Date Night – Healdsburg

With a pick-up for construction supplies required in Healdsburg between the hours of 6:30-5, the desire to get an early start on the construction at the cabin on Friday morning and the knowledge that we would never make it to Healdsburg before the shop closed on Thursday, I petitioned for a date night and sleep over in Healdsburg this last Thursday night.  My argument was that staying the night would allow for us to get an even earlier start on Friday morning, picking up the supplies once the store opened at 6:30 and getting to the Lake by 9am. In reality, the required pick-up didn’t happen (the supplies weren’t in), having not stopped Thursday night we could have made it to the cabin by 9 that night to definitely guarantee an early Friday start, and after our big night out, our earlier start was not so much…We could have left San Francisco at our normal 6am time and arrived at the cabin at the same time as having left Healdsburg.  So while the rational might not have held, I don’t regret the choice.  We had a great night!

Unwilling to splurge on a $400 a night room on the square, we opted for Motel L&M just a ten minute walk to downtown.  Like all good motels, this one had ample parking out front, a small pool and BBQ area, a small kitchenette and was about the size of Martin’s first apartment in Zurich.  I could have stayed for a week, minimum, and been happy.

We dropped our bags and walked the short walk into town for our out-of-town date night.  I had chosen the restaurant, Bravas De Tapas as our starting point and it kicked things off nicely.  Dinner was enjoyed on their back patio with perfectly selected courses of olives, flat bread, croquettes, watermelon salad, pork cheek sliders, quail, wine and a cheese plate for dessert.   With a slight chill in the air, it was the perfect summer evening (one we don’t get very often In San Francisco).

After dinner we began our walk home and decided to stop at Spoonbar for one last drink. Spoonbar is known for their creative cocktails and use of edible flowers in their drinks….based on the bar supplies, it was pretty obvious.

With the anticipated early morning, we left after one drink and got back to the motel around 11….however as I mentioned before, our hopes of an early morning, were long gone.