What to do a lazy day in Livermore, California? There seem to be two major attractions in this smallish Tri-valley city and those are shopping and wine. The town is famous for one specific thing. Actually, it’s the one thing that made us choose the town as our base. The Livermore Valley American Viticultural Area is one of the oldest wine regions in California. Because of this, the town has many multiple vineyards, both small and large.
Livermore is, of course, famous for more things than just wine. Most none-geeky people have probably never heard about the chemical element with atomic number 116. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was a co-discoverer of the new superheavy elements, the ones with the atomic numbers from 113 to 118. Together with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, element 116 was discovered in experiments conducted between 2000 and 2006. The element has been named Livermorium. You can probably guess from where the name stems.
So there we are, Livermore in three statements: Wine, Nuclear Research, and Outlet Shopping.
Our Lazy Day in Livermore
Our lazy day in Livermore did not include discovering a new chemical element (that would have been something though). Instead, it included a re-visit to the San Francisco Premium Outlets. We had visited this shopping center already on our first day, but there were still a few things we wanted to have a look at. In the end, we didn’t purchase much and were back in time for some Indian food for lunch.
Wine Tasting at Page Mill Winery
One thing we didn’t know and that we should let you know is that many wineries in Livermore close early. Usually, it’s between 4 and 5 pm. In our world that was kind of strange, as most people actually still work at that time.
We arrived at Page Mill Winery at around 4:30 and were greeted with the sign that the winery closes at 4:30. Luckily for us, they had an evening event. In other words, we had the chance to try the wines and enjoy the place after all. There was even some food!
It was actually a Swedish woman and her husband who we met while hiking Mount Royal in Montréal that recommended this winery. It was really a coincidence when she asked us what language we spoke and we got to know that she had moved to the United States a long time ago. We just had to ask where she had moved. You can probably guess the answer and she could barely believe that we were actually heading to Livermore later on in the trip.
So, how was the wine? It is something specific to try local wine at a local winery with the vines growing outside. We will not compare and we have been on very few wine tastings before: the family and friends type of tasting in Balog nad Iplom, Slovakia, the more professional tasting in Cape Town, South Africa and the relaxed tasting in Mountréal, Canada. This was a mix between all three, which of course made it a bit interesting, to say the least. The wines were tasty, though.
More Wine…
Once we go back to the center after the wine tasting we didn’t have much time left before the time we had agreed to meet Stephanie. This is the distant cousin who took us to Yosemite two days before.
Want to read more? Getting in Contact with Distant Relatives Abroad?
This time it was no crazy adventure on the agenda, just some more wine and a lot of talking. It’s still nice when you are able to meet new people and are able to connect, which is something we usually struggle with when in Sweden. This American openness would show itself over and over again on this trip.
We will continue our trip, read more about our adventure in North America here >>
