Wine and Weddings in Sonoma

We've just completed a lovely five day trip to attend Dixon Osburn and JR Hodder's wedding at Nicholson Ranch Winery in Sonoma, California.  Part of this trip, too, included spending time in Healdsburg with four of our friends with whom we travel to Ashland, Oregon every summer.  This made it a fine time to talk, visit, see friends, and celebrate.

Dixon and JR have been old friends from Washington, now living in San Francisco, where Dixon is Executive Director of the Center for Justice and Accountability.  We have known him for at least 20 years right after he founded the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network to fight "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

We flew out via Alaska Airlines from National on Wednesday last week to find the Russian River at the bottom of our hosts' hill in full food, though not affecting them.  The water was within two feet of the bridge crossing the river at Healdsburg and it had broken its banks and flooded most of the valley.  When it crested it left a tide-mark along the river banks that was readily visible.

We spent Thursday running around the valley, doing errands, buying wine and enjoying good food.  We particularly enjoyed hamburgers at the Healdsburg Bar and Grille in the center of Healdsburg, and several outstanding wines at David and Andy's home.  A chardonnay from the Davis Winery in Healdsburg was delicious.  It went beautifully with the chicken dish we prepared.

California is magnificently green with all the rain--totally unlike the weather we see in the summertime.  Flowers are out in abundance, the hills look like rolls of green carpet rooked and folded while flying over them.

The wedding proved to be a load of fun.  Not only did we run into many old friends from Washington from SLDN days, we met family and California friends.  The winery is located on a hill near Sonoma with spaces that work beautifully for a wedding venue.  A former State of California Senator presided at the wedding--and a story made it into the NY Times.  (Here is the link:  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/03/fashion/weddings/jeremy-hodder-dixon-osburn.html .) Dancing with a good band finished the day.

Our friends Jane and Peter arrived on Saturday to spend the weekend.  We have had wonderful times with them and will continue to do so on a barge trip on the Canal du Midi in Languedoc, France, in May.  John has known Jane since his college days so it was more like a family visit than a weekend with strangers.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Spoonbar Restaurant of either cioppino for Ben or beef short ribs for John.  Starters were a grilled salad or a lightly grilled yellowtail tuna with Japanese spicing.   The wine was a fine chardonnay from Alexander Valley.


Yesterday we attended a local church where David is joining the vestry.  The rector delivered a fine sermon as the congregation sat in the 1900 redwood church.  David has been involved with Grace Cathedral in San Francsico as its Board Chair for several years along with Jane, but now will get more involved in local work.

We rose this morning at 4:30 AM to catch the flight to LA from the local airport.  We will return to Washington this afternoon.