From The Archives :: Beat the Heat in Sonoma

[trip style = wine tasting + weekend getaway + sun] {more pics below}

{Editor's Note: This month's From The Archives, originally published July 16, 2010, explores ducking from an air conditioned tasting room to an air conditioned car to taste wine in the heat of summer. Normally, temperate travelers from temperate climates avoid the sauna-like conditions that plague many of California's hot spots during the hottest months of the year, but I learned a few cool tips and tricks that took my Sonoma wine tasting experience from Barefoot to Opus One caliber.}

Sipping on an icy lime and cucumber-infused water, I realize it’s already 6:45pm. Having just returned from a full day of wine tasting, I am lounging poolside catching the tail-end of the Sonoma sun.

Although temperatures in the Napa Valley can reach 40 degrees Celsius during the summer, it is still worth braving the heat to visit the USA’s most famous wine region. With a few minor adjustments to packing and planning, us mild-mannered Pacific Northwest dwellers can beat---even embrace---the heat in Napa.

Because Napa is inland, the temperatures are a little more extreme than Vancouver’s. While the sometimes intense midday heat makes you wish you were sipping an ice-cold mojito surrounded with spritzers by the pool’s edge, the mornings and evenings provide a cool retreat.

Embracing morning’s milder temperatures allows you to counterbalance wine tasting and start the day by walking to a local café for breakfast, hiking to perfect picture-taking vistas or biking on Sonoma’s back roads to wineries like Ravenswood, Sebastiani and Gundlach Bundschu. Save the wine tasting for the afternoon when you can sip chardonnay to your heart’s content in an air conditioned tasting room. Once you hear the next winery calling your name, dash for the car and amp the air conditioning until you find shelter from the heat at the next vineyard! Although this sounds like a bit of a process, you have to love a region where rain isn’t even part of the locals’ summer vocabulary.

If you want to see more than just a tasting room, many wineries offer tours of their production facilities and vines. Being indoors, the production portion of tours is cool, yet walking through the pinot or zinfandel vines is a little more toasty. If you can stand the oven-like conditions for an instant and want to get up close and personal with the grapes, most wineries offer umbrellas while some of the bigger players have roofed, open-air vehicles.

Depending on your affinity and tolerance for wine, after a few sequential tastings, you may want a cool, pool break. The poolside scene from 5–7pm offers less crowds and soothing, milder rays. And if you’ve been tasting cabernets all day, it’s nice to have a late siesta before another glass at dinner.

One night I abandoned my 5-7pm poolside rule and went out for dinner at 6.45pm. I made the mistake of dining outside and later realized why I got parking right in front of the restaurant in high season. Surrounded by calming water features, grapevines and the allure of open-air dining, sadly, I couldn’t enjoy my dinner on the patio because the heat was still intense. Case in point, I’d been at the pool the night before until 7pm.

The next night I strapped on my party shoes and went out at 8pm. Being a glutton for punishment, I risked sitting outside. The risk paid off. Dining alfresco at the right time was a perfect finish to an excellent day in wine country. Oddly, that night I didn’t even want wine with my gastronomic indulgences.

Sonoma Travel Tips Stay – The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa or El Dorado Hotel. Eat – The Girl and the Fig and El Dorado Kitchen. Do – Consider navigating to wineries near your hotel by bike. Most major hotels rent bikes to guests for $25 per day. As of this time last year, guests of Fairmont properties in the USA {and Canada} can now use on-site BMW bikes for free. Sonoma's back roads may be off the beaten track, but the wineries are worth a visit. Hint – Whether biking or driving to wineries, if traveling in a pair, share tastings so you can winery-hop without indulging in too much nectar.

Sonoma Pictures {Grape Vines.}

{Biking to wineries in Sonoma.}

{Grapes at Beringer Winery, the oldest continuously operating winery in Napa Valley.}

{The courtyard at my favourite winery in Napa: Michel Schlumberger.}

{Wine barrels being aged and stored.}

Related Content Wine Touring 101

Off The Beaten Track :: Lodges & Cabins

[trip style = beach + glamping + budget + luxury]

This month we're doing a four-part feature on need-to-know Pacific Northwest destinations, resorts and lodges that sit in the shadow of bigger, fancier or legacy destinations.

Last week the spotlight was on Bellevue, the oft-forgotten and woodsy suburb where Microsofters mingle and shoppers spend, as an alternative to Seattle. This week we're escaping busy streets and crowded highways in search of lodges and cabins where sipping steaming coffee in a lakeside Adirondack chair and evening fireside chats are a detox for the soul.

