Weekend Getaway: Hot Air Balloon + Video Games + Cider + Charlie Brown

Up, Up, and Away! Imagine floating up in the air hovering over lush green vineyards overlooking the Russian River, Windsor Golf Course, and Charles M. Schultz Airport feeling like the world is at your fingertips letting the air take us to where we ought to be.

Zach and I purchased a Groupon for the hot air balloon with Wine Country Balloons before the COVID-19 shelter in place restrictions hit and as soon as the restrictions were lifted, we booked it immediately. There were still strict guidelines such as wearing a mask but we were happy to oblige since we were going to be crammed in a basket floating in the air.

The meetup time was at 6:00 am in Santa Rosa, CA so we decided to come a day early instead of waking up at 4 A.M. to hit the road for a 1.5 hours drive. We’re not exactly morning people but who is at 4 in the morning. We enjoy road trips and exploring a city we’ve never been to before is always an adventure. The hot air balloon was in Sonoma County which is approximately an hour north from San Francisco and it is known as Sonoma Wine Region and home to Dry Creek and Alexander Valley winemakers. The area is very peaceful and the laid back atmosphere made us feel calm and relaxed. We weren’t quite sure which wineries opened up so we decided to skip the guessing game and planned our day with finding vintage games, cider, dining, and checking out the Charles M. Schultz Museum.

Our first stop was at the Classic Games Exchange, a vintage video game store in Rohnert Park, CA.  It was a small space filled with a variety of systems to pick from and games ranging from Atari 2600 to Playstation 4.  The owner was extremely nice and the prices were affordable for the most part. Zach found some cool games and will post it on his findings on Friday Finds section.

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Next, we headed for a cider tasting at the Tilted Shed Ciderworks in Windsor to cool us down in the 100-degree weather. The store was located in an industrial area of Windsor along with other breweries and wine bars in the vicinity. Due to COVID19, we were not allowed to have a cider tasting but we were able to enjoy a glass of cider on the patio. The ciders we had were:

• 2019 Loves Labor – Our foodshed wild ferment of wild blackberries we picked from the thicket at the edge of our farm and wild native elderberries we foraged from near the Russian River. Co-fermented Sebastopol-grown organic dry-farmed Gravensteins. A beautifully brambly bubbly showcasing the bounty of our little slice of heaven in west Sonoma County. Alcohol 8.00%
• 2019 Roxbury Ruckus – According to some experts, Roxbury Russet is the first-named cultivated variety grown and propagated in America, a chance seedling from Roxbury, Massachusetts, first noted around 1617. It grows with reckless abandon 2,000 miles and 4 centuries away from its ancestral home. This blend is 50% organic Roxbury Russet from Murray Ranch, on the eastward-facing slopes of Sonoma Mountain. The remainder of the blend is 50% organic, dry-farmed Greening from Vulture Hill Orchard in the hills outside Sebastopol, above the frost line framed by redwoods. Together, they balance each other out, the honeyed notes of the Roxbury playing off the ruckus of zingy green apple and spice flavors of the Greening. Native yeast fermentation, very minimal sulfites (20 ppm), no filter, or fining. Very limited; only 12 cases produced.
• 2019 Hang In There! – (purchased a couple of cans to take home)  It takes a village to hang in there. Our friend Mike suggested this as a followup to Still Standing in testament to our collective resilience, through pandemic and now righteous protest. 50% Jonathan, 25% Greening, 17% Wickson, 8% Arkansas Black. 100% organic dry-farmed apples grown by the apple wizard of Sebastopol, Vulture Hill Orchard. Fermented with native yeast in a mix of neutral French oak barrel and tank, very minimal sulfites (20 ppm), no fining or filtering. Tasting notes: Dusty orchard floor gusting up with a dry summer breeze in the incandescent sun, baked apples and tart plum and tangerine peel coalesce, how do apples make those flavors?! Punctuated with a long finish of citric astringency, lingering you are not left alone.
• 2018 Still Standing (purchased a couple of cans to take home) – These old orchards of Sonoma County have defied the odds, fire, flood, drought, bulldozers, disregard. Yet every year they grow beautiful apples. Tenacious & gracious, a lesson for us all. A tribute to the old orchards of Sonoma County, and indeed to Sonoma County itself. A blend of the classic heirloom apples of our area: 100% organic dry-farmed Gravenstein, Golden Delicious, Jonathan, Rome, and Newtown Pippin. Alcohol 9.00%

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After enjoying our refreshing ciders, we headed back to the hotel for a short nap as the ciders were quite strong and it made us a little tipsy. It gave us time to let the weather cool down before heading to dinner.  We were craving Italian food and after browsing Yelp for recommendations, we picked Riviera Ristorante for its 4.5 stars rating plus it stayed open until 10 P.M. The restaurant was located in the corner of a strip mall and it looked like a house with a brick-like Tuscany interior. It was warm and cozy with attentive hospitable hosts to make sure we were well taken care of like an Italian family gathering. Zach had the Spaghetti for his entree and a mango panna cotta for dessert where I had the short rib special with polenta and a chocolate mousse for dessert. The food was delicious.

The next day we woke up at 5 A.M. for our hot air balloon ride. It was early but adrenaline kicked in and we were filled with excitement. The meetup spot was at the parking lot of Kaffe Mocha & Grill just 6 minutes south of where we were staying. When we arrived about 15 more people were waiting and signing waiver forms and the hot air balloon basket was in sight. After signing our forms, we went onto the shuttle bus to take us to the launch area which was another 2 miles away.

My heart raced with excitement and joy as the balloons inflated right in front of our eyes from the ground up and expanding up to 55 feet wide and 7 stories high. It was an incredible process to see that such a thing was invented to take people up in the air like birds in the sky. Who would have thought filling a balloon with hot air would make it go up and carry people in a giant basket.

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The museum was a trip to memory lane that rekindled the simple times of our childhood of watching the classic television specials: “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” It also brought back so many memories of flipping through the comics section of the newspaper to read the latest comic strip of the adventures of the Peanuts gang. The characters of Charlie Brown, Lucy van Pelt, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Snoopy, Spike, Linus, and Woodstock will always be ingrained in our hearts.