October 17, 2025 • 39 mins
A promise we made in college finally came true: six friends, one shared bucket list, and a Napa and Sonoma escape that blended caves, sparkling flights, and a few curveballs we didn’t see coming. We open the gate on the full story—what worked, what surprised us, and how to plan a group trip that actually feels easy.
We'll start with: a walkable Airbnb in downtown Napa, realistic pacing at two tastings per day, and reservations booked six months out to secure coveted spots. From Gloria Ferrer’s crisp sparkling lineup and friendly insider perks to Schramsberg’s immersive cave tour and hands-on education in riddling, yeast, and aging, we get beyond the pour into the craft. Private tasting moments at The Prisoner pair food thoughtfully with wine, while the terrace at Domaine Carneros reminds us to slow down and watch the valley change in the afternoon light. Then the showstopper: Del Dotto’s dramatic gate, barrel sampling with the wine thief, and a wood-fired pizza finish with a guide who knows how to translate technique into memory. Jarvis closes the loop with elegance and a reminder that not all favorite bottles are the most expensive.
Along the way, we share real group travel tactics: handling mid-trip colds without derailing the plan, using pooled dining funds or Splitwise to keep money drama off the table, tipping well with cash, and letting people opt in or out without guilt. We talk about comfort zones at the Golden Haven mud bath—yes, it’s intimate, yes, it smells earthy, and yes, it can be worth it—and the power of souvenirs and small rituals to anchor big memories. If you’re aiming for fewer crowds and patio-perfect weather, we make the case for mid to late September in Napa. If you’re curious whether wine clubs are worth it, we break down the perks, from member-only pours to real discounts on bottles you’ll want to bring home.
If Napa or Sonoma is on your list, consider this your friendly blueprint: plan ahead, pace your days, join a club or two for access, and leave room for moments you can’t schedule. Loved this journey? Follow, share with your travel crew, and leave a quick review—then tell us your bucket list destination and who you’re taking with you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:11):
Welcome back to 2K Steven's guys.
We are in episode two of seasonthree.
And today we are going to betalking to a very special guest,
my beautiful co-host, Denise D.
Today we are going to be talkingabout some bucket list travel.
Okay, so she had an opportunityto check off a very special item
off her bucket list.
(00:31):
She went on a girl trip withsome college friends down over
to Napa Valley.
So we are so excited to be ableto ask her some questions, get
some details, hear the tea, seewhat wineries were the best, and
just hear some amazing tips andtricks about group travel.
So welcome, welcome in, Denise.
SPEAKER_01 (00:51):
I'm not this is so weird.
I'm not used to beinginterviewed, but I'm here for
it.
So what I will say is yes, thisNAPA trip, and I I have my
mimosa.
This NAPA trip was amazing.
It was a bucket list.
It had been 15 years in themaking with my college best
(01:12):
friends.
So yes, we just got back fromNapa and Sonoma, and I'm still
trying to process the beauty.
Like it's almost like we plannedso long for it, and it happened
that I'm still kind of in likethe whole, oh gosh, this
happened phase.
But I was there for it.
We had a like as classic,nothing goes to schedule.
(01:37):
We all are coming from all over.
We have uh friends coming fromNew York, from Florida, from
Georgia, the three of us inNorth Carolina.
So that made up our sixth.
We flew into San Francisco.
It was a lovely airport, abeautiful.
And then the trip to Napa wentalong.
(01:57):
But what I will say is this iswhy I'm saying nothing goes to
plan.
I won't say who was sick, butone of our friends, right in the
beginning, was sick.
And so we're taking off for afive and a half hour flight from
Charlotte, and you know, theears popping and all that stuff.
But yeah, uh, it was like a headcold, I'm guessing, some kind of
(02:20):
virus or head cold.
And so we were concerned aboutour friend the whole time, and
then we're like, this is notideal timing because you plan
for this trip for so long.
Right.
And then you're like, and thenwho's gonna sleep with her?
That's a big concern, yes.
We all kind of take turns likewhen we first started going on
girls' chest together, it'slike, let's all just draw straws
(02:42):
because it doesn't seem fair topick who's going with the who,
right?
But this many trips in, we hadpeople who haven't really roomed
with each other, so we all kindof plan you get this person, you
get this person, and we all loveeach other, so it doesn't matter
who you get with, but it it wasjust like, I'm glad I didn't
have the sicki.
SPEAKER_00 (03:04):
That's okay, that's okay, that's absolutely fair,
you know, especially when you'retraveling in a group and
everything.
So, I mean, hopefully, did theyget better throughout the trip?
I hope the trip wasn't it.
SPEAKER_01 (03:14):
They absolutely did get better, and we took turns
sleeping on the couch.
And by we, I don't mean thatwe're French, it wasn't me, but
it was some other people in mygroup.
It worked out okay.
And and then towards the end ofthe trip, somebody else got
sick, and they had to have theirown space.
(03:34):
So, on either end, a couple ofthe ladies missed some wineries
and going out to dinner andstuff.
So you have to be flexible whenyou're going into this, you plan
it this long, and then we talkedlike, do you go get a COVID
test?
Do you go get a flu test?
We decided, nope, because we'rehere for it, no matter what.
Right.
There's no, I mean, unless youwant the flu, unless you want
(03:58):
that, then the if you catch itin the first 48 hours, you can
get this medicine.
But they were like, nope, and wewere just very cautious and and
it worked, and we just alllooked out for each other.
We made sure we had theemergency packets that were
giving us immune system foods.
(04:18):
We were taking that and betrying to do that.
Those are great, yeah.
So we were just being cautiousand we're like, we're here for
it.
So whatever happens, happens.
Yeah.
So that's kind of how we dealtwith the sickness part of it.
SPEAKER_00 (04:29):
Awesome.
I mean, I love that because I'llbe honest, if I was taking my
bucket list trip, I would haveto be very, very deathly sick to
make it like not happen.
I would have done the samething.
Like, no, there's there's noneed.
I'm here, it's okay.
SPEAKER_01 (04:42):
Well, and you book these in advance and you don't
really know, you really havesome of them are 24 hours, some
of them are 48 hours, and youdon't know what their
cancellation fee is.
So, I mean, when they didn'tmake it to the winery, they
still paid for it because theycouldn't cancel it in time for
so that is that.
(05:02):
But yes, at the end of the day,it was still amazing, and we and
we did flex around that.
So, but no trip is it it'salways got to be something,
right?
SPEAKER_00 (05:13):
There's always something, always.
But and speaking of, now I knowthat some of your friends might
not have been able to make allof the wineries, but now
obviously Napa is known forthat.
So tell us a little bit aboutthe wineries there.
What were your favorites?
What were some highlights?
SPEAKER_01 (05:28):
Well, it's so hard when we went to plan those, it's
so hard to plan what ones you'reactually gonna go to, and you go
through word of mouth and peoplethat have been in there before
you and stuff like that.
So I will say, kind of breakingit down day by day, our first
whole day was getting therebecause we're all coming from
the east coast to the westcoast, so it takes a hot minute
(05:49):
to get there.
Yeah, but the on the second day,we went to Gloria Ferrer, which
is sparkling, they're known fortheir sparkling wines, and it
was top-notch.
And I will say, if you have afriend that is a part of their
group list, then you kind of getsome inside, extra tastings, all
(06:10):
of that.
So I will say Victor wasamazing.
He's so funny.
He was just telling us, like,really, we learned so much about
where they are, how the grapesare how they make the wine on
the Blanc de Blanc, how theypeel the skins off.
Like it was very educational.
So it's just funny to be gettingschooled in wine while you're
(06:33):
getting tipsy.
SPEAKER_00 (06:34):
Also that's kind of great though, right?
SPEAKER_01 (06:37):
Yeah, why drink?
We could not have asked forbetter weather.
So when we got there, when wearrived, it was 96 degrees, the
hottest day in San Franciscothat they'd had all summer.
But luckily, it it then itdipped by I want to say the next
day the high was maybe 75.
So that's a huge difference.
(06:59):
And that is we had our wraps andit was a little, it was
overcast, and but it was nice.
We had this whole beautifultasting area outside, all
overlooking the the grapevines,and it was just amazing.
The the wine, the spark, it'sall sparkling wine.
So if you like champagne, butyou can't call it champagne
(07:21):
unless it's a certain region ofFrance, so it's sparkling wine,
is what we had, but it wasamazing, and we did buy a couple
to go bottles to bring back to.
We had an Airbnb in downtownNapa, gorgeous, gorgeous,
gorgeous little place, walkingdistance to everywhere, hot tub
in the back.
SPEAKER_00 (07:39):
Guess who found any always, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (07:43):
If you need a if you need a travel eight, but yeah,
it was amazing, so so fun.
So that was our first, that wasour first one, and then we went
to another one, and I'm not evengonna say their name, but it was
like polar opposite, not not ourtaste in wine.
Everything there was beautiful.
(08:04):
There was no winery that we wentto that we're like, this is like
why are we even here?
Like, if you're looking at theview, the rolling hills, it's
way different than NorthCarolina.
We have so much lush greenery,it's very dry out there in
California.
