Planning a holiday

Greetings, friend

N and I are planning an early March getaway. Now that N is back in the clinics, her vacation schedule is dictated well in advance and the 2008-vacation roulette wheel's first stop was the second week of March.

What's shaping up is a haute cuisine tour de force of the West. Some plans are set, but many are yet to be made. I would be grateful for any insight, advice, suggestions, and the like that many of you may have.

Logistically, this is what has taken shape...

• First, we fly to Las Vegas where we'll spend two nights at The Venetian mostly courtesy of credit card points that have been accruing since the Taft Administration.
• Next, we'll fly from Vegas to San Francisco where we anticipate spending two nights, though this is still flexible.
• After some bantering about town, we'll drive up to the Napa and/or Sonoma valleys for a few days of biking, hiking, wine snobbery, and fine food.
• The trip will culminate on our final full day where we'll be treating ourselves to a 4+ hour lunch at Thomas Keller's flagship restaurant in Yountville, The French Laundry.*

Given the above plans, I am open to advice and suggestions on all fronts. I've only ever been to Vegas once (not counting a drive-by when I was 10), and was out and about for all of an aggregate 5 hours. I've never played any casino games, and am woefully unaware of the etiquette. I intend to play a bit of blackjack, but primarily Vegas is tacked on as a food destination.

I haven't been to San Francisco since a college pep-band trip for the NCAA tournament. I have no idea what to do there besides see the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, and Alcatraz. I expect to go eat well.

Neither of us have been to California's wine country, so we're open to all manner of suggestions here. We've had experiences in other parts of the world exploring wine regions by bike and hope to do more of the same here. There are numerous towns in these valleys, so we're trying to settle on a "home base" town. Ideally, we would stay in an inn or B&B. As for other activities in the area, we could possibly mix in a ski day in Tahoe? Possibly track down Willy C for some banter? Hard to say, but we're definitely excited for whatever may transpire. A nice mix of physical activity, relaxation, and wine quaffing should make for a fine holiday.

* Those of you who enjoy the Twitter may remember my ill-fated attempts to secure a reservation (or for that matter, even get through on the phone) at the French Laundry. Well a friend who we first met in Fiji at the peerless Octopus Resort and have since kept in touch with saw my plight on the Twitter feed. He and his wife are in the process of moving out to the bay area and have likewise wanted to experience the restaurant. As it turns out, he has a connection with a guy who now has some form of business relationship with Keller and was able to score us a 4-top during our visit. Hooray for Twitter and hooray for meeting cool people in the Pacific! Should be a killer double date.