It's been said that an alcoholic can't start their day without having a drink. I'm not a lush, but I kicked off Tuesday morning by going to wine country as part of a sightseeing tour.
A shuttle bus arrived at the hostel to take me to Pier 43½ at Fisherman's Wharf, where I transferred to another bus heading to Napa and Sonoma. During the ride over Bay Bridge to Oakland, I thought about the 1989 earthquake and prayed that I wouldn't experience a natural disaster while I was in town. As noisy highways turned into quiet roads, the driver told passengers about Christopher Reeve's death. The news took me by surprise, and I decided that my first drink would be a toast in his memory.
The first stop on the tour was a wine store. I browsed their selection and took part in a tasting, where I developed an immediate liking for sweet wine. Some brands were more expensive than others, as I discovered when I brought four bottles to the cash register and the total came to $60 -- $3 more than the cost of the tour itself. Being the thrifty person that I am, I decided not to buy anything, since I figured I'd buy more wine later on in the day. It was a decision that I'd come to regret.
