When you live in Marin County Napa is an easy and quick getaway place for a relaxing weekend. It’s only a 30 minute drive to the vineyards, wineries and winding roads.

Disclaimer: I am not a wine connoisseur, in fact I rarely drink wine but this weekend I practiced the principle of when in Rome… when in Napa, I drink wine.

The original plan for this weekend was to rent a tandem bicycle and peddle around Napa with our friends.

The rain changed our plans.

Instead we went to our friend’s house, had a glass of wine in front of the fire place and headed to the nearby town of St. Helena for dinner at a|k|a Bistro.  a|k|a Bistro is a hip and fun place with original items on the menu.

Dinner started off with a glass of Marc Murray Ranch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. I approved. As I said in the disclaimer I am not a big wine drinker so I’m not going to be using any of those fluffy terms to describe the wine. I either like it or I don’t.

Our friends told us we HAD to try the Crispy Portabella Fries with Truffle Aioli, so we did. They were SO good. You have GOT to try them too!

I had the pan seared salmon on top of mashed potatoes and autumn vegetables. I LOVE mashed potatoes so pretty much any dish served with mashed potatoes makes me happy. The salmon and the veggies were tasty too.

What I like about a|k|a is that they specialize in farm fresh food.

After dinner we strolled down the street to Cameo Cinema, an old small town theatre owned by solopreneur Cathy Buck. One night it’s a movie theater, another night a concert hall. This night was a concert with classical guitarist named Joe Galambos who was playing a Robert Ruck guitar. (My personal favorite guitars are Wolverton guitars – but I’m biased and that is a story for another day.) The music Joe Galambos played was beautiful and he’s very talented. The theater was also very cool, it has double love seat style theater chairs so you can snuggle up with your honey during the show.

We spent the night at our friend’s house in Napa. The next day we… to be continued.

This is half of the game hen and autumn vegetable dish my friends ordered. They shared.

This is what Celia ordered. I think it was short ribs and fries. The fries were delicious. (I snuck a few.)

It’s another rainy day in the bay. You could do the usual tourist stuff (if you have a good raincoat, umbrella, rain boots and you don’t mind getting cold and wet) or you could find something fun to do inside. The Yerba Buena Gardens has lots of fun indoor activities such as: ice skating,  bowling, restaurants, Zeum (San Francisco’s children’s museum – with lots of hands on art & technology experiences),the historic carousal (built in 1904), the Metreon (entertainment center) including an IMAX theater and much more.

Last night I saw The Who’s Tommy at The Victoria theater in San Francisco. The show was awesome! The quality of the singers, dancers and musicians was top notch. The boy who played 4 year old Tommy was adorable! (But I kept thinking isn’t it past his bedtime?) The sound engineers were incredible.

Tonight is the last night to see Tommy so if you are looking for something fun to do tonight I suggest going to see Tommy! They serve beer and wine at the venue. I had a Belgium White Beer and it was quite tasty.

After the play was over we hung out for a bit and I got to meet one of the actors (I met on Twitter), Alex Rodriquez who is an amazing dancer and singer with a beautiful smile. Alex has so much energy and passion on stage it just makes you smile while watching him. I asked Alex if he’d be interested in being interviewed on Sally Around The Bay and he said yes so we should be hearing from him in the upcoming weeks.  He told me his next project is Rent.

The theater is located in The Mission District. As we were walking back to our car (which by the way we were wishing was  a Mini Cooper because it would have been SO much easier to park) I decided I was hungry so we stopped at the first Taqueria we found open: Los Coyotes Taqueria. I ordered 2 fish tacos ($2.99 each) and think they may be the best fish tacos I’ve ever had in my life! Celia had a baby burrito. We liked how they offered different sizes of burritos. She said it was tasty. The tacos and the burrito hit the spot. If you like Mexican food then the Mission District in San Francisco is the place to go. There are endless Taquerias to try.

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I’m going to the theatre! The Bay Area offers endless entertainment opportunities. If you like the theatre you have come to the right place. If you are looking for a blast from the past, how about seeing the rock music spectacular The Who’s Tommy? Tommy is based on The Who’s acclaimed 1969 concept album, now celebrating it’s 40th anniversary. I’m going to see Tommy in a few weeks and I’m totally excited because I haven’t been to the theatre in quite awhile! Plus, I heard there was a really cute actor named Alex Rodriquez in it that I “just have got to see”!.

Do you remember these songs?
Acid Queen
Pinball Wizard
I Believe In My Own Eyes
I’m Free

This Tony award-winning musical runs October 16-November 7, 2009, at The Victoria Theatre in San Francisco, home of the company’s wildly successful and critically recognized productions of The Rocky Horror Show in 2008, as well as Bat Boy: The Musical in 2005.

For more information about showtimes and the cast visit their Website at www.tommysf.com.

Of course, it would be so much cooler if I were driving to the city to see Tommy in a Mini Cooper!