Bottlerock Weekend Part 1...

Earlier this year I heard of this music festival up in Napa Valley called Bottlerock.  This is a 3 day music, food and wine festival.  HOW AM I JUST HEARING OF THIS!?  It's like 3 of my favorite things!  Anywhoo - I started looking into it, started pricing it out, and decided - I turn 40 this year.  This is it.  This is what I'm going to get myself for my birthday. So I splurged and got the VIP Skydeck ticket.  My lovely friends Terri and Taylor joined me in this adventure.  We got our tix, booked the Napa Condo and were set.  I've been excited ever since!!!  Below is a little taste of a truly epic weekend!

Thursday - 4:30am - we roll out.  Sailed through LA and landed in Solvang for breakfast and to pick up some pastries for the weekend.  I'm liking this new tradition.

We stopped at the Solvang Restaurant which is one of the few open as early as we got there, and also well known their Aebleskivers.  We had a super friendly waitress and a lovely brekkie to get us through the rest of the trip.  Terri did have a sausage spooge mishap - yes - just as hilarious as it sounds.  I ordered myself the Danish Pancakes!  So yummy!!!

We sailed up the 101 and with only a touch of traffic from an accident we made it up no problem.  We got to the Condo too early to check in so we headed down to OxBow Market in downtown.  One of my favorite stops in Napa.  We grabbed ourselves some lunch at Casa Taco and of course some wine and I felt instantly at ease and right at home.

Jami in Napa = Happy

Giant but delicious

Back to the condo to check in and get settled.  This time around we were in one of the very front units.  This was perfect for this weekend since we were just doing the festival but, for a relaxing vacay you'll want to request the ones in the back.  Way more peaceful.  Taylor surprised us with little gift bags for my birthday and a sign that we hung up in the condo!!  So sweet of him!!! 

Thank you Taylor!!!!

Notice my water bottle...

Terri picked up some pretty flowers for the condo and our little towel dog was happy

Chilling before the epic-ness

We cleaned up and headed over to Ninebark in downtown for our fancy dinner.  Terri wanted to treat me as a thank you and boy was it a treat!!!!  It's a bit pricy but it's super rad!  It's in an old building and is three stories high.  The bottom is the bar, middle restaurant, right next to the open kitchen, and on top is a patio.  It was super cool to see the kitchen from where we sat. I felt like we were watching one of those chef shows.  This place has 2 Michelin Stars!  There was a slight air of arrogance, but I figure that's what you would expect at a place like this.  The food was to die for!!!!

Best Cod I have ever had

Yummy Mandolins with custard, jelly and some grassy sauce.

Loved the little flowers!

After dinner we strolled a bit of Downtown then back to the condo.  I took a little mini walk by myself to revisit the pretty river that runs along side the condos.

Missing Libby!

That evening began the set time negotiations.  Taylor got introduced to the beginning of festival traditions!

The paper towel is cleaning up our already wine spills...he he he!

Day 1 of the festival has arrived!!!  I was up way earlier than I would have liked but a bit of coffee and the excitement kicked in.  I got really into the festival fashion this year so I posted pics of each outfit each day!  Some more coffee, some Solvang pastries and some bubbly to get the day started!

Outfit Day 1

I decided to do a "family" portrait each morning before we left.  So happy I did!

Day 1 Family Shot

We were only a mile walk from the venue  - which was AWESOME! - So no worries about driving/parking at all.  The walk was a bit dicey - no shoulder at times but super cool and of course (aside from the random roadkill) gorgeous because it's Napa!

One of the things we did that worked out to be perfect and I want to keep in mind always - get there early on the 1st day.  We were able to see everything, do the silly stuff they had, see the art, really check out the VIP areas, etc.  After Friday morning it was packed and Sat/Sun you aren't going to want to get there early.  So here's some shots of the morning:

There's our SkyDeck

This was the VIP tent if you opted for that.  We got access to this as well!

