reservations, they only do tours during the week. Very popular tour as there were many people on the Thursday at 11:00 am we went. Appeared to be people from out of town checking out the SF landmark.

The brewery has been making beer since the late 1800's in the city. The current owner, Fritz Maytag, bought the place to save it from closure in the 60's while he was a student at Stanford. He's the son of the guy who owns Maytag appliances and the world famous Maytag blue cheese. Fascinating, I know.

Tour lasted about 45 minutes with alot of historical info. No pictures were allowed past a certain point so no pics of the awesome HOP ROOM! and bottling line and other cool stuff. After the tour the bring you into the tasting room and let you have samples of all their beers. When I say sample I mean they pour you about 6 ounces of each. And as many as you want. Wow! This includes the barleywine, Old Foghorn. Tour is free as well. Nice.

They also have a "micro distillery" where they make Junipero Gin. Voted the top american made gin by the New York Times apparently. They also make a whiskey, Potrero. Didn't get the chance to sample any of these unfortunately. They make wine too, York Creek Vineyards, but at a different facility in Napa.

Highly recommend this tour. Made for a fun day in the city.