Our first day of the honeymoon saw the introduction of our trip-long theme of eating only at breweries. We started at Bear Republic Brewery in Healdsburg. All the locals on the restaurant patio and passing by outside seemed to know each other, which made me believe we’d discovered the fabled Small Town America. (This conviction of mine would prove to be another running theme of the trip.) But in retrospect I think maybe we’d just discovered a lot of barflies.

Beer wife still life #1.

The brewery was across the way from the Hand Fan Museum. This is a real thing, and exactly what it sounds like. It’s nice to see that even the powers of hot-flashin’ menopause can be used for good, if by “good” you mean “provid[ing] educational and cultural enrichment to the public by utilizing the hand fan as a vehicle for teaching history, art and geography.” And I think that’s usually what I mean by good.

See? You thought I was making this up.

Afterwards, we went on to a fancy B&B in Mendocino, where we enjoyed a deer-infested field, ocean views, a nearby beach, a whirlpool tub for two and a battered VHS of Independence Day from the complimentary video library. You know, that’s a really good film. And by “good,” I mean that it provides educational and cultural enrichment to the public by utilizing the hand fan as a vehicle for teaching history, art and geography.

You know what happens when you poke something with a stick? It gets poked!

Also, Gene carried me over the threshhold into our room. I know you’re supposed to do this on the wedding night, but jeez, who has the energy?

The next morning saw another trip theme introduced: eating way more breakfast than we meant to, because it was gourmet and free.

You can see more photos of our Mendocino leg here.

Next up: our first night camping!