Rad tent in the VIP area

I want my house to have a patio like this

Little accents everywhere. Not sure if those pillows made it through the weekend!

These water stations were all over. You could bring in an empty water bottle and fill up.  So cool and so organized and thank you Bottlerock for not charging us for water!!

The little birds on the Love Sign

We got temporary metallic tattoos!

Now you know what a huge foodie I am - so you'll be seeing all my food posts.  And let me tell you - EVERY DAMN THING WAS DELICIOUS!!!!!  First up were pork sandwiches!

 I of course was still hungry after that so I opted for a gourmet hot dog next!

During our wandering of the early part of the festival we came across the Spritzr Silent Disco.  You put on the headphones and everyone is listening to the same tracks that the DJ is spinning but no one on the outside hears.  So you just see these folks dancing in silence.  So rad.  We had our fun for sure!!!

Silent Disco Dancin!

The Silent Disco DJ

So as I mentioned earlier - we bought the VIP Skydeck.  This included our own deck and unlimited wine/beer/cocktails.  The only bummer was the free booze was only in the Skydeck so if we were on the other side of the venue and wanted a drink you either bought one or hiked it back.  But lemme tell ya - so worth the price!  Once the crowds rolled in, as you'll see below, being above all that was awesome.  The Skydeck hosts were super cool and accommodating.  The Skydeck was also over the mainstage.  There were 3 other stages that we had VIP Viewing areas for.  Here's some shots before it got crazy.

One of the only times they were empty!

We so fancy!

The 1st band we checked out was Kaleo.  He was great!  Very Black Keys-esk.  Super sexy deep voice that didn't fit with the young pup he was!  I'd love to check him out again sometime in a smaller venue.

Next up was Andy Grammer.  Loved him!  He was so happy!  Smiling the whole time and put on a really great show.

After this we headed over to the Culinary Stage.  This is where they were having chefs and random folks (actors, musicians, etc) do little cooking shows!  We watched the Cheech & Chong one for a bit.  Hilariously rad.

After this was one of my favorite I was looking forward too - Michael Franti & Spearhead.  He was so good!!!!  He's so happy and positive and uber grateful.  So down to earth and put on such a killer show.  I loved every second and danced my heart out!

He had everyone make mini circles and dance!

He came out into the crowd.  Can you spot him?

Franti gets everyone into the spirit!

After this I found I was getting hungry again, so The T's stayed at Skydeck but I headed back over and got myself a Braised Short Rib Sandwich.  DAMN.

Getting back to Skydeck was a nightmare - this again is where I appreciated paying a bit extra for VIP.  Although we did find a VIP walkway the next day.  DOH!  Anywhoo - back to Skydeck for Lenny Kravitz.  Now this was a tough one because I had to give up Buddy Guy to see Lenny.  One of the heartbreaking things about music festivals is sometimes you can't hit all the ones you want to see.  But I've seen Buddy 3 times and never Lenny so Lenny won out and I was not disappointed.  He had some sound issues but other than that he rocked it!  So great!  He truly is a performer.

This is also about the time I was blown away by the crowds.  I believe Bottlerock topped at 40K but the view we had was pretty mind blowing.  Last up for this day was Stevie fucking Wonder!  That's right - I got to see a legend!!!!  His show was fantastic.  He did get a little weird...started doing some tributes but on some DJ thing and it got a bit long but he grabbed the crowd back with Superstitious and all was right with the world.  It was truly epic watching this man perform.  He's grateful, he's glorious, he's an icon.  The crowd was as epic and it was such a moment in my life I'll never forget.  There are some artists that you know you are in the presence of greatness when they perform and this was one of them.  So damn amazing.  I was brought to tears a few times.  I'm so thrilled I got to see him perform in my lifetime!

Playing with the Panoramic Setting.  Rad Right?!

That's Steve Wonder right there!!!!

The walk back was a bit scary, but we got these free little blinky red bracelets that I'm sure helped us not get run over.  Day 1 in the books.  Epic night.

Part 2 coming...