I guess maybe because they don'tget a lot of rain, but it was
very dry, a lot of rocky rollinghills is what we saw, but still
(08:29):
beautiful and still worthseeing, you know, absolutely.
Absolutely.
And then so the next day we hadthe Golden Haven spa, which we
did the mud bath.
All right, so I'm gonna tell youa little something about the mud
bath.
Tell us about this mud bath.
We did the BFF mud bath, andwhat I will say is if you don't
(08:49):
like being naked in front ofpeople, this is probably not
your jam.
And I knew it would be becauseI'm not I'm not a naked person
in front of people.
That's just not my jam.
And so for me, it was a little,it was not a little, it was very
outside my comfort zone.
SPEAKER_00 (09:09):
Let me have a little smidge of a drink here before we
that's okay, and you know, Iwill just take this quick second
to comment like that's okay,right?
If you're not necessarilycomfortable with your friends,
or if you are, right?
It's about what makes you happy,right?
SPEAKER_01 (09:26):
So, and I'm all about lately challenging myself
because this was outside mycomfort zone, but this is
something I'm starting to workon is facing my fears.
And so I couldn't have asked fora better group of gals to do
that with.
They were also supportive, theydefinitely all had were
(09:46):
definitely more okay with beingnaked.
So literally, you get on a pairof disposable little black
panties, and then you get intoyou go into this room and you
get into the mud bath, and itsmells the mud smells.
I'm just telling you that.
SPEAKER_00 (10:04):
Just giving it is it like a sulfur?
SPEAKER_01 (10:07):
Is it like a not like a sulfur, not like rotten
eggs, almost more like manure,like stinky.
I felt a couple I'm not gonnalie, like it's a mud bath, but
it's supposed to be amazing foryour body.
And they did this volcanic facemask that they paint on you, and
that made my skin very tight,and it was beautiful.
(10:30):
Okay, but the experience, soyou're in the mud baths for
about 15-20 minutes, then you gointo a mineral bath again.
But after you get out of the mudbath, you literally have to kind
of roll out of there and thenget into a shower and get naked
with three other girls.
Just saying, I'm just I'm justlaying it out there for you.
SPEAKER_00 (10:48):
A lot of nakedness happening.
SPEAKER_01 (10:49):
There's a lot of nakedness.
You see parts of your friendsthat you wouldn't necessarily
see per se.
And I mean, it is what it is.
And then I chose to wear pantiesand a top into the minerals
being some people went commando,some people did variations of
that, and that's fine.
But and then you go into a andthen you do that for like 15
(11:11):
minutes, and then you go into acool room where then you have to
get you guessed it naked again.
And then you're in thislemongrass scented room with
your friends, listen to ambientmusic, and it smells better.
Better than the yes, absolutely.
It was an expert, it was anexperience.
SPEAKER_00 (11:32):
Okay, yes, that's all I have to say.
Now I know you said like youloved how it made your face
feel.
What about the mud bath on yourbody?
SPEAKER_01 (11:41):
So after I rinsed off, it I my skin did felt feel
good, but when you're in thatmud bath, you really have to
kind of fling the mud up on youto because it's so dense that
you're on top of it.
So you tattoo's out and you'rekind of shimmy and down.
(12:01):
You're just slinging mud around,mud on top of you, and trying to
get a little lower in, and thenthey put the cool compress on
you, and you get the springwater and all that good stuff.
We'll try to put some picturesin there.
SPEAKER_00 (12:15):
Not of not of the tattoos, no nakedness in the
pictures, just no, we're gonnabe we're gonna be PG.
SPEAKER_01 (12:22):
That's for suitcase division.
We'll talk about that anothertime.
SPEAKER_00 (12:26):
Absolutely, of course, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (12:28):
And then we went on to Shramsburg, which was another
sparkling wine place.
Amazing.
They turn over millions ofbottles, and we did the cave
tour.
It was an experience.
I mean, it was an amazingexperience.
We learned so much.
Lisa was so, so, so just thisreally down-to-earth chill.
(12:50):
And she had a northern, she hadI thought she kind of had a
northern accent.
She was really cool.
Anyway, we had a great time atShramsburg.
The amount of actual bottlesthey turn over is astounding.
And when we were in the tastingroom, you could hear the the
workers that she's like, this is40, this is 40 deep, meaning 40
(13:12):
bottles deep in.
And they she's like, We can hearthem because they're that
they're down to unstacking thelast two rows.
This is what's ready now.
So it that was an experienceitself.
And then we were down in a cavehaving this tasting.
Um, and it was just an amazingexperience.
The next day we had we hadreservations at the prisoner
(13:36):
wine.
That was amazing.
So that one came with our ownprivate tasting, and then they
had like a bento box, and theyhad like papaya salad, and then
like Brussels sprouts andsummer.
I guess a vinaigrette.
A vinaigrette.
Then there was like a springroll, and then there was some
kind of tzeka, it was some kindof chicken sandwich, but well,
(13:59):
we'll put a picture in there.
It looked fabulous, it tastedfabulous, and that was amazing.
The good thing about being inthe wine club, our friend Dara
had been there before, and soshe was the one that had the
wine club experiences.
And so, whenever you're in thewine club, they give you all
these extra samples of all theselike really high bottles of
(14:22):
wine, hoping being like, okay,you either want to buy one or
you're gonna join the wine club.
Because some of them you can'teven buy, they're not open to
the public.
They're only you can only buythem if you're in the wine club.
So that's something that's soShramsburg was amazing, Prisoner
was amazing.
Then we went on to DomainCanaros.
(14:43):
That looked like a Spanish, kindof like just a big castle, and
we were overlooking Napa Valley.
It was the most gorgeous views.
I think that was one of myfavorite views.
We were sitting outside, theweather was so gorgeous.
We were sitting outside.
Fast forward the next day, DelDado.
By far my favorite.
(15:04):
Okay.
That one is where they had thisthing called the wine thief.
That it looked kind of phallic.
It's like this big glass.
We we joked we called it deldildo.
But not everybody's supposed tosay that.
I can because you know me.
Anywho, it's this big wine flutethat you dip down into the
barrels to get the tasting, andit's called a wine thief.
(15:27):
So you dip this big glass dildodown into the barrel, and then
you get a sample, and we'reagain down in a cave.
Gorgeous, gorgeous, mostbeautiful.
And Jeff, our our I'm gonna callhim our sommelier because he was
very knowledgeable.
He took us around, and that camewith pizza.
(15:48):
They have an oven pizza, and hetook us to this private room
where we got to sample pizzaafterwards.
So amazing.
It was it was that was by by byfar my first favorite tasting.
And then we went on to Jarvis,and I'll make that one real
quick.
Oh, but at Deldado, don't callit Del Deldo.
SPEAKER_00 (16:08):
It's it's like stuck in my head, and I'm gonna giggle
every time I hear it.
Now it's I'm really gonna haveto unlearn that.
SPEAKER_01 (16:15):
Listen, I have the pen.
I've got the pen.
SPEAKER_00 (16:18):
Jucy Deldotto, Del Dotto.
Hope I spell the name right whenI write it out.
Okay.
Please double check thedescription, guys.
Make sure I spelled it right.
SPEAKER_01 (16:27):
It was so beautiful.
And then we went on to Jarvis.
But what I will say, going backto Deldotto, is when we pulled
up, it's just like this blackiron gate that you're heading up
the mountain.
And we're like, are they closed?
Like, so we get out, we say,hello, we're here for the
reservation, and these big blackgates open up.
SPEAKER_02 (16:50):
It was oh me.
SPEAKER_01 (16:52):
It was like an epic, epic experience.
Nothing like it.
I would definitely, if you go toNapa, you definitely gotta go to
Del Dato and ask for Jeff, JeffCrabtree is actually his last
name.
SPEAKER_00 (17:07):
And make sure to do the wine thief experience.
Okay, that's that's where it'sat, guys.
The wine thief.
SPEAKER_01 (17:12):
And the pizza tasting was very fun too.
And then Jarvis, anothergorgeous, gorgeous.
It's it's definitely more of anupscale vineyard.
You're gonna pay more fortasting, but the grounds were
amazing, the wine was amazing.
Overall, amazing experience.
They say don't fit too many intoa day.
(17:35):
We tried to shoot for two a day,and that I think that was on
point.
It was a lot.
We didn't get a lot of sleep,but we had a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_00 (17:43):
So hey, it's it was a bucketless vacation, right?
So it sounds like you guysdefinitely checked off some
things.
And that's amazing.
So I do want to ask real quick.
I know you'd mentioned aboutjoining the wine clubs with the
different wineries, and with allthe extra tastings and perks,
would you say that that's likesomething you would suggest, or
at least like, hey, if you'reinterested in this, take a look
(18:04):
because it's probably worth it.
SPEAKER_01 (18:06):
Yes, I would say if you're not, if if you have
certain ones that you want to goto, like Gloria Ferrer, Dar was
part of the wine club, and weabsolutely benefited from that.
We got extra tastings.
I mean, some of these are$250bottle of wine that they're just
letting you taste because you'repart of this exclusive club.
(18:29):
Okay.
