Go to Healdsburg!

As I mentioned yesterday, we spent the most lovely and relaxing long weekend in Healdsburg at our friends' cabin. Healdsburg is absolute heaven; it is in wine country (so you know what that means) and is situated right on the Russian River. We ate well, floated down the river, did a little shopping in their quaint downtown, went winery hopping, and I even took in a yoga class. Heaven, I tell you. Heaven.

Here's a breakdown of our weekend.

We went to a yummy breakfast at Costeaux, a French bakery in downtown Healdsburg. The food and coffee were as tasty as the decor.

Images via Costeaux website

We spent the afternoon inner tubing down the lazy Russian River. I can't remember the last time I was so relaxed. We didn't bring any cameras (since everything we owned was floating down river with us), but in my mind, we looked like this.

Via

In reality, we probably looked more like this: 

 Via

Day two was spent wandering through town. We got coffee at the Flying Goat, and then wandered around. Highlights were 14 feet, which I talked about in yesterday's post, and Dianne's Estate Jewellry, where I swear we tried on everything in the store (only because the guys were golfing)! 

Images via Flying Goat and 14 feet websites

Then it was off to some wine tasting! We went to two wineries, Twomey and Hop Kiln. 

Twomey is affiliated with Silver Oak Vineyards, so their wines were a real treat! But the architecture of the tasting room threatened to steal the show. I love the mix of curving and clean lines; aluminum, concrete, and birch wood; and the floor to ceiling glass walls. 

Images via Twomey Cellars website

Next up was Hop Kiln, which had a much older feel to it since the tasting room was converted from an old hop mill (hence the name). 

Afterwards we headed over to Geyserville for Dinner at Diavola, a mouthwatering pizzeria where we had the best pizza I have ever had. My recommendations: the Biana, and the Cha Cha Cha (with pork belly was the group's hands down favorite). 

They also had the most innovative dessert I had ever seen - S'mores that you roast at your table. Here are Lindsay and Patrick in action.

The one downside was the wait to get in, and we got there early. But the good news is that there is a tasting room right next store, Locals, that offers free tastings of a wine flight. I went with the Sauvignon Blanc, and we got a chance to chat with a local winemaker whose wines were being featured there. 

I ended our long weekend with a 90 minute Vinyasa yoga class at Yoga on Center. This was a special treat because my cousin not only owns the studio, but taught the class! And I am not just saying this because she is my cousin, but it was one of the best yoga classes I have ever taken. I still feel light (and a little sore thanks to all those chaturanga dandasanas we did). If you head up her way, check out her light-filled studio and fun classes. Thanks for the practice, Jenn! 

And a special thanks to Matt and Megan for hosting us all weekend. You guys have seriously opened a can of worms! I am itching to go back and this weekend reminded me of how restorative a long weekend vacation truly can be. 

Where do you love to go for a long weekend? I am looking for recommendations as I want to take one more before school starts again.