We have, after a lovely sojourn with part of our family in Georgia, returned to the wine country for the time being. That probably won’t last, but for now, that’s where we are.
You know how it is: you never visit some of the places that are closest to where you call home. When we lived in Florida, we never visited Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, the Florida Keys, the Cape, St. Augustine or even the Everglades. What were we thinking?!?! (Well, in fairness, we were starving college kids then, newly married, with no money…so we just didn’t go places!) Since then, we’ve managed to see a couple of those things, but that’s about it.
There are so many wineries near us that it is mind-blowing. We’ve been to a few, and when friends come, they like to go visit some wineries. One of the best to visit is Francis Ford Coppola’s winery, just south of us on US 101. It was under construction/renovation for a long time, but it’s done now, and it will definitely be a place we take guests in the future.
This is one of the pictures that I took inside part of the tasting room/museum. The stairway winds up to the top floor where many of Coppola’s awards are on display, including his 5 Academy Awards, Palm d’Or, Golden Globes, etc. There are also pieces of scripts, a hand-written note from Marlon Brando, and the Godfather desk and chair. If you look, you’ll see the Godfather desk to the right of the stairway at the top, in front of the window.
On the lower floor one can find a Tucker (from the movie Tucker) automobile (the red car in the picture), and artifacts from Apocalypse Now, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, etc.
It is an interesting place to visit. I can’t vouch for the wine…it’s probably pretty good, I’d imagine. But it is a great place to visit if you’re coming up towards Cloverdale!
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: in 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte arrived on the island of St. Helena after being exiled following his loss in the Battle of Waterloo.
TRIVIA FOR TODAY: the former bricklayer, Jack Kelly, who became the father of actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly, was once in charge of the national physical fitness program of President Franklin Roosevelt.
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