And we also got some of thebottles were a hundred dollar
bottles of sparkling wine, andwe got it for$50 because they
gave us like a half off deal.
So we brought two of those hometo have in Napa, which we very
much enjoyed.
We had Mimosa's sparkling winein the in the morning the next
day, and it was unbelievable.
(18:51):
It was so good.
So I would say definitely if youlike sparkling wine, I would
become a wine club member beforeyou even go to Gloria Ferrare.
Because you can cancel, you cancancel after like one shipment.
So I mean, even if you sign upfor it, you get the special
benefits.
Another one, the prisoner.
We got so many perks.
(19:13):
Cynthia was amazing.
And her little assistant, I loveher, love her, gave my business
card because she is going to BarHarbor, has been to, I'm gonna
call her Bar Harbor.
She's been there and wants to goback.
So nice.
I'd be happy to help her outwith whatever she wants to see
up in Maine.
But yeah, absolutely.
(19:34):
It was so, so amazing.
It if and I would do Del Dadotoo.
If you're not a wine club memberof that, get in there.
You know, I am you want to bepart of the wine thief
experience for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (19:48):
Yes, yes, that definitely sounds like quite the
experience.
Absolutely.
So through all that, now I dohave a question.
I know you visited quite a fewwineries.
Was there anything that, becauseyou know, I am just a little
nosy, a little curious, and I dolove wine.
Was there anything likeinteresting either about the
tasting process or about themaking of it process that either
(20:10):
stuck out to you?
And actually, I do have aquestion.
One thing I'm always curiousabout, you know, when they taste
the wine and they're sipping inand they spit it out into that
bowl, did you have to do that ordid you actually get to like
drink all of the wine?
SPEAKER_01 (20:23):
So those are all excellent questions, Jackie.
SPEAKER_00 (20:27):
Oh, I know.
SPEAKER_01 (20:28):
I'm sorry, I just kind of dumped it on you a
little bit, but so to go back toit was really, really I was so
impressed with Sranzburg justhow huge their cave was, and how
many and how many sacks of widecave it was.
(20:51):
We're gonna continue.
Let's proceed.
And and Lisa was soknowledgeable, and she actually
showed us the because they havethem all stacked on the side,
and you can see the yeast level,and she shined a light because
it's dark down there, and theyactually have a process where
they lay it on the side and theylet the yeast settle, and then
(21:12):
they have a process where theyactually pull the yeast out, and
then that just has the cork, andthat gives the wine a certain
taste, like their methods andtheir process, and then they
have something a spinnerboardwhere you do it like clockways
this way, and thencounterclockways that way.
And there's a guy that can dolike 400 in a minute, it's
(21:35):
insane.
We didn't get to see him, butthe way he spins bottles, he
just knows how to do it.
He's been doing it for 400bottles in a minute, and that's
like physically the way he spinsup, he just goes down and does
it like that.
I gotta we need a video.
We gotta go back.
(21:55):
I know.
Yes, like, well, listen, if Ineed a reason to go back, you
don't have to ask me twice.
But I mean, just the process ofthe way they talked about
Shramsburg and the multitude ofmillions of bottles that they
turn over.
And so the other thing I learnedis the average wine sits for the
consumers, it's aged about twoto three years.
(22:18):
That's what the average wine is.
Then you start getting intoreserves, those are going to be
aged more like seven to tenyears, and that's why you're
paying more per bottle becausethey've aged and they're worth
more and they taste better.
So that was part of the processis being part of the wine club
was getting to taste some ofthose reserves and getting to
(22:38):
know, like, okay, let's extendyour palate and see can you
taste the difference between theconsumer and the reserves?
And you absolutely can.
But it depends on the weatherand what went into those
bottles.
Every bottle that they make inany of these wineries can all
turn out different.
So you might like a certainblend that's a reserve, or you
(23:03):
might like the two to three yearone, depending on how what went
into that year's development.
So what I learned was the theexpensive bottles don't always
yield the best taste results forme personally, right?
Because, but that's what thesetastings are for.
And I mean, I that's why thewhole process to me is amazing.
(23:24):
And I would love to own awinery.
I mean, if it's in my cards, Iwould love to own a winery one
day.
Yes.
Because I just love the process.
I love everything, the notes.
I love to talk about theweather.
If you're in a valley, and youknow, and I've been to so many
tastings and I've learned somuch throughout my life.
(23:44):
It's just the whole process tome is amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (23:48):
I love that.
I love that.
Well, when you get yourvineyard, you know, I'll be
right there next to you.
SPEAKER_02 (23:54):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (23:54):
Up and out.
And everyone's invited.
Yeah.
And it's tasting.
We're gonna have to get a whatis it?
We're gonna have to get a winethief.
We're gonna have to get a winethief.
SPEAKER_01 (24:01):
Oh, yes, we will have a wine thief in our hands.
SPEAKER_00 (24:04):
Absolutely for the vineyard.
Okay.
So awesome.
Well, thank you so much forsharing about all those wineries
with us and about yourexperience and everything.
So, I mean, that just soundsabsolutely incredible.
Sounds like you guys definitelygot to check off some things on
your bucket list.
Now, just because you know, weare travel agents, we are in the
travel industry, I'm justcurious.
Now, you said you were travelingwith five other people.
(24:27):
So there's a group of six ofyou.
There was some sickness on thetrip.
You guys were out at wineries,doing dinner, all that.
So, what were the dynamics likeall throughout the week with all
of you guys?
SPEAKER_01 (24:39):
Yeah, well, so it was interesting because on the
first day we were missing one ofour tribe because of sickness.
On the last day, we were missingone of our tribe because of
sickness, but we kind of allebbed and flow.
And what I because we've gone onso many trips, we knew that
there were a few things that weneed to just all be on the same
(25:01):
board about, on the same pageabout, which was I eat like a
bird and they are foodies.
So we had to have a plan of whatwe were gonna do for restaurants
out, meals out.
Right.
I don't know if you heard aboutthis recently, but there was
this group of ladies that theyjust put in a bank account and
everybody put puts in, and thenyou just pay out what you want.
(25:24):
So the foodies of the group,which was four of them, they all
kind of did that.
They paid in a little bit everymonth and they knew they had
this budget that they wanted tostay within.
Then there was two of us thatwere just on our own, and I was
the bird, I was the bird eater.
And then our other friend justdoesn't like to per se share
meals.
Like they want, they want tohave what they want to have, and
(25:46):
they just like you know what Imean?
So our own stuff, yeah.
And then the foodies, they'reall about let's split all kinds
of appetizers and let's tasteeverything kind of like family
meal group, and then let's ordera bunch of desserts.
And you know, I don't do any ofthat, like I I eat, I eat a
little bit and then that's it.
So it was interesting, andnormally I would have said we
(26:09):
should we would have donesplit-wise because that's an
app, it's a free app, and and Iwould encourage anybody that is
going on a group trip to checkthat out.
But because we already kind ofhad a plan in place and because
we already have traveledtogether and they know that
Denise is on her own, but itactually worked out great.
(26:30):
And I did bring, I know youshouldn't probably bring a lot
of cash, but what I did do is Ibrought a lot of cash for like
tips for wineries.
If I like a couple of times,Terry and I went in on a bill
and I would just give her cash,or she would put it, I would put
it on my card and she would giveme cash.
Right.
So it ended up being greatbecause I was able to pay a lot
(26:53):
of my trip, just give cash for alot of what we needed.
Because you are gonna need totip.
I mean, if people go above andbeyond, you you do need to tip
your your people that are givingyou the tastings if you're at
the spa, the people that aredoing that.
So you do want to have some cashon hand to do that, right?
Um, so that's how we work thatout.
Nice, but it's it's good goinginto it knowing that you're
(27:17):
going to do that, you know whatI mean?
SPEAKER_00 (27:18):
Yes, yeah.
No, I absolutely agree.
I mean, like money can alwaysjust kind of be one of those
topics, and it can just beuncomfortable for some people to
make that decision at the dinnertable.
So I'm it's awesome that youguys planned ahead and that you
guys know each other, right?
Like, I know you guys know ourfriends from college, so you've
known each other for a while,but you guys know, like, hey,
we're gonna go and eat at thisbuffet, and those two got it,
(27:40):
and she's good.
SPEAKER_01 (27:41):
But we learned this because there were some
uncomfortable trips where it'slike you owe us, you owe us this
for food.
And I'm like, I didn't eat anyof that food.
I will still give you money, butI didn't eat any of that food.
So we went into it knowing thatwe traveled together, and we
went into it knowing that wewant to make everybody was
allowed to do what they wantedto do.
(28:02):
Like some people hung back atthe house, and then we got up
bright and early, put on oursneakers and headed down because
our Airbnb was walkable todowntown Napa.
Not a lot of stuff was open at7:30, 8 o'clock in the morning.
Very chillax only back in Napa.
Some places opened at nine, someplaces opened at 11.
(28:25):
So some of us went out and didthe walkabout, some of us stayed
back.
And then, like, same with thehot tub.
We had a hot tub in ourbackyard.
Not everybody wanted to get inthe hot tub, and some people
did.