The Alders Running barefoot along the sun-dried grass from beach to cabin {and back again} for a grape popsicle or nacho-flavored chips was my main commute. Roasting marshmallows for a little too long---to the point of incurring a small campfire on the end of my stick---was my big night out. The daily commute and hot smoky evenings took place at the Alders, a family-friendly summer escape near Campbell River on Vancouver Island. I spent close to every summer at this collection of vintage, wood-framed, beach-side cabins growing up. I remember retro stoves, orange and green geographic print curtains and beds with a slight canoe effect. To me, it was perfect. With no TVs or phones---though these days that doesn't mean much with portable e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g---this place is all about the sandbar, campfire songs and cozy cabins. Cost: From $1,160/week in the summer. Prices drop in shoulder season.

Sakinaw Lake Lodge After a 40-minute ferry ride from Vancouver, plus a 50-minute drive through artsy beach-front towns, you've arrived at the part salt, part fresh water lake. From the outside, Sakinaw Lake Lodge resembles any other other renovated cabin on the lake, but upon closer inspection, it's more more catered to and current than most weekend summer-use cabins. After a glass of wine is handed to you at pick-up, you stay in one of two lakefront suites {or rent the whole lodge} that give secluded relaxation a new meaning. There's even a luxury canvas tent for those of you who like to glamp! Cost: From $229/night during summer.

King Pacific Lodge Anywhere that calls Princess Royal Island and The Great Bear Rainforest home must be a remote eco-feast for the eyes. When you glide into this luxury wilderness resort on British Columbia's North Coast via float plane---the only way to arrive---you realize why it's an all-inclusive fit for royalty, pairing fishing and whale watching with epicurean indulgences and fine wines. Beware, this curated, multi-award winning, once-in-a-lifetime---or yearly, depending on how you roll---experience can only be had between June and September. By now, I'm sure you can guess the price. Cost: From $4,750 per person for a 3-night stay.

Bonus Selection: Skoki Lodge Even though this week's Off the Beaten Path feature is focused on lodges and cabins around the Pacific Northwest, I'd be remiss not to mention Skoki Lodge near Lake Louise, Alberta, where Will and Kate spent a night away from the eyes of the world on their royal tour of Canada. Rather than bring their entourage to a swanky lodge, they opted for a removed and understated retreat with no electricity or running water, originally built in 1930. PS. I hear the pair asked for at least one modern world luxury: running water. {Fair enough.} Cost: Summer rates from $169 - $263 per person.

[photos by Geoff & Ana-Maria, Sakinaw Lake Lodge, King Pacific Lodge, Parks Canada]

Tanning Is Out

[trip style = sun]

{Editor's Note: In addition to the below tanning tips, also see my interview about playing it safe in the sun with The Canadian Cancer Society! What an honour to collaborate with such a worthy cause!}

I travel to a lot of sunny places {though there are still a bazillion destinations I'd like to see}, but I'm far from a bronzed miracle and proud of it. Here's an excerpt of questions I'm often asked when I come home from the tropics: Friend: Weren't you just in Hawaii? Me: Yes. Friend: Where's your tan? Me: It's muted, I wear A LOT of sunscreen.

The Canadian Cancer Society and I have been recently chatting about sun safety, and when I heard about the Tanning Is Out campaign, I wanted to support the plea to raise awareness about the dangers of sun exposure and tanning bed use, given my passion for sun protection and obsession with hats and sunscreen.

A Speech I remember doing a speech about sun safety in grade 4. Looking back, it is always something I've been interested in, but it wasn't until I was 25---and about to leave for my honeymoon in Jamaica---I started taking it really seriously. I cringe when I think about my early Trip Styling days in university, spending my 'reading breaks' in Honolulu. I would hit the tanning bed pre-trip, spend 8 hours of the day on the beach sans sunscreen, and rationalize that my almost florescent red burn would turn into a tan... My teenage and 20-something self should have taken my grade 4 self's basic instructions...

One Fine Day One event that forced me to get serious about sun protection was the discovery of Melasma on my face---a skin disorder where sun exposure causes symmetrical dark marks on the skin. Luckily, the larger, freckle-like splotches fade with creams, but the best way to manage it is with highly limited and strategic sun exposure {see more below}---a sometimes tricky task for an outdoor-loving and sun-seeking Trip Styler.

Opportunity & Responsibility With opportunity comes responsibility. Whether it's spending time outside enjoying The West Coast's glorious summer weather, jetting off to a sun-drenched island or even skiing at the top of Blackcomb {we can't forget about sun protection in winter}, I don't take the opportunity to be under nature's heat lamp lightly. I try to enjoy it responsibly using the following precautions:

• Face - Apply broad spectrum protection 30spf in winter/70spf in summer, or anytime I'm in a literal hotspot.
• Body - Apply a minimum of 30spf sunscreen before and at regular intervals during sun exposure.
• Hat - I keep one with me at all times---in my purse, the car, and in my suitcases---and don it when I run, or am out and about. I just purchased a hat with an 8" brim to wear when I'm in the desert or tropics. It is very chic, aside from the fact that it's the size of a child's umbrella!
• Time - Yes, I spend time in the sun, and LOVE relaxing by the pool or beach, or out on the water, but I do so wearing 30 - 50spf sunscreen and often spend the peak hours {11am - 4pm} sipping umbrella drinks in the shade.

