Happy, Happy in Calistoga, California

Happy Birthday, Malcolm!  What an awesome celebration!  What a special weekend.  I am taking notes.  This was such the way to celebrate.  Just 4 couples, in a gorgeous house and grounds even better, in Calistoga, California.  Yes, the place where they bottle Calistoga water.  It's also rich in wineries.  We visited a couple.  But really, the best part was just hanging out with family and friends, cooking, eating, enjoying the pool, baccy ball, making huge fires, delicious wine and scotch, and conversations as long as you want.  We canceled all our dinner reservations within minutes of arriving.  Almost in unison, we all said, let's stay here and cook!  Yes, we did ride our bikes, all of 15 minutes, before deciding we should stop for a beer and what the heck, some oysters, and buffalo wings too...and the spa, massages and salt rub.  It was fine.  But the real fun was hanging with our tribe. 

This is the "after" picture.

Jib Jab
It's an incubator for growing friendships.  No to do list.  Just incredible people, great food (and cooks), great drinks, and an outlandishly gorgeous setting.  First, the house, but really, the beauty was the grounds.  So many treasures, little nooks and crannies, so much attention to detail, blending in, looking so natural, yet landscaped, just so.  Gorgeous pool, outdoor dining area and huge stone fireplace, and a little kitchen bar, bathroom and shower and the gardens.  Everywhere.  The veggie garden had cilantro, and strawberries en masse(yes, we used plenty).   What else?  Basil, and spinach.  And a bunch of other stuff in perfect raised beds, for later in the season.  And flowers and so on everywhere. 

We did include some cross training with what I want to call cattle bells.  I think it's really kettle bells.  We did sit-ups, push ups,  some sort of deep bend, and of course, swinging the kettle bell and sprints.  A pretty serious work-out and done in about 20 minutes.  Oh, we also enjoyed a hike, not sure what mountain.  We didn't quite reach the top, but got to where we had monster panoramic views.  Okay, fine, I swam some laps too, so in the end, we did quite a bit, but never felt rushed or out of time for anything.  Such a treat, and pure relaxation and rejuvenation. 

This turned into one of our favorite spots.  It's  dream outdoor living.  Pool, fireplace, dining, everything done, just right.  Right in the lower right corner, see the serving table.  Concrete with two down-lights.  They thought of everything!  Behind this is the cabana, with a little bar, bathroom and shower, all done in teak.  The pool was huge.  Plenty big for swimming laps.  And the hot tub attached to the pool was huge.  A party tub.

Have you seen the blog where the guy puts his camera on 2 second delay, then runs?  This is my version.  On 10 second delay, and swimming.

Here's something else I've never done.  Linking to my facebook album.  Not sure it works.
Let me know if you can't get to it.
More photos