So we just made it very like dowhat you want to do, make it,
you know.
So I think at this far end, 20years plus actually 30 years.
(28:46):
Not that I'm not old.
I mean, we met each other verylong.
Very young.
We were very young when we met,but yeah, just knowing your
tribe really helps going into agroup trip like that.
SPEAKER_02 (29:00):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:01):
Every we wanted it to be what everybody wanted
their bucket list trip to be,and that's what it was.
And it was fabulous.
SPEAKER_00 (29:10):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
So, and I love that youmentioned that, you know, you
guys have been friends for youknow a little bit of time, I
guess we'll say.
And you guys do know each othervery well.
So, and I guess can I ask, howlong have you guys been planning
this?
Like, when did this, you know,Napa trip kind of idea come
about?
SPEAKER_01 (29:28):
I mean, honestly, between 10 to 15 years, we've
been planning this because wewanted to all go together.
And I think this is how lifehappens because life happens.
There was some things wheresomebody got unexpectedly
pregnant, or somebody had youknow, whatever happens, some
(29:52):
somebody lost somebody andcouldn't do it, somebody didn't
have the finances, and we justkept waiting till it was the
perfect time.
Until everybody could be onboard because we didn't want it
to be the five of us.
We always or the four of us.
Like we've done trips where thisperson can't go or this person
can't go.
(30:13):
And it's it's a little it's sad.
But so when we knew that thiswas a bucket list, we're like,
no, everybody has to come.
We have to all be together.
And the stars aligned that 2025was our time to go.
And yeah, I want to say it'sjust magical.
It just really everythingaligned.
(30:33):
Because if I had taken this trip10 years ago, I wouldn't have
known what I know about wine.
I would not be as mature as I amabout being willing to do things
that I are out of my comfortzone.
So I really do feel like this isthe time that it all aligned.
SPEAKER_00 (30:52):
I love that.
I love that.
And that's so awesome andamazing that you guys had that
connection and everything.
You guys, you know, have thatfriendship.
I think that's absolutelywonderful.
So even being on the trip, wasit was there any like college
nostalgia or anything?
I know, I mean, with you guysplanning this for so long, was
there anything like that?
Or did it kind of remind youguys of like when you guys met
(31:15):
or anything?
SPEAKER_01 (31:16):
Anytime we're together, anytime we're
together, we laugh and tee.
And we Nicole's all about thesilly games, or if you had to do
this or you had to do that.
Okay.
But a lot of it was just sittingout and hanging out in the
beautiful Lanai out in the back.
The weather, like I said, wasgorgeous.
But just sitting around andhaving a coffee or having a
(31:39):
mimoso, again, one person can doone thing, one person can do
another.
Yeah.
We don't judge.
As you know, California is alegal zone.
So some people may or may nothave partook in that option.
So it was just that we were justall there together and just yes,
laughing about guys thatsomebody dated, or and being 20
(32:04):
years into a marriage ischallenging.
So just being there for eachother, talking about what's
going on in our marriage, or howI feel about this, or you know,
what your kids are doing, ormaybe you know, it we we talked
about so many things, and it andhaving a support system there
for you like that, even if ittook 10 or 15 years, I would go
(32:28):
back and do it again tomorrowbecause these ladies know.
And we also made a pact to do amonthly Zoom because we're like,
we don't talk to each otherenough.
SPEAKER_00 (32:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (32:39):
And let's make this a priority because our
friendship is a priority.
The support system is a supportsystem.
So, I mean, that just made usrealize that we need each other
more in our lives.
SPEAKER_00 (32:53):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's awesome.
And I love that because, youknow, at any stage in life,
really, you know, it's alwaysgood to have, like you said,
your tribe, your friends, yoursupport system.
You know, I definitely alwaysencourage people.
I'm like, find your people, youknow, find those people in your
life, even if you haven't talkedto them, even if it's, you know,
every so often or once everycouple of months.
So I love that you guys aregonna be connecting in the
(33:14):
future.
I think it's gonna be amazing.
So, with this, you know, we youdid your whole group trip, you
checked off all your bucket listitems, and it sounds like it was
an incredible experience, whichit really was.
We are definitely gonna have togo back and revisit because
there are some things I'm I'm alittle curious about, you know.
I have some questions, butthrough this, what are some
practical tips or tricks?
I know you've mentioned a fewapps and stuff, but we can just
(33:37):
kind of tell our listeners whenthey're traveling with the
group.
SPEAKER_01 (33:40):
Yeah, so I would absolutely recommend splitwise
if you haven't checked out thatapp, if you guys really are all
going into it, kind of beinglike, we're and you might not
have a big group of six like wedid.
I would say making reservationssix months to a year out.
Really six months.
It's not necessarily a year outbecause they won't do it that
(34:00):
far out, but researching whereyou want to go and making those
reservations because, like Darsaid, she couldn't get into the
prisoner wine because it was shedidn't make a reservation.
She knew it was one of thewineries she really liked.
But they're like, I'm sorry, wedon't we can't make room for
you.
Like these people reserved sixmonths ago.
You can't just walk in here.
(34:21):
So just know that it's one ofthose places kind of like
Disney, kind of like thoseplaces.
Like you have to have areservation six months bus out
if you want to be able to getinto the really, really good
places, which I feel like mostof our places were really good.
Sounds like it.
Yeah, the one that I didn'tmention, I'm not gonna mention
(34:43):
because it got good reviews, butit really none of us, we were
all like, and we didn't get goodattention either.
And it was that was the one dayit was sprinkling, and it was an
outside tasting, and they didn'teven put up the umbrella for us,
so we're just like, what's goingon here?
Like, this is a hell no.
SPEAKER_00 (35:03):
Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01 (35:04):
Um, but we don't want to let one bad apple ruin
the batch, you know what I mean?
Yeah, or I should say grape.
A grape.
SPEAKER_00 (35:13):
Yes, there you go.
One bad grape ruin the bottle.
We don't want that to happen,right?
SPEAKER_01 (35:18):
Well, and I will share my one little takeaway
everywhere I go is I always geta Christmas ornament.
So I got this little beauty.
Oh those that are you gonnawatch YouTube, it says Napa
Valley, and it looks like abottle of wine, and I am going
to cricket it and put 2025 onit.
Girls trip.
SPEAKER_00 (35:36):
But that was so cute.
SPEAKER_01 (35:38):
That's always my takeaway because I know some
people, oh, and we also did, Idon't think I have it on, but oh
yes, I do.
We all also got a piece ofjewelry, like a bracelet.
Mine's kind of like a littleblingy, kind of pink wine tone.
Some of us got necklaces and allthat good stuff.
But the most interesting thing Iwill say that I saw on my trek
(36:00):
to downtown Napa was when wewere getting ready to go to
dinner one night.
There was actually a guy with ababy cow walking down Main
Street Napa taking pictures withpeople.
A baby cow.
He was so cute.
That's the oddest thing I saw.
(36:20):
But and I would say September isabsolutely a magical time
because it's not super packed.
I think July and August, Napa ispacked.
SPEAKER_00 (36:29):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (36:30):
September, it's a little is kind of considered
their off season, and we wentlate September.
Yeah, but still, there was stillso much to see.
It wasn't as busy, the weatherwas beautiful.
I would definitely recommend midto late September to go visit
Napa for sure.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (36:50):
Well, good to know, good to know.
And thank you so much.
I love that.
No, I love all the tips andtricks.
Thank you so much for sharingall that.
And yeah, absolutely sounds likeyou guys had an amazing time.
And I'm so glad that you guysgot to go.
I know that you were talkingabout this trip for a while and
leading up to it.
And you guys have, I mean, Ionly heard about it for you know
(37:10):
a few months.
You guys have been waiting forquite some time to take this
trip.
So I think it's amazing that youguys did it and everything.
So yeah, so listeners andeverything.
If you guys are thinking of agirl's trip, planning a group
trip, take some of these tips.
Okay.
Make sure that we plan it out,make sure we know who the
introverts are, who thenon-foodies are.
(37:30):
Okay.
If we have health concerns,just, you know, things happen,
kind of like you said, right?
We grab your emergency, makesure you have, you know, your
allergy medication.
So I don't even like, I can'timagine going from like the East
Coast to the West Coast.
I did it once when I was like15, but that's such a climate
change for some people.
So yeah, always good to beready.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (37:51):
Three-hour time difference for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (37:52):
You get a little jet flagged when that too.
Yeah.
That too.
I always forget about theisland.
I'm like, what time is it?
Wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01 (38:00):
No, the first couple of days it was like hard to
catch up with a family becausetheir day was already done when
we're just starting.
We're like, okay, okay.
They're like, good morning.
SPEAKER_00 (38:10):
They're like, good afternoon.
SPEAKER_01 (38:12):
The first night we got there, literally, we had
8:30 p.m.
dinner reservations on PacificCoast time, which means we got
up at like 4 a.m.
We had gone all day, we had gonethe other side of the country,
and then we didn't have dinnerreservations till 8 p.m., which
meant it was really more like11.
SPEAKER_00 (38:31):
11:30 for you guys.
11:30.
SPEAKER_01 (38:35):
And then we stayed up till 1 p.m.
