Golden Girls Tour Day Six: San Francisco

Today was a relaxing day with a leisurely after-lunch start for a Range Rover tour of San Francisco. I had planned to hit the highlights, but with two Army wives on board, those highlights tended to be the military highlights. (See pix of today’s adventure here.) So we toured the Presidio, Crissey Field, and stopped at the Palace of the Legion of Honor and Point Lobos (where we...

Golden Girls Tour Day Five: Sonoma

Today had one destination: Two Terrier Vineyards in Sonoma. It wasn’t easy getting four people, two artificial hips, two arthritic knees and two terriers mobilized, but we made it to Sonoma before noon. The land is incredibly uneven and has a low “accessibility” quotient. So I wondered what the Golden Girls would be able to see. I shouldn’t have worried. (See...

Golden Girls Tour Day Four: Carmel &...

Today, we did Carmel and Monterey — specifically, the Carmel Mission and the 17 Mile Drive. But first, we had a Celebrity Encounter. And it was us. Let me explain. (See pictures of today’s adventures here.) Like most ladies who came of age in the Fifties, Gerry and Jackie always dress up to travel. So, in casual California, that makes them some of the best-dressed...

Golden Girls Tour Day Three: Vino & ...

Today’s event was winetasting in Paso Robles. Early on, I stated my theory that no wine tasting trip can really accomodate more than three tastings. Good thing I set the bar. At only the second winery, Jackie and Gerry found their place. (See pictures of today’s adventures here.) Our goal was to seek out Rhone style wines which Paso Robles is supposed to specialize in...

Golden Girls Tour Day Two: Bill Hearst &...

This promised to be not just any trip to Hearst Castle. Gerry’s father used to be a crime reporter at one of Hearst’s New York papers, a position in the Thirties similar in prestige and star power as being a network news anchor today. But unfortunately he came to believe Hearst was more interested in sensationalism and his political agenda than in truthful reporting, so...

Golden Girls Tour Day One: Big Sur-Vivor...

As a belated birthday trip, I’m on the road with my seventy five year old mother and one of her oldest friends headed for Big Sur, Hearst Castle and points south. But let me clarify, this isn’t like traveling with just any seventy-plus ladies. These are former Army wives who have spent their adult lives in quick deployments to foreign places. So while all the hips and...