Relax.Renew.Remember.

For two months I viewed and reviewed a post from Black Vines http://www.blackvines.net advertising their Summer Vines Napa Edition. This event hosted on September 2, 2023, was designed to be an afternoon of rose wine, sangria, and bubbles, black winemakers, and artists. Quite literally I researched various options from flying to driving, to staying only one night to making it a weekend getaway. I shared the information with family and friends secretly hoping that someone would accompany me up north. I even contacted a few of the Fellowship Winners I met during the Wine Writer’s Symposium earlier this year. No one jumped at the chance. If I can be completely honest, I am not sure why I felt the need to recruit a co-pilot for this trip as I have flown internationally multiple times all by myself. Just wanted company, I guess. Up to the night before the event, I did not give up my quest to attend this end of summer bash. But I did resign to the fact that if it was not meant to be, I could totally accept that. I would stay local all weekend and have a good time no matter what.

While at a concert the night before this event, I logged into Instagram, and I am not even really sure why. A post from Black Vines announcing a contest to win a pair of tickets to the Napa event. I followed the directions to enter. I feel like that act was a last wish maybe more like a prayer to be a part of the festivities. I put my phone away and resumed swaying to the soulful music. My entire crew danced the night away! Talk about joy! On our way home, I checked my IG one more time. There in the upper right corner was a notification that I received a DM. Low and behold, a message from Black Vines letting me know that I won. I am the winner. Wait what?! You mean after months of desiring to be in Napa sipping bubbly, the opportunity is handed to me on a proverbial silver platter and for free no less!

I turned to my road doll of 26 years and exclaimed in sheer excitement and incredulity, “Girl, I just won”! It is approximately 11:00 pm on Friday night when I receive the news. My friend asks “So, we are going to Napa tomorrow”? I respond with a shaky “Should we? I say yes, let’s roll”! A few short hours later, we hit the road with blankets, pillows, an ice chest only filled with cool packs and a package of cheddar cheese, and no hotel reservations. We watched the sunrise as we drove 7.5 hours to our destination. Changing our clothes in a Starbucks restroom and finishing our primping a few minutes from the event space in a gas station washroom, we arrived fresh with excitement. Shout out to my friend Michelle for being so willing to spontaneously jump on the road with absolutely no plan.

Good vibes, good wine, good music, good food, and great people paired with a beautiful location left us relaxed and soul-level content. I marveled at the graciousness of God, not only did He answer the desire of my heart, but I received a double blessing. The wine tasting was held at the McClelland House http://www.themcclellandhouse.com, a black owned bed and breakfast in Napa. Ever since I heard of this place, I put it on my bucket list. Now here I am enjoying the porch and the garden while striking up satisfying conversation with a group of attendees. We chatted about everything from where we are from to prayer to our favorite wines. Turns out we were talking to a family, two generations of women who exuded love, togetherness, and joy. Would you believe that end of the afternoon, one of the ladies, the auntie came over to us full of grandmotherly wisdom and asked if she could pray. She put her arms around us and beseeched heaven for our journey, for the perfect hotel, safe travels, and God’s favor. Reminded me of my mom, that felt good. We hugged and thanked her for her kindness as we walked towards the car.

Sure enough, just a short way down the freeway, we found a hotel. It was clean and comfortable, and we slept soundly. The next day we followed our promptings and made our way through Carmel and Big Sur before heading home. Enthralled by the gorgeous California coastline, we wound our way through the curves and cliffs. Off to the right we spot the Big Sur River Inn which seemed like an ideal spot to grab a bite to eat. A cool rhythmic beat greeted us as we made our way down the stairs. Yet another delightful surprise, who knew that there would be a R&B band playing on the patio? We shimmied our shoulders to the music while taking in the beauty of Big Sur. Suddenly a memory came flooding back to me. My sister and I floated down this river on an inner tube about 40 years ago. What a full circle moment! Before leaving the area, we made our way down to the river to take a closer look. A group of ladies stood up and asked if we wanted their chairs. One of them offered to take our photo. We excitedly took them up on their offer. After relaxing in Adirondack chairs and dipping our toes is the refreshing water, we made our way back through California farmland towards home.

What an adventure! A 24-hour whirlwind of a road trip that left us speechless, grateful, and

soul-level satisfied.

Jodi