And so really that was like 3a.m.
our time.
And then we had to get up bylike 7 a.m.
And we were out in Napa.
So it was like it was a thing.
It was, but it was magical.
I would not trade it for theworld, and I would do this trip
again tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00 (38:55):
Awesome.
Awesome.
That is wonderful.
And I love that.
Well, thank you so, so much,Denise, for sharing about your
trip and all your tips andeverything.
And to all the listeners outthere, I'm gonna ask you what
trip is on your bucket list andwho are you gonna take with you?
Okay.
Yeah.
Have someone in mind and adestination.
Go text them and tell them, evenif it's not for the next 10
(39:16):
years, it gives you plenty oftime to plan.
Okay.
Yep.
Take your time, do it right.
Okay.
Make it the best experience youpossibly can.
Okay.
Thank you guys so much forlistening to episode two of
season three.
We are suit case divas withJackie G and Denise D, and we
will see you guys next time.
Bye guys.
Welcome back to 2K Steven's guys.
We are in episode two of seasonthree.
And today we are going to betalking to a very special guest,
my beautiful co-host, Denise D.
Today we are going to be talkingabout some bucket list travel.
Okay, so she had an opportunityto check off a very special item
off her bucket list.
(00:31):
She went on a girl trip withsome college friends down over
to Napa Valley.
So we are so excited to be ableto ask her some questions, get
some details, hear the tea, seewhat wineries were the best, and
just hear some amazing tips andtricks about group travel.
So welcome, welcome in, Denise.
SPEAKER_01 (00:51):
I'm not this is so weird.
I'm not used to beinginterviewed, but I'm here for
it.
So what I will say is yes, thisNAPA trip, and I I have my
mimosa.
This NAPA trip was amazing.
It was a bucket list.
It had been 15 years in themaking with my college best
(01:12):
friends.
So yes, we just got back fromNapa and Sonoma, and I'm still
trying to process the beauty.
Like it's almost like we plannedso long for it, and it happened
that I'm still kind of in likethe whole, oh gosh, this
happened phase.
But I was there for it.
We had a like as classic,nothing goes to schedule.
(01:37):
We all are coming from all over.
We have uh friends coming fromNew York, from Florida, from
Georgia, the three of us inNorth Carolina.
So that made up our sixth.
We flew into San Francisco.
It was a lovely airport, abeautiful.
And then the trip to Napa wentalong.
(01:57):
But what I will say is this iswhy I'm saying nothing goes to
plan.
I won't say who was sick, butone of our friends, right in the
beginning, was sick.
And so we're taking off for afive and a half hour flight from
Charlotte, and you know, theears popping and all that stuff.
But yeah, uh, it was like a headcold, I'm guessing, some kind of
(02:20):
virus or head cold.
And so we were concerned aboutour friend the whole time, and
then we're like, this is notideal timing because you plan
for this trip for so long.
Right.
And then you're like, and thenwho's gonna sleep with her?
That's a big concern, yes.
We all kind of take turns likewhen we first started going on
girls' chest together, it'slike, let's all just draw straws
(02:42):
because it doesn't seem fair topick who's going with the who,
right?
But this many trips in, we hadpeople who haven't really roomed
with each other, so we all kindof plan you get this person, you
get this person, and we all loveeach other, so it doesn't matter
who you get with, but it it wasjust like, I'm glad I didn't
have the sicki.
SPEAKER_00 (03:04):
That's okay, that's okay, that's absolutely fair,
you know, especially when you'retraveling in a group and
everything.
So, I mean, hopefully, did theyget better throughout the trip?
I hope the trip wasn't it.
SPEAKER_01 (03:14):
They absolutely did get better, and we took turns
sleeping on the couch.
And by we, I don't mean thatwe're French, it wasn't me, but
it was some other people in mygroup.
It worked out okay.
And and then towards the end ofthe trip, somebody else got
sick, and they had to have theirown space.
(03:34):
So, on either end, a couple ofthe ladies missed some wineries
and going out to dinner andstuff.
So you have to be flexible whenyou're going into this, you plan
it this long, and then we talkedlike, do you go get a COVID
test?
Do you go get a flu test?
We decided, nope, because we'rehere for it, no matter what.
Right.
There's no, I mean, unless youwant the flu, unless you want
(03:58):
that, then the if you catch itin the first 48 hours, you can
get this medicine.
But they were like, nope, and wewere just very cautious and and
it worked, and we just alllooked out for each other.
We made sure we had theemergency packets that were
giving us immune system foods.
(04:18):
We were taking that and betrying to do that.
Those are great, yeah.
So we were just being cautiousand we're like, we're here for
it.
So whatever happens, happens.
Yeah.
So that's kind of how we dealtwith the sickness part of it.
SPEAKER_00 (04:29):
Awesome.
I mean, I love that because I'llbe honest, if I was taking my
bucket list trip, I would haveto be very, very deathly sick to
make it like not happen.
I would have done the samething.
Like, no, there's there's noneed.
I'm here, it's okay.
SPEAKER_01 (04:42):
Well, and you book these in advance and you don't
really know, you really havesome of them are 24 hours, some
of them are 48 hours, and youdon't know what their
cancellation fee is.
So, I mean, when they didn'tmake it to the winery, they
still paid for it because theycouldn't cancel it in time for
so that is that.
(05:02):
But yes, at the end of the day,it was still amazing, and we and
we did flex around that.
So, but no trip is it it'salways got to be something,
right?
SPEAKER_00 (05:13):
There's always something, always.
But and speaking of, now I knowthat some of your friends might
not have been able to make allof the wineries, but now
obviously Napa is known forthat.
So tell us a little bit aboutthe wineries there.
What were your favorites?
What were some highlights?
SPEAKER_01 (05:28):
Well, it's so hard when we went to plan those, it's
so hard to plan what ones you'reactually gonna go to, and you go
through word of mouth and peoplethat have been in there before
you and stuff like that.
So I will say, kind of breakingit down day by day, our first
whole day was getting therebecause we're all coming from
the east coast to the westcoast, so it takes a hot minute
(05:49):
to get there.
Yeah, but the on the second day,we went to Gloria Ferrer, which
is sparkling, they're known fortheir sparkling wines, and it
was top-notch.
And I will say, if you have afriend that is a part of their
group list, then you kind of getsome inside, extra tastings, all
(06:10):
of that.
So I will say Victor wasamazing.
He's so funny.
He was just telling us, like,really, we learned so much about
where they are, how the grapesare how they make the wine on
the Blanc de Blanc, how theypeel the skins off.
Like it was very educational.
So it's just funny to be gettingschooled in wine while you're
(06:33):
getting tipsy.
SPEAKER_00 (06:34):
Also that's kind of great though, right?
SPEAKER_01 (06:37):
Yeah, why drink?
We could not have asked forbetter weather.
So when we got there, when wearrived, it was 96 degrees, the
hottest day in San Franciscothat they'd had all summer.
But luckily, it it then itdipped by I want to say the next
day the high was maybe 75.
So that's a huge difference.
(06:59):
And that is we had our wraps andit was a little, it was
overcast, and but it was nice.
We had this whole beautifultasting area outside, all
overlooking the the grapevines,and it was just amazing.
The the wine, the spark, it'sall sparkling wine.
So if you like champagne, butyou can't call it champagne
(07:21):
unless it's a certain region ofFrance, so it's sparkling wine,
is what we had, but it wasamazing, and we did buy a couple
to go bottles to bring back to.
We had an Airbnb in downtownNapa, gorgeous, gorgeous,
gorgeous little place, walkingdistance to everywhere, hot tub
in the back.
SPEAKER_00 (07:39):
Guess who found any always, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (07:43):
If you need a if you need a travel eight, but yeah,
it was amazing, so so fun.
So that was our first, that wasour first one, and then we went
to another one, and I'm not evengonna say their name, but it was
like polar opposite, not not ourtaste in wine.
Everything there was beautiful.
(08:04):
There was no winery that we wentto that we're like, this is like
why are we even here?
Like, if you're looking at theview, the rolling hills, it's
way different than NorthCarolina.
We have so much lush greenery,it's very dry out there in
California.
I guess maybe because they don'tget a lot of rain, but it was
very dry, a lot of rocky rollinghills is what we saw, but still
(08:29):
beautiful and still worthseeing, you know, absolutely.
Absolutely.
And then so the next day we hadthe Golden Haven spa, which we
did the mud bath.
All right, so I'm gonna tell youa little something about the mud
bath.
Tell us about this mud bath.
We did the BFF mud bath, andwhat I will say is if you don't
(08:49):
like being naked in front ofpeople, this is probably not
your jam.
And I knew it would be becauseI'm not I'm not a naked person
in front of people.
That's just not my jam.
And so for me, it was a little,it was not a little, it was very
outside my comfort zone.
SPEAKER_00 (09:09):
Let me have a little smidge of a drink here before we
that's okay, and you know, Iwill just take this quick second
to comment like that's okay,right?
If you're not necessarilycomfortable with your friends,
or if you are, right?
It's about what makes you happy,right?
