Tackling the Bucket List One Limo Ride at a Time!

Back in October when Dan was announcing the High School Football games, he texted me and asked what we were doing December 7th. "Nothing" was my response. I tried to pry out of him why he was asking about that day, but he would not give it up-that night anyways. Eventually he told me that he was planning a limo wine tour trip with some people from his work (some of them I knew from when I worked at his school, some I did not know). While Dan was the leader in planning the trip, my type-A personality helped with finding a limo company just a little over a week out from the trip. But, then all of the people he coordinated with backed out. So, there we were with a limo for wine tasting an no one to go with. We had plans to go wine tasting with my best friend, April and her husband, David while they were out visiting for a friend's wedding later in December, so we called the limo company and asked if we could move the reservation. Totally fine. So we were set to go wine tasting December 30.

We decided to keep the limo a secret until we walked outside to get into the car. I was quite surprised that neither of them asked who was going to drive despite all the talk of drinking and going to multiple places. Despite Dan's desire to keep the limo ride a secret, he blurted it out to David that we had a limo. Now three of us knew, but April still did not know. The time came to leave and we walked out to the "car" which just happened to be a limo! Pete, our driver took our picture and then we headed into the limo for our ride.

Getting ready for our ride in style!

The limo came equipped with a nice cold bottle of Wilson Creek Almond champagne, soda and water. We spent some time texting the picture of the limo to our friend who said he was too busy to go wine tasting (he was the one getting married, so maybe he was a little busy).  He was quite sad that he missed the stylish ride! We then cozied up in the limo and popped the bottle of champagne.

Pretty soon we made it to our first stop: Long Shadow winery. They have a country theme, complete with a barn and several horses. We began by petting some of the horses and then made our way into the winery.  I had been to this winery twice before and enjoyed their wines, particularly their free flowing pours and Ponderosa Port. Dan and I opted to shared one tasting, and despite that the guy kept pouring for both of us. While we probably did not have enough for two tastings, we definitely had way more than one, but the guy only charged us for a partial tasting.

After the tasting, we bought a bottle of the port and headed outside. They have some picnic tables and umbrellas and since it was a beautiful day outside we decided to have a picnic. Dan and I packed up all our leftover snacks from Christmas, so we had quite a feast: cheese, salami, crackers, veggies, and hummus. Dan also picked up some extra snacks to add: pita chips, trail mix, and everyone's favorite of chocolate covered almonds as well as chocolate covered acai berries. We definitely had a feast before us!

April and David enjoying the picnic!

Dan feasting on some chocolate covered almonds.

Dan and I enjoying some snacks.



After the champagne and free pouring wine tasting we realized we just couldn't hang for another 4 hours of wine tasting, but we still had the limo, so what to do? We talked to our driver, Pete, and asked if we could change the tour a bit and instead of doing more tasting, just drive to the beach and take a scenic tour of the coast. He checked in with the office and we were given the go ahead.

So we headed south to Oceanside to drive along the Strand (a street that you can drive on that is right next to the sand). I took pictures of us in the Limo...but didn't think to get any of our view. Despite the change in plans (no more wine tasting), the drive was so much fun. Dan and I cuddled up and watched the beautiful scenery that we drove by. We both love to look at the scenery, but usually he is driving and I don't let him look. This time he was able to look and I didn't have to worry about him swerving off the rode.

Driving to the beach. Pretty good selfie don't you think?

More in the limo on our scenic drive.
  

After our scenic ride along the Oceanside Coast we made our way to Carlsbad. We stopped and had an appetizer at Fidel's Mexican Restaurant (Fidel's is where we went and had dinner on our wedding night after all the lunchtime wedding festivities). Once we were done with our appetizer we made our way to the end of the street and watched the sunset over the coast. We weren't able to capture all its glory, but San Diego County does have some amazing sunsets.

April and David at Fidel's

Dan and I at Fidel's.

Trying to take a selfie and get the sunset in.

Just barely missed the sunset.

Once we were done with the sun set we returned to our limo ride and took an hour drive back home. This was not the wine tour limo ride that I had envisioned when we made our bucket list, but it was definitely a memorable trip. Had we stayed the course wine tasting we would have spent most of the time outside of the limo drinking the wine. While Dan and I do enjoy a good wine, it was fun to enjoy the limo that we rented and just cuddle up and then share it with our friends. Dan and I enjoyed the drive so much we talked about renting a limo again for a scenic drive for a few hours. 

The final leg of our journey.

Limo riding is tough business!

Dan asked me several times throughout the day if I was having fun. Even though it ended up not being a wine tasting tour, we were able to experience the limo ride much more than we might have had we done a wine tour. We got to be romantic with each other, and we were able to share it with our friends. So yes my Dan, I did have a great time!