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Livermore Valley
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I traveled with my husband to
Livermore, California from Wilmette, lllinois to see the
Livermore Shakespeare Company's performance of
Mid-summer's Night
Dream. It is true that knowing someone (my grandaughter) in the cast could influence my opinion just a bit but even accounting for that, it was a wonderful performance. In arranging our trip, my husband and I decided to take advantage of the "manager's special" at
Hawthorn Suites
Livermore Wine Country, Livermore, California. This is the first year that a package of this kind has been offered but we certainly hope that it won't be the last. The package increased our enjoyment of the play, itself, and provided extra features that made our stay a wonderful get away.
From the website: As the sun sets on your picnic in the vineyard, you will enjoy a magical perfomance of either
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream or
Chekov's The Seagull at
Livermore Shakespeare Festival, outdoors at the lush
Concannon Vineyard. This package includes everything you need to have the perfect wine country experience. Get away - stay and play with us!
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The Hawthorn Suites Hotel
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What is included in this package?
# One night stay in a king or double queen studio suite at
Hawthorn Suites Livermore Wine Country
# 2 tickets to a
Livermore Shakespeare Festival performance of
A Midsummer
Night's Dream or
The Seagull – please visit their website at www.livermoreshakes.org for specific performance dates. All performances are held at 7:30 pm at
Concannon Vineyard
# One picnic dinner for 2
# One bottle of
Concannon wine
# A complimentary wine tasting card for 2 people, for participating wineries
# Downtown
Guest Pass with discounts to participating businesses
# Complimentary full hot buffet breakfast
# Access to the indoor whirlpool, outdoor heated pool, and fitness center
# Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night at $189 + tax
Taking advantage of the opportunities included in the package, it became clear that there was a high level of cooperation among the package contributors and I asked
Catherine Cheda about how this package came into being. She said that she and
Lisa Tromovich had been discussing this possibility for a few years but that:
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Many choices of Concannon wine
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“In these tough economic times, everyone in
Livermore has been willing to work together, thinking outside the box, to help drive revenue. This means that we are all working hard to promote
Livermore and it’s beautiful wineries and exceptional arts.
Lisa Tromovich and
Linda Milanese of the
Livermore Shakespeare Festival were a real driving force in coordinating all of the package components with
Catherine Cheda at the
Hawthorn Suites Livermore Wine Country hotel. The three of them have created a true
Livermore experience with the
Shakespeare Wine Getaway package.”
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White Crane sells its excellent wines to local restaurants
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We completely enjoyed all the offerings. We have previously enjoyed time at the Hawthorne Suites, and especially enjoy the breakfast, the exercise facility and the business center. However, we thought this
Manager’s Special was well…special. We were presented with a cute basket that was filled with the
Concannon wine we chose and instructions for ordering our picnic and a pass for 2 at local wineries. Our play tickets were at “will call”. The wine we chose was Cabernet Sauvignon and we enjoyed it so much we purchased an additional bottle as a hostess gift. The picnic dinner was from
Uncle Yu’s and was a delicious Chinese treat. We thought our choice of
Midsummer Night's Dream was a delightful production. A few years ago we had the opportunity of seeing an authentic Shakespearean Troup perform this play in Cardiff, Wales on the grounds of Cardiff Castle. The
Midsummer Night’s Dream in
Livermore was really well done in contrast, held its own. Bottom (Matt Ballin) and Pucke (James Hiser) were especially captivating. The dancers made an important contribution in wonderful costumes. Costuming and staging were effective and the cast was strong. Being able to hear every word was very enjoyable. The weather cooperated and it was a great evening.
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Tasting at Steven Kent
Winery
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The world-class wines of
Livermore Valley Wine country are a hidden treasure. Our passes allowed us to explore several wineries with the two of