SPEAKER_01 (09:26):
So, and I'm all about lately challenging myself
because this was outside mycomfort zone, but this is
something I'm starting to workon is facing my fears.
And so I couldn't have asked fora better group of gals to do
that with.
They were also supportive, theydefinitely all had were
(09:46):
definitely more okay with beingnaked.
So literally, you get on a pairof disposable little black
panties, and then you get intoyou go into this room and you
get into the mud bath, and itsmells the mud smells.
I'm just telling you that.
SPEAKER_00 (10:04):
Just giving it is it like a sulfur?
SPEAKER_01 (10:07):
Is it like a not like a sulfur, not like rotten
eggs, almost more like manure,like stinky.
I felt a couple I'm not gonnalie, like it's a mud bath, but
it's supposed to be amazing foryour body.
And they did this volcanic facemask that they paint on you, and
that made my skin very tight,and it was beautiful.
(10:30):
Okay, but the experience, soyou're in the mud baths for
about 15-20 minutes, then you gointo a mineral bath again.
But after you get out of the mudbath, you literally have to kind
of roll out of there and thenget into a shower and get naked
with three other girls.
Just saying, I'm just I'm justlaying it out there for you.
SPEAKER_00 (10:48):
A lot of nakedness happening.
SPEAKER_01 (10:49):
There's a lot of nakedness.
You see parts of your friendsthat you wouldn't necessarily
see per se.
And I mean, it is what it is.
And then I chose to wear pantiesand a top into the minerals
being some people went commando,some people did variations of
that, and that's fine.
But and then you go into a andthen you do that for like 15
(11:11):
minutes, and then you go into acool room where then you have to
get you guessed it naked again.
And then you're in thislemongrass scented room with
your friends, listen to ambientmusic, and it smells better.
Better than the yes, absolutely.
It was an expert, it was anexperience.
SPEAKER_00 (11:32):
Okay, yes, that's all I have to say.
Now I know you said like youloved how it made your face
feel.
What about the mud bath on yourbody?
SPEAKER_01 (11:41):
So after I rinsed off, it I my skin did felt feel
good, but when you're in thatmud bath, you really have to
kind of fling the mud up on youto because it's so dense that
you're on top of it.
So you tattoo's out and you'rekind of shimmy and down.
(12:01):
You're just slinging mud around,mud on top of you, and trying to
get a little lower in, and thenthey put the cool compress on
you, and you get the springwater and all that good stuff.
We'll try to put some picturesin there.
SPEAKER_00 (12:15):
Not of not of the tattoos, no nakedness in the
pictures, just no, we're gonnabe we're gonna be PG.
SPEAKER_01 (12:22):
That's for suitcase division.
We'll talk about that anothertime.
SPEAKER_00 (12:26):
Absolutely, of course, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (12:28):
And then we went on to Shramsburg, which was another
sparkling wine place.
Amazing.
They turn over millions ofbottles, and we did the cave
tour.
It was an experience.
I mean, it was an amazingexperience.
We learned so much.
Lisa was so, so, so just thisreally down-to-earth chill.
(12:50):
And she had a northern, she hadI thought she kind of had a
northern accent.
She was really cool.
Anyway, we had a great time atShramsburg.
The amount of actual bottlesthey turn over is astounding.
And when we were in the tastingroom, you could hear the the
workers that she's like, this is40, this is 40 deep, meaning 40
(13:12):
bottles deep in.
And they she's like, We can hearthem because they're that
they're down to unstacking thelast two rows.
This is what's ready now.
So it that was an experienceitself.
And then we were down in a cavehaving this tasting.
Um, and it was just an amazingexperience.
The next day we had we hadreservations at the prisoner
(13:36):
wine.
That was amazing.
So that one came with our ownprivate tasting, and then they
had like a bento box, and theyhad like papaya salad, and then
like Brussels sprouts andsummer.
I guess a vinaigrette.
A vinaigrette.
Then there was like a springroll, and then there was some
kind of tzeka, it was some kindof chicken sandwich, but well,
(13:59):
we'll put a picture in there.
It looked fabulous, it tastedfabulous, and that was amazing.
The good thing about being inthe wine club, our friend Dara
had been there before, and soshe was the one that had the
wine club experiences.
And so, whenever you're in thewine club, they give you all
these extra samples of all theselike really high bottles of
(14:22):
wine, hoping being like, okay,you either want to buy one or
you're gonna join the wine club.
Because some of them you can'teven buy, they're not open to
the public.
They're only you can only buythem if you're in the wine club.
So that's something that's soShramsburg was amazing, Prisoner
was amazing.
Then we went on to DomainCanaros.
(14:43):
That looked like a Spanish, kindof like just a big castle, and
we were overlooking Napa Valley.
It was the most gorgeous views.
I think that was one of myfavorite views.
We were sitting outside, theweather was so gorgeous.
We were sitting outside.
Fast forward the next day, DelDado.
By far my favorite.
(15:04):
Okay.
That one is where they had thisthing called the wine thief.
That it looked kind of phallic.
It's like this big glass.
We we joked we called it deldildo.
But not everybody's supposed tosay that.
I can because you know me.
Anywho, it's this big wine flutethat you dip down into the
barrels to get the tasting, andit's called a wine thief.
(15:27):
So you dip this big glass dildodown into the barrel, and then
you get a sample, and we'reagain down in a cave.
Gorgeous, gorgeous, mostbeautiful.
And Jeff, our our I'm gonna callhim our sommelier because he was
very knowledgeable.
He took us around, and that camewith pizza.
(15:48):
They have an oven pizza, and hetook us to this private room
where we got to sample pizzaafterwards.
So amazing.
It was it was that was by by byfar my first favorite tasting.
And then we went on to Jarvis,and I'll make that one real
quick.
Oh, but at Deldado, don't callit Del Deldo.
SPEAKER_00 (16:08):
It's it's like stuck in my head, and I'm gonna giggle
every time I hear it.
Now it's I'm really gonna haveto unlearn that.
SPEAKER_01 (16:15):
Listen, I have the pen.
I've got the pen.
SPEAKER_00 (16:18):
Jucy Deldotto, Del Dotto.
Hope I spell the name right whenI write it out.
Okay.
Please double check thedescription, guys.
Make sure I spelled it right.
SPEAKER_01 (16:27):
It was so beautiful.
And then we went on to Jarvis.
But what I will say, going backto Deldotto, is when we pulled
up, it's just like this blackiron gate that you're heading up
the mountain.
And we're like, are they closed?
Like, so we get out, we say,hello, we're here for the
reservation, and these big blackgates open up.
SPEAKER_02 (16:50):
It was oh me.
SPEAKER_01 (16:52):
It was like an epic, epic experience.
Nothing like it.
I would definitely, if you go toNapa, you definitely gotta go to
Del Dato and ask for Jeff, JeffCrabtree is actually his last
name.
SPEAKER_00 (17:07):
And make sure to do the wine thief experience.
Okay, that's that's where it'sat, guys.
The wine thief.
SPEAKER_01 (17:12):
And the pizza tasting was very fun too.
And then Jarvis, anothergorgeous, gorgeous.
It's it's definitely more of anupscale vineyard.
You're gonna pay more fortasting, but the grounds were
amazing, the wine was amazing.
Overall, amazing experience.
They say don't fit too many intoa day.
(17:35):
We tried to shoot for two a day,and that I think that was on
point.
It was a lot.
We didn't get a lot of sleep,but we had a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_00 (17:43):
So hey, it's it was a bucketless vacation, right?
So it sounds like you guysdefinitely checked off some
things.
And that's amazing.
So I do want to ask real quick.
I know you'd mentioned aboutjoining the wine clubs with the
different wineries, and with allthe extra tastings and perks,
would you say that that's likesomething you would suggest, or
at least like, hey, if you'reinterested in this, take a look
(18:04):
because it's probably worth it.
SPEAKER_01 (18:06):
Yes, I would say if you're not, if if you have
certain ones that you want to goto, like Gloria Ferrer, Dar was
part of the wine club, and weabsolutely benefited from that.
We got extra tastings.
I mean, some of these are$250bottle of wine that they're just
letting you taste because you'repart of this exclusive club.
(18:29):
Okay.
And we also got some of thebottles were a hundred dollar
bottles of sparkling wine, andwe got it for$50 because they
gave us like a half off deal.
So we brought two of those hometo have in Napa, which we very
much enjoyed.
We had Mimosa's sparkling winein the in the morning the next
day, and it was unbelievable.
(18:51):
It was so good.
So I would say definitely if youlike sparkling wine, I would
become a wine club member beforeyou even go to Gloria Ferrare.
Because you can cancel, you cancancel after like one shipment.
So I mean, even if you sign upfor it, you get the special
benefits.
Another one, the prisoner.
We got so many perks.
(19:13):
Cynthia was amazing.
And her little assistant, I loveher, love her, gave my business
card because she is going to BarHarbor, has been to, I'm gonna
call her Bar Harbor.
She's been there and wants to goback.
So nice.
I'd be happy to help her outwith whatever she wants to see
up in Maine.
But yeah, absolutely.
(19:34):
It was so, so amazing.
