The celebration of 20 years with Eli's heart began on June 6th with my sister, my mom and me having a "girls" day of shopping, eating, talking and my "annual" transplant movie-Return to Me. We also enjoyed a bottle of Dom Perignon (thank you Ron) to kick off the celebration.
The following day continued with Lisa and the kids decorating my van and then Lisa, Scott and I heading over to Windsor with a couple stops along the way to pick up some dear friends. We stayed at WorldMark Windsor Resort which is part of Scott's folks timeshare. His folks drove all the way over there ahead of us to check us in for 2 condos and then returned home the same night! What troopers, thanks for the great place to stay Chris & Ren.
We arrived at our condo and shortly after my brother Guy arrived, followed awhile later by 2 more dear friends. Scott handed out the T-shirts he had made everyone to wear on June 8th to commemmorate the day. I also put on the ring that was made for Eli and me. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner cooked by Scott (with assistance from Guy), several bottles of wine, lively conversations, good music, friendship and laughter. Those of us preparing to ride in the Hot Air Balloon the next day attemped to catch a few Z's before our 7:30 lift-off.
We arrived at the airport by 7:15am only to be told we needed to wait and see if the incoming fog would lift. Our pilot (and owner of the company) explained to us that he should know by 8:45 if we'd be lifting off or not. So the six of us that were going up in the balloon chatted, took silly photos and prayed that the fog would lift and the wind currents would cooperate.
Heartbreaking news (for me) was delivered after the test balloon failed and our pilot told us that these were NOT safe conditions to fly in today :( He truly felt bad knowing the impact of what it meant for me to fly on this day. Unfortunately I had not even thought of a plan B, so we headed back to the condo for some breakfast and regrouping as what to do next.
After several suggestions from my brother, sister and friends; I remembered driving by the CIA the day before & checked out their website for tours, lunch etc. (By CIA-I mean the Culinary Institute of America :) ) I've always wanted to check it out-so we made reservations for 9 of us (another friend was joining us soon) for that afternoon. After my last friend arrived, we viewed the celebratory video that my aunt Joanne had lovingly put together for me. After drying our eyes we headed over to a winery for some wine tasting, and then it was off to the CIA.
The building itself was completed in 1889. It is 117,000 square feet with 22-inch thick walls of locally quarried stone. After the Great Depression, the buliding was auctioned off & purchased by the CA Wine Association who turned the buiding into a co-op for local vineyards. in 1950, Christian Brothers purchased the property. In 1990 a corporation aquired it from Christian Brothers and in 1993 the CIA was "given" the building, surrounding grounds, and 15-acre Merlot Vineyard.
We self-toured the grandiose building, sampled chocolate, browsed the gift shop and headed over for an unforgettable lunch. We dined on the patio which we had pretty much to ourselves and the staff, the food and the view was amazing. I think I might just have to take some classes here now! We celebrated the afternoon away, and then 5 from our party departed to head back home and 4 of us headed back to the condo for a wind-down evening to end the celebration. And although the balloon ride did not occur, just being with my friends and family to commemorate the day was truly memorable.
Pictures to follow...
1 comment:
I enjoyed your photos and post about your anniversary weekend. Glad you had a good time. The ring with your birthstone and Eli's is really neat. Thanks for sharing.
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