June 1 has always held a special place in my heart, for that was the day I met Yvonne—my soul mate, life partner, and best friend. We met 17 years ago on a Presidents’ Club trip to sunny St. Thomas and would marry two years later. While our anniversary falls in September, each year passes without taking much time to reflect and celebrate our relationship. After all, early September is when the kids return to school and our chaotic lives once again revolve around soccer and other family activities.
This year, we decided to informally “change” our anniversary date to June 1 and take an extended vacation. We flew out to San Francisco and spent two nights at the Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, before heading down the coast. Upon leaving Sonoma, we took scenic Route 1 down the coast—checking out Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, Pebble Beach and 17-mile Drive. We spent the following two nights at the Ventana Inn in Big Sur—whose General Manager oddly enough spent 10 years living in Bethesda, MD of all places. We couldn’t have been more pleased with the accommodations, and Big Sur is quite spectacular in all respects…the scenery, great hiking, friendly people, and excellent crunch. Our final two nights were spent at the Fairmont in San Francisco. We had a great time walking through Chinatown, North Beach, Russian Hill, and down through Fisherman’s Wharf. It was fun re-connecting with Kevin Simmons—one of our former C&W co-workers who accompanied us to St. Thomas in the early 90’s. Kevin and his wife Sheryl were nice enough to play tour guides one evening. Our meals at the Slanted Door and Nob Hill Café were top shelf.