It if and I would do Del Dadotoo.
If you're not a wine club memberof that, get in there.
You know, I am you want to bepart of the wine thief
experience for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (19:48):
Yes, yes, that definitely sounds like quite the
experience.
Absolutely.
So through all that, now I dohave a question.
I know you visited quite a fewwineries.
Was there anything that, becauseyou know, I am just a little
nosy, a little curious, and I dolove wine.
Was there anything likeinteresting either about the
tasting process or about themaking of it process that either
(20:10):
stuck out to you?
And actually, I do have aquestion.
One thing I'm always curiousabout, you know, when they taste
the wine and they're sipping inand they spit it out into that
bowl, did you have to do that ordid you actually get to like
drink all of the wine?
SPEAKER_01 (20:23):
So those are all excellent questions, Jackie.
SPEAKER_00 (20:27):
Oh, I know.
SPEAKER_01 (20:28):
I'm sorry, I just kind of dumped it on you a
little bit, but so to go back toit was really, really I was so
impressed with Sranzburg justhow huge their cave was, and how
many and how many sacks of widecave it was.
(20:51):
We're gonna continue.
Let's proceed.
And and Lisa was soknowledgeable, and she actually
showed us the because they havethem all stacked on the side,
and you can see the yeast level,and she shined a light because
it's dark down there, and theyactually have a process where
they lay it on the side and theylet the yeast settle, and then
(21:12):
they have a process where theyactually pull the yeast out, and
then that just has the cork, andthat gives the wine a certain
taste, like their methods andtheir process, and then they
have something a spinnerboardwhere you do it like clockways
this way, and thencounterclockways that way.
And there's a guy that can dolike 400 in a minute, it's
(21:35):
insane.
We didn't get to see him, butthe way he spins bottles, he
just knows how to do it.
He's been doing it for 400bottles in a minute, and that's
like physically the way he spinsup, he just goes down and does
it like that.
I gotta we need a video.
We gotta go back.
(21:55):
I know.
Yes, like, well, listen, if Ineed a reason to go back, you
don't have to ask me twice.
But I mean, just the process ofthe way they talked about
Shramsburg and the multitude ofmillions of bottles that they
turn over.
And so the other thing I learnedis the average wine sits for the
consumers, it's aged about twoto three years.
(22:18):
That's what the average wine is.
Then you start getting intoreserves, those are going to be
aged more like seven to tenyears, and that's why you're
paying more per bottle becausethey've aged and they're worth
more and they taste better.
So that was part of the processis being part of the wine club
was getting to taste some ofthose reserves and getting to
(22:38):
know, like, okay, let's extendyour palate and see can you
taste the difference between theconsumer and the reserves?
And you absolutely can.
But it depends on the weatherand what went into those
bottles.
Every bottle that they make inany of these wineries can all
turn out different.
So you might like a certainblend that's a reserve, or you
(23:03):
might like the two to three yearone, depending on how what went
into that year's development.
So what I learned was the theexpensive bottles don't always
yield the best taste results forme personally, right?
Because, but that's what thesetastings are for.
And I mean, I that's why thewhole process to me is amazing.
(23:24):
And I would love to own awinery.
I mean, if it's in my cards, Iwould love to own a winery one
day.
Yes.
Because I just love the process.
I love everything, the notes.
I love to talk about theweather.
If you're in a valley, and youknow, and I've been to so many
tastings and I've learned somuch throughout my life.
(23:44):
It's just the whole process tome is amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (23:48):
I love that.
I love that.
Well, when you get yourvineyard, you know, I'll be
right there next to you.
SPEAKER_02 (23:54):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (23:54):
Up and out.
And everyone's invited.
Yeah.
And it's tasting.
We're gonna have to get a whatis it?
We're gonna have to get a winethief.
We're gonna have to get a winethief.
SPEAKER_01 (24:01):
Oh, yes, we will have a wine thief in our hands.
SPEAKER_00 (24:04):
Absolutely for the vineyard.
Okay.
So awesome.
Well, thank you so much forsharing about all those wineries
with us and about yourexperience and everything.
So, I mean, that just soundsabsolutely incredible.
Sounds like you guys definitelygot to check off some things on
your bucket list.
Now, just because you know, weare travel agents, we are in the
travel industry, I'm justcurious.
Now, you said you were travelingwith five other people.
(24:27):
So there's a group of six ofyou.
There was some sickness on thetrip.
You guys were out at wineries,doing dinner, all that.
So, what were the dynamics likeall throughout the week with all
of you guys?
SPEAKER_01 (24:39):
Yeah, well, so it was interesting because on the
first day we were missing one ofour tribe because of sickness.
On the last day, we were missingone of our tribe because of
sickness, but we kind of allebbed and flow.
And what I because we've gone onso many trips, we knew that
there were a few things that weneed to just all be on the same
(25:01):
board about, on the same pageabout, which was I eat like a
bird and they are foodies.
So we had to have a plan of whatwe were gonna do for restaurants
out, meals out.
Right.
I don't know if you heard aboutthis recently, but there was
this group of ladies that theyjust put in a bank account and
everybody put puts in, and thenyou just pay out what you want.
(25:24):
So the foodies of the group,which was four of them, they all
kind of did that.
They paid in a little bit everymonth and they knew they had
this budget that they wanted tostay within.
Then there was two of us thatwere just on our own, and I was
the bird, I was the bird eater.
And then our other friend justdoesn't like to per se share
meals.
Like they want, they want tohave what they want to have, and
(25:46):
they just like you know what Imean?
So our own stuff, yeah.
And then the foodies, they'reall about let's split all kinds
of appetizers and let's tasteeverything kind of like family
meal group, and then let's ordera bunch of desserts.
And you know, I don't do any ofthat, like I I eat, I eat a
little bit and then that's it.
So it was interesting, andnormally I would have said we
(26:09):
should we would have donesplit-wise because that's an
app, it's a free app, and and Iwould encourage anybody that is
going on a group trip to checkthat out.
But because we already kind ofhad a plan in place and because
we already have traveledtogether and they know that
Denise is on her own, but itactually worked out great.
(26:30):
And I did bring, I know youshouldn't probably bring a lot
of cash, but what I did do is Ibrought a lot of cash for like
tips for wineries.
If I like a couple of times,Terry and I went in on a bill
and I would just give her cash,or she would put it, I would put
it on my card and she would giveme cash.
Right.
So it ended up being greatbecause I was able to pay a lot
(26:53):
of my trip, just give cash for alot of what we needed.
Because you are gonna need totip.
I mean, if people go above andbeyond, you you do need to tip
your your people that are givingyou the tastings if you're at
the spa, the people that aredoing that.
So you do want to have some cashon hand to do that, right?
Um, so that's how we work thatout.
Nice, but it's it's good goinginto it knowing that you're
(27:17):
going to do that, you know whatI mean?
SPEAKER_00 (27:18):
Yes, yeah.
No, I absolutely agree.
I mean, like money can alwaysjust kind of be one of those
topics, and it can just beuncomfortable for some people to
make that decision at the dinnertable.
So I'm it's awesome that youguys planned ahead and that you
guys know each other, right?
Like, I know you guys know ourfriends from college, so you've
known each other for a while,but you guys know, like, hey,
we're gonna go and eat at thisbuffet, and those two got it,
(27:40):
and she's good.
SPEAKER_01 (27:41):
But we learned this because there were some
uncomfortable trips where it'slike you owe us, you owe us this
for food.
And I'm like, I didn't eat anyof that food.
I will still give you money, butI didn't eat any of that food.
So we went into it knowing thatwe traveled together, and we
went into it knowing that wewant to make everybody was
allowed to do what they wantedto do.
(28:02):
Like some people hung back atthe house, and then we got up
bright and early, put on oursneakers and headed down because
our Airbnb was walkable todowntown Napa.
Not a lot of stuff was open at7:30, 8 o'clock in the morning.
Very chillax only back in Napa.
Some places opened at nine, someplaces opened at 11.
(28:25):
So some of us went out and didthe walkabout, some of us stayed
back.
And then, like, same with thehot tub.
We had a hot tub in ourbackyard.
Not everybody wanted to get inthe hot tub, and some people
did.
So we just made it very like dowhat you want to do, make it,
you know.
So I think at this far end, 20years plus actually 30 years.
(28:46):
Not that I'm not old.
I mean, we met each other verylong.
Very young.
We were very young when we met,but yeah, just knowing your
tribe really helps going into agroup trip like that.
SPEAKER_02 (29:00):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:01):
Every we wanted it to be what everybody wanted
their bucket list trip to be,and that's what it was.
And it was fabulous.
SPEAKER_00 (29:10):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
So, and I love that youmentioned that, you know, you
guys have been friends for youknow a little bit of time, I
guess we'll say.
And you guys do know each othervery well.
So, and I guess can I ask, howlong have you guys been planning
this?
Like, when did this, you know,Napa trip kind of idea come
about?
SPEAKER_01 (29:28):
I mean, honestly, between 10 to 15 years, we've
been planning this because wewanted to all go together.
And I think this is how lifehappens because life happens.
