What's better than one Amy? TWO Amy's, of course!!! This weekend was my last weekend in California and I had the pleasure of spending it with a great old friend. Some of you may remember Amy Clark (Whitington) from high school...
She lives in Oakland and I hadn't seen her in MANY years. So, as soon as I found out I would be in the area this month, I got in touch with her. We coordinated our schedules and planned a jam-packed weekend. We had such fun!!! First, here is Saturday...
Amy drove South for the day and came to my hotel to run around in the area. First we went to a great restaurant that my boss had recommended. It was called Sonoma Chicken Coop. It was fabulous! We got a yummy Goat Cheese Fondue appetizer that we so cute, I had to take a picture.
Lunch provided us some much needed time to catch up. We have both had major life adjustments since we last saw one another. We laughed, comforted and even choked up a litte. It was a very nice time. After that, we put the tears away, decided we were both so proud of each other and moved on to our next adventure... The Winchester Mystery House.
This house was home to Sarah Winchester who married into the Wichester family that is famous for creating the Winchester rifles and guns. After the early deaths of both her husband and young daughter, she sought the help of a psychic. She convinced Sarah that the spirits of all of those killed by a Winchester gun had placed a curse on her and haunted her. The only way to appease them and keep them happy was to buy a large house for them and revovate it. There had to be work going on constantly- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and no part of the house was ever to be completed. So, Sarah did just that... this house is something you really need to see to truly understand because she was wacko!!!
The tour wasn't as creepy as I expected but architecturally and from a historical homes aspect, it was really neat. Plus, she had her contractors do some of the most nonsensical things. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, which is unfortunate. If you go to the website, you can see some pictures. It began as a small farmhouse and over 38 years of around the clock construction, it grew to 160 rooms and cost her $5.5 million. She had them build secret passage ways, staircases and doors that went nowhere and random windows in the middle of the floor. Also, she only stood at 4' 10" so all of the fixtures were made for her height. She also had very bad arthritis so each stair on each staircase was only about 2" high!!
We were able to take some great pictures on the grounds.
After the tour, we went to do some more female bonding... this included a trip to Starbucks, a cupcake for two and a nail salon!!! I got my nails done while Amy enjoyed a pedicure.
We ended a long day at my hotel room, plotting our plans for Sunday. It would be another full day of fun in The City!
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