Valentine’s Day is a lot like New Year’s Eve for me. Even if you have a significant other, there are too many expectations wrapped around it. Now, I’m not saying that you should necessarily wave goodbye to your partner and head out with the girls, but if you do find yourself in Southern California and single and/or bonding with your urban family over the weekend, I have a couple of suggestions for how you could spend your time.
Agua Dulce Winery
First, they have a llama and other animals on the back of their property. I am not kidding about this. This fact alone makes this place a fairly cool spot to visit. I was there for a tasting after wandering through on a day trip (which you can read about here), and I quite enjoyed the wines. I think my favorite was the Sierra Roja — which I accidentally sampled twice. It was a mistake I quite enjoyed. There’s romantic stuff going on there on the 14th, but on the 15th they have a wine blending course that seems like a pretty good Galentine’s Day option to me. It runs from 2pm to 4pm, and you get to learn all about blends– and then you get to blend it, cork it and label your creation. If I didn’t already have plans, I would be there, so blend one for me!
The Melting Pot
I did a piece on OpenTable’s list of the “Top 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in America” and The Melting Pot was on it. I’m sure it can lend the right ambiance to a date, but ladies this is a fondue place. This means melting cheese and chocolate. If you’re on a first date there, you might be tempted to be dainty and refined. With your girlfriends, you can just dive into that goodness. We will absolutely respect that kind of choice. They have 10 locations in California (they are actually a national restaurant), so there is no excuse for not being a little (or a lot) decadent.
Go-Karts in Murrieta
I know, you think I’m crazy, but think about it. You can’t legally speed down the streets of Los Angeles even if a miracle occurred and you found yourself without bumper-to-bumper traffic. But Murrieta has more than one spot to indulge your speed demons. At last, you have driving freedom! Plus, it’s really close to Temecula. You know what is in Temecula? Wine — a lot of wine. Also, really good olive oil. But mostly more wine. You see where I’m heading with this, don’t you?
Sure, I could have given you a ton of suggestions involving hiking, museums, or beaches. Instead, I thought: I hate this diet, so I want to live vicariously through others. I mean, yes, I want you guys to enjoy the next few days regardless of your relationship status on Facebook, but also that first thing.