Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Day 154 - San Francisco - Calistoga

Distance travelled (by bike): 19,200

Two beers before 11am is not a bad start to the day. Leaving  San Francisco i headed north east, on an indirect route to Calistoga, for no reason other than someone mentioned a good vineyard was located close by. As fate would have it on the way i passed the Budweiser brewery, not one to miss an opportunity i stopped and signed up to the brewery tour. two beers later the tour began. Fact: (so i was told) the number 1 selling beer in the world is Bud Light. Would bet it's not in the UK. 
After the Budweiser tour i saw a sign for the Jelly Belly (jelly beans) factory tour, in for a penny in for a pound, i drove on and signed up to the tour. The Jelly Belly brands popularity soared after it became public that Ronald Reagan was a fan and used then to help give up smoking, and to combat stress through his time in the White House.
Two beers and a few jelly beans later i was back on the road, heading into Napa valley.
The scenery is amazing, off the highway i was twisting through tiny villages. Stopping at the occasional vineyard to sample the wine then driving on. 
Having taken a wrong turn somewhere i ended up driving along dirt tracks for a while, i ended up popping out right by a petrol station. Stopping for petrol and met three guys driving Harley's, they told me they were staying in Calistoga, i should check it out. I did and ended up getting talked into staying. The place we stayed was a pub/restaurant/micro brewery, affiliated with a vineyard. Lethal combination. After tasting all the in house beers followed by food and local wine,  enough was enough for me, unlike the other 3 i had to drive a serious distance tomorrow, even with the jeering banter thrown my way i called it a night. 

really!!!

leaving San Fran.



i figure that 4 of these equal 2 beers

some of the millions of cans that get produced each day, 6000 per minute.


the jelly bean take on the royal wedding









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