There was some things wheresomebody got unexpectedly
pregnant, or somebody had youknow, whatever happens, some
(29:52):
somebody lost somebody andcouldn't do it, somebody didn't
have the finances, and we justkept waiting till it was the
perfect time.
Until everybody could be onboard because we didn't want it
to be the five of us.
We always or the four of us.
Like we've done trips where thisperson can't go or this person
can't go.
(30:13):
And it's it's a little it's sad.
But so when we knew that thiswas a bucket list, we're like,
no, everybody has to come.
We have to all be together.
And the stars aligned that 2025was our time to go.
And yeah, I want to say it'sjust magical.
It just really everythingaligned.
(30:33):
Because if I had taken this trip10 years ago, I wouldn't have
known what I know about wine.
I would not be as mature as I amabout being willing to do things
that I are out of my comfortzone.
So I really do feel like this isthe time that it all aligned.
SPEAKER_00 (30:52):
I love that.
I love that.
And that's so awesome andamazing that you guys had that
connection and everything.
You guys, you know, have thatfriendship.
I think that's absolutelywonderful.
So even being on the trip, wasit was there any like college
nostalgia or anything?
I know, I mean, with you guysplanning this for so long, was
there anything like that?
Or did it kind of remind youguys of like when you guys met
(31:15):
or anything?
SPEAKER_01 (31:16):
Anytime we're together, anytime we're
together, we laugh and tee.
And we Nicole's all about thesilly games, or if you had to do
this or you had to do that.
Okay.
But a lot of it was just sittingout and hanging out in the
beautiful Lanai out in the back.
The weather, like I said, wasgorgeous.
But just sitting around andhaving a coffee or having a
(31:39):
mimoso, again, one person can doone thing, one person can do
another.
Yeah.
We don't judge.
As you know, California is alegal zone.
So some people may or may nothave partook in that option.
So it was just that we were justall there together and just yes,
laughing about guys thatsomebody dated, or and being 20
(32:04):
years into a marriage ischallenging.
So just being there for eachother, talking about what's
going on in our marriage, or howI feel about this, or you know,
what your kids are doing, ormaybe you know, it we we talked
about so many things, and it andhaving a support system there
for you like that, even if ittook 10 or 15 years, I would go
(32:28):
back and do it again tomorrowbecause these ladies know.
And we also made a pact to do amonthly Zoom because we're like,
we don't talk to each otherenough.
SPEAKER_00 (32:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (32:39):
And let's make this a priority because our
friendship is a priority.
The support system is a supportsystem.
So, I mean, that just made usrealize that we need each other
more in our lives.
SPEAKER_00 (32:53):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's awesome.
And I love that because, youknow, at any stage in life,
really, you know, it's alwaysgood to have, like you said,
your tribe, your friends, yoursupport system.
You know, I definitely alwaysencourage people.
I'm like, find your people, youknow, find those people in your
life, even if you haven't talkedto them, even if it's, you know,
every so often or once everycouple of months.
So I love that you guys aregonna be connecting in the
(33:14):
future.
I think it's gonna be amazing.
So, with this, you know, we youdid your whole group trip, you
checked off all your bucket listitems, and it sounds like it was
an incredible experience, whichit really was.
We are definitely gonna have togo back and revisit because
there are some things I'm I'm alittle curious about, you know.
I have some questions, butthrough this, what are some
practical tips or tricks?
I know you've mentioned a fewapps and stuff, but we can just
(33:37):
kind of tell our listeners whenthey're traveling with the
group.
SPEAKER_01 (33:40):
Yeah, so I would absolutely recommend splitwise
if you haven't checked out thatapp, if you guys really are all
going into it, kind of beinglike, we're and you might not
have a big group of six like wedid.
I would say making reservationssix months to a year out.
Really six months.
It's not necessarily a year outbecause they won't do it that
(34:00):
far out, but researching whereyou want to go and making those
reservations because, like Darsaid, she couldn't get into the
prisoner wine because it was shedidn't make a reservation.
She knew it was one of thewineries she really liked.
But they're like, I'm sorry, wedon't we can't make room for
you.
Like these people reserved sixmonths ago.
You can't just walk in here.
(34:21):
So just know that it's one ofthose places kind of like
Disney, kind of like thoseplaces.
Like you have to have areservation six months bus out
if you want to be able to getinto the really, really good
places, which I feel like mostof our places were really good.
Sounds like it.
Yeah, the one that I didn'tmention, I'm not gonna mention
(34:43):
because it got good reviews, butit really none of us, we were
all like, and we didn't get goodattention either.
And it was that was the one dayit was sprinkling, and it was an
outside tasting, and they didn'teven put up the umbrella for us,
so we're just like, what's goingon here?
Like, this is a hell no.
SPEAKER_00 (35:03):
Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01 (35:04):
Um, but we don't want to let one bad apple ruin
the batch, you know what I mean?
Yeah, or I should say grape.
A grape.
SPEAKER_00 (35:13):
Yes, there you go.
One bad grape ruin the bottle.
We don't want that to happen,right?
SPEAKER_01 (35:18):
Well, and I will share my one little takeaway
everywhere I go is I always geta Christmas ornament.
So I got this little beauty.
Oh those that are you gonnawatch YouTube, it says Napa
Valley, and it looks like abottle of wine, and I am going
to cricket it and put 2025 onit.
Girls trip.
SPEAKER_00 (35:36):
But that was so cute.
SPEAKER_01 (35:38):
That's always my takeaway because I know some
people, oh, and we also did, Idon't think I have it on, but oh
yes, I do.
We all also got a piece ofjewelry, like a bracelet.
Mine's kind of like a littleblingy, kind of pink wine tone.
Some of us got necklaces and allthat good stuff.
But the most interesting thing Iwill say that I saw on my trek
(36:00):
to downtown Napa was when wewere getting ready to go to
dinner one night.
There was actually a guy with ababy cow walking down Main
Street Napa taking pictures withpeople.
A baby cow.
He was so cute.
That's the oddest thing I saw.
(36:20):
But and I would say September isabsolutely a magical time
because it's not super packed.
I think July and August, Napa ispacked.
SPEAKER_00 (36:29):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (36:30):
September, it's a little is kind of considered
their off season, and we wentlate September.
Yeah, but still, there was stillso much to see.
It wasn't as busy, the weatherwas beautiful.
I would definitely recommend midto late September to go visit
Napa for sure.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (36:50):
Well, good to know, good to know.
And thank you so much.
I love that.
No, I love all the tips andtricks.
Thank you so much for sharingall that.
And yeah, absolutely sounds likeyou guys had an amazing time.
And I'm so glad that you guysgot to go.
I know that you were talkingabout this trip for a while and
leading up to it.
And you guys have, I mean, Ionly heard about it for you know
(37:10):
a few months.
You guys have been waiting forquite some time to take this
trip.
So I think it's amazing that youguys did it and everything.
So yeah, so listeners andeverything.
If you guys are thinking of agirl's trip, planning a group
trip, take some of these tips.
Okay.
Make sure that we plan it out,make sure we know who the
introverts are, who thenon-foodies are.
(37:30):
Okay.
If we have health concerns,just, you know, things happen,
kind of like you said, right?
We grab your emergency, makesure you have, you know, your
allergy medication.
So I don't even like, I can'timagine going from like the East
Coast to the West Coast.
I did it once when I was like15, but that's such a climate
change for some people.
So yeah, always good to beready.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (37:51):
Three-hour time difference for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (37:52):
You get a little jet flagged when that too.
Yeah.
That too.
I always forget about theisland.
I'm like, what time is it?
Wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01 (38:00):
No, the first couple of days it was like hard to
catch up with a family becausetheir day was already done when
we're just starting.
We're like, okay, okay.
They're like, good morning.
SPEAKER_00 (38:10):
They're like, good afternoon.
SPEAKER_01 (38:12):
The first night we got there, literally, we had
8:30 p.m.
dinner reservations on PacificCoast time, which means we got
up at like 4 a.m.
We had gone all day, we had gonethe other side of the country,
and then we didn't have dinnerreservations till 8 p.m., which
meant it was really more like11.
SPEAKER_00 (38:31):
11:30 for you guys.
11:30.
SPEAKER_01 (38:35):
And then we stayed up till 1 p.m.
And so really that was like 3a.m.
our time.
And then we had to get up bylike 7 a.m.
And we were out in Napa.
So it was like it was a thing.
It was, but it was magical.
I would not trade it for theworld, and I would do this trip
again tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00 (38:55):
Awesome.
Awesome.
That is wonderful.
And I love that.
Well, thank you so, so much,Denise, for sharing about your
trip and all your tips andeverything.
And to all the listeners outthere, I'm gonna ask you what
trip is on your bucket list andwho are you gonna take with you?
Okay.
Yeah.
Have someone in mind and adestination.
Go text them and tell them, evenif it's not for the next 10
(39:16):
years, it gives you plenty oftime to plan.
Okay.
Yep.
Take your time, do it right.
Okay.
Make it the best experience youpossibly can.
Okay.
Thank you guys so much forlistening to episode two of
season three.
We are suit case divas withJackie G and Denise D, and we
will see you guys next time.
Bye guys.
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