Dry Creek and Healdsburg

Last Sunday, we took a scenic drive through the Sonoma Valley and past a series of family wineries to Dry Creek, to see our friends Scott and Tina. They live in Milwaukee, and when we met up in Chicago last June, they invited us to the small vineyard owned by Tina’s sister and brother-in-law. The vineyard was named Hero’s Journey, which made me smile because everyone is talking about Christopher Nolan’s epic film The Odyssey.

The creative and resourceful owners have renovated the house and barn, installed a small swimming pool, and added His and Hers studios. It was lovely and welcoming, with that timeless, natural California-casual style. (The pool can serve as an emergency water supply in case of fire. Clever!)

Patio and pool at main entrance to house

Painting by Tina's sister Melissa

Renovated barn

It was fun walking amidst the vines and tasting the Zinfandel, Syrah, and Grenache grapes. We also tasted two Hero’s Journey wines, red zinfandels that we enjoyed very much. They will not harvest their grapes this year; unfortunately, it’s a tough time to be selling wine.

Scott and Tina took us into Healdsburg, where we wandered along the shop-lined streets of the main plaza. The tiny Hand Fan Museum was a gem, with beautiful and unusual fans from around the world. After all, hand fans are portable, functional art! Both Tina and I are of Filipino heritage and very familiar with hand fans. My favorites included a Regency-era fan with a small mirror (for flirting or peeking), and opulent fans with iridescent feathers and ribs of intricately carved tortoiseshell.

We enjoyed a delicious rooftop lunch at The Matheson, and ate ice cream in the park, where a Sunday afternoon concert was in progress. Downtown Healdsburg was a charming place that I would enjoy visiting again one day.