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California Architecture, Food and Wine Caravan
N-2022-Q
Start Date: June 12, 2022 (estimate) Start Location: Forrestville, CA
Stop Date: July 7, 2022 (estimate) Stop Location: San Dimas, CA
Total Number of Nights: 25
Number of Stops: 7
Maximum RV Units/with Leaders: 10
Kitty Fee w/2: $5,000.00
Kitty Fee w/1: $4,000.00
Guest: $1,800.00
Deposit Amount: $500.00
Dates of Payment:
1. $2,500.00 6/15/2021
2. $2,000.00 1/15/2022
Cancellation Fee: $100.00
Leaders discretion after 1/1/2022
You’ve seen all the spectacular scenery of California, from the deserts to the mountains, from the redwoods to the sea. Now get ready for a different side of California!
We will visit many of the different wine countries of California – Sonoma County, Paso Robles, and Santa Ynez, camping among the vineyard and experiencing various tasting venues, many of which are not open to the public. We will visit many fine examples of architecture by renowned architects such as Richard Neutra, Frank Lloyd Wright, Lloyd Wright, Lim Chang, and Pierre Koenig. At every stop we will visit famous and unique dining establishments (some fancy, some not…), and we will have free times for you to explore California’s finest on your own.
The caravan will be strictly limited to 10 Airstreams, because we can’t just march 40 people into these small, mostly private tasting rooms, nor can we bring too many people into some of these private homes. Most, if not all, wineries will offer the opportunity to purchase wine, either for consumption on this caravan or for you to ship home, and we assume that you will… Along the way we hope we will all become fast friends and share our love of Architecture, Food, and Wine.
We will begin our caravan in The Russian River Valley, one of Sonoma County’s premier wine growing regions, moving to Petaluma after a few days. We will visit at least four wineries (including a winery owner’s dining room), and dine at fine restaurants in and around the quaint town of Healdsburg. (No stale boxed lunches on this caravan!) We will explore the Point Reyes Seashore, a rare undisturbed part of the coast. We’ll see the famous Marin County Civic Center, one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s last projects. We will also have free time for those who chose to dine at even greater gourmet restaurants such as French Laundry, Bouchon, or Chez Panisse.
We then head south, stopping along the way to see houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. We will visit Paso Robles, where we will dry camp in a vineyard, and experience this unique wine region. We will visit the Kundert Medical Clinic (Frank Lloyd Wright) in San Luis Obispo. Next, we traverse to the Central Valley of California, where we will visit one Frank Lloyd House and two Richard Neutra houses in Bakersfield. For an historic note, we will dine at the last original Woolworth’s Luncheon Counter.
From Bakersfield we will head back towards the coast, where we will again dry camp in a vineyard outside the town of Los Olivos. Here we will enjoy many exclusive wine tastings, including one on the winery owner’s back porch; we’ll dine on famous Santa Maria BBQ, and have the opportunity to visit two 19th century stage coach stops.
Finally, we will travel south to Southern California, staying in San Dimas, just east of Los Angeles, located a short distance to a light rail station. We will spend several days in and around Los Angeles, visiting many other modern and not-so-modern architectural sites. We will visit one of the California’s oldest wineries, and we will enjoy wine tasting in a winery owner’s back yard of her 1920s Spanish Revival home. We will do a walking tour of historic downtown Los Angeles, and we will stop for cocktails on the 71st floor of the highest restaurant in LA.
The Wayfarer’s Chapel (Lloyd Wright), Hollyhock House (Frank Lloyd Wright) (with a special guest docent leading the way), the Chang Residence (Lim Chang) in Pasadena, and the Stahl House (Pierre Koenig) (also known as Case Study House #22) round out our tour. We will have a free day to explore SoCal’s beaches, mountains, and deserts
We will use public transportation and private vans while in the city so that we will not have to drive through Los Angeles on our own. Our final banquet will be in a 19th century building that has been a restaurant, in some form or another, since the gold rush days.
If you enjoy fine wine, fine food, and world-class architecture, this caravan is for you. It is a little more expensive than the usual caravan; this is because of the small size and because of the fine dining we will be enjoying. If you are a beer and hot dog type of person, this caravan is probably not for you.
Come join us if you love wine, food, and architecture!