Shortly after we moved out west from New York City, a dear college friend, who had been living in San Francisco for several years, organized, through Segway Tours of Sonoma, an intimate group tour of the lovely Sonoma Valley one sunny weekend morning.

After a brief introductory video and an instructional lesson (included within the ticket price), we were off on our two hour tour of the valley atop our Segways — or as they are more formally known, Segway Human Transporters.   Always following our instructor, we rode alongside vineyards through the meandering and peaceful back-roads of Sonoma.

For our tour (I have since learned that tours stop at one of three wineries — Buena Vista, Gundlach Bundschu, or Ravenswood), the final destination was Buena Vista Winery.  Buena Vista is a perfect “first” for any visitor to wine country.  The winery’s history alone makes it a special trip — Buena Vista was founded in 1857 and is California’s oldest premium winery.   Indeed, while the working winery of today is located in Carneros, the original, found just outside of the town of Sonoma, is now a California Historic Landmark.  The bucolic setting is ideal for a picnic, with a few inviting tables set in the shade just beyond the winery’s grand entrance.  And the wine is superb.

As we nibbled on a sampling of fine locally produced cheeses purchased by our instructor and sipped from our glasses of Pinot, New York City seemed worlds away, and we felt wonderfully content (at least in that carefree moment) with our decision to move to California.