I used to be embarrassed about my white face, but now it makes me happy knowing I'm following dermatologists and beauty experts' MOST IMPORTANT anti-aging rule: wear sunscreen daily {even if it's cloudy}. And if I'm feeling really pale, there's always bronzer, self-tanner, a spray tan or creams with a light shimmer to the rescue!

PS - if you like musicals, check out this entertaining 3-minute Tanning is out video. Also find more information on the Tanning is Out campaign on its website and Facebook group. {Including their logo, conceived by heather, our travel fashion contributor.}

{photo by @nate_fri, taken of 70 spf-adorned @tripstyler wearing a hat, cover-up and sunglasses on Wilson Island in Australia}

Summer 2011 Travel Gadgets [1/2]

{Editor's Note: This summer we're transitioning from Travel App Tuesday to Tech Tuesday. We're looking forward to continuing to talk travel apps, as well as other travel tech!}

Musical Beach Towel trip style = staycation Who needs headphones when you can hook your iPod or Mp3 player up to your towel and pump your summer tunes? A beach towel and music player with waterproof, built-in speakers in one. Just don't drop it in the pool. Powered by rechargeable batteries, the musical towel comes with a headrest that turns into a backpack, to carry the contraption. *Currently only available in Europe. If you must have it now, buy it from Amazon UK for $116 usd. That's a fancy towel!

Get Paid Back Easily On A Group Trip trip style = various {anything that involves a group} This product brings the future to the present. Plug the tiny square credit card reader into your iPhone or Android device to swipe and process payments from anyone carrying plastic money. This little gadget is particularly helpful for group travel when the need to keep a running tally of who-owes-who-what always seems to be a reality. Save your restaurant server the grief of running 12 credit cards and sort it out afterwards. Plus, pay your friends back with your {travel} credit card, and get the points too! *Note, currently this product is only available in the US, but it's likely to come to Canada shortly.

iPhone Beer Bottle Opener trip style = various Only the beer-loving Aussies would think of this! The iPhone 4 just got a new, rugged case complete with a bottle opener. Created by two early thirties guys from Melbourne who developed the prototype, and then took to the world wide web to raise the funds to make the product a reality. All they wanted was an easier way to open bottles with something they always carry with them, now they have it, plus the first 100 units shipping this summer, er well, their winter! *Available for pre-order at $39.95 {Australian Dollars} here.

Stay tuned for more Summer 2011 Travel Gadgets next Tuesday!

PS - since we're on the topic of opening beer, why not wine too? Except, there's not gadget required, just something you wear every day. Here's how to open a wine bottle with your shoe! [Video - in french, but self-explanatory]

[photos of products, graphic by @tripstyler]

Jetset Jingles :: Summer Staycation

[trip style = staycation]

Endless sunshine, juicy watermelon dribbling down your face, a bathing suit to replace your business suit and a ghetto blaster---everything you need for the ideal summer day outside. July and August are the perfect months to create your own trip style = staycation, when leaving town isn't an option. Whether you’re at the beach, lakeside, on a boat, or even in your own backyard, a staycation is an inexpensive and fun way to enjoy lazy days outdoors.

Along with your imagination and some sunscreen, you can't hit the beach or pool without the ultimate playlist. Playing Frisbee at the park, chasing an ice cream truck down the street, cruising the city on your bike, or sipping an ice cold drink on a patio---whatever your summer staycation of choice may be---the music below will put a smile on your face and get you pumped for some fun in the sun.

Happy Listening.

Song List 1. School's Out - Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits 2. Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams 3. Summertime (Single Edit) - The Very Best of D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince 4. Teenage Dream (Deluxe Edition) - Katy Perry 5. Moves Like Jagger (from The Voice) [feat. Christina Aguilera] - Maroon 5 6. Something Good Can Work - Two Door Cinema Club 7. Holiday - Vampire Weekend (Bonus Track Version) 8. Sun Is Shining (Fire House Club Mix) - Bob Marley 9. Smile - Lily Allen 10. Viva la Vida - Coldplay

Playlist

More Jetset Jingles Camping Tunes Aussi Songs Best of Coachella Turbulence Calm

{Jetset Jingles publishes once monthly and is mixed and mastered by Nicole, amateur DJ by night and movie maven by day.}

[Photo by Arrr!]