In early December, after my last holiday portrait session, I was able to take some time off and was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel with my husband to San Francisco for a long weekend. Of course, with San Fran being one of the most picturesque cities in the world, I excitedly packed my camera bag and was almost giddy with anticipation of the incredible shots I would get.

And then the rain started.....

We landed in some pretty dense fog -- which is not unusual for the area so my spirits were not dampened ... yet.

By the time we got to our hotel, which was the fabulous Palace Hotel in downtwon San Francisco, it was downright pouring. And it didn't let up for four days.

Sooooo, needless to say, my dreams of a photo tour of San Diego did not materialize. However, somehow the Golden Gate Bridge manages to stand magestic and very photogenic even in low-lying thick fog and rain. I ran from the car trying to protect my gear and snapped these two shots quickly as my husband and I made our way to Napa on the third day of our trip.

While these are not the photographs I envisioned -- you know, the ones of the bridge rising through fluffy white clouds, or the close-up of an old streetcar glistening in the California sunshine -- they are still kind of neat and show the unique qualities of this beautiful area of our country (this one was shot out the window of our car as the rain continued to fall).

We had decided to spend a night in Napa Valley and, being big fans of good wine, we were very much looking forward to some great wine tours. Of course, being from Atlanta, I had no idea which wineries to choose to visit in the limited time we had or where to stay. Based on some great recommendations from a very well-informed friend at Best Brands (a wine and liquor distributor), we made reservations at this beautiful, quaint bed and breakfast located in Napa. This cozy, romantic Inn had large, beautifully decorated rooms with whirlpool tubs and fireplaces -- the works for a romantic weekend. The thing that sold me though was the four-course gourmet breakfast they served in the morning. WOW!

After a very restful night and with our bellies full from the fabulous French-inspired breakfast served at the Inn, we headed to our first wine tour appointment at the famous Robert Mondavi Winery. Our friends at Best Brands had set up a private tour of the Robert Modavi Reserve Cellar and we were greeted by a very knowledgeable, friendly tour guide who carefully explained the process and art of making fine wines.

Look at all of the barrels filled with wine! This was in the cellar where the wine was carefully aging in neatly lined up barrels. We were taken to a private room where several bottles of special reserve red wines and a plate of dried fruits, cheeses, crackers and breads had been laid out just for us. We considered just camping out there for the rest of the day!

But we had another wine tour scheduled and decided we had to find a place to get some more substantial food to absorb all the wine, so we reluctantly left Robert Modavi and headed straight for the popular Oakville Grocery and Deli. There, we found an incredible deli counter and store stocked with every imagineable food one could pair with good wine. I was also happy to see that they had a coffee bar where I ordered a hot latte to chase the chill from the wet, cold weather.

We ate our lunch in our car while we drove slowly toward our next destination, enjoying the beautiful view along the way. Despite the rain and fog, and the late season the dormant grape fields were nonetheless gorgeous, impressive and very picturesque.

This shot was taken as we pulled up to our appointment at The Hendry Ranch Winery -- a family-owned "boutique" winery with a small but impressive operation located in Napa Valley.

We enjoyed our tour of the Hendry Winery very much. While quite different from Mondavi in both the philosophy and the process of wine-making, Hendry's operation was impressive and the wines were fantastic. My husband and I typically stick to reds but we tasted a few whites during our tour and tasting at Hendry and had to admit that we liked them very much.

This shot, taken of the Hendry grape vines is my favorite shot of the trip.

As we wrapped up at Hendry, the sun was already setting and we had to head back to San Francisco to spend one last night in the city. While our Napa trip was short, it was packed with quality experiences. We had spent way too much money purchasing some of the fantastic wines we had tasted but as we drove back through the Valley heading for town, the setting sun made its first appearance through the trees and I thought how memorable this quick trip had been I didn't care about the money. I knew that each time we would open a bottle we we would recall the trip and the wines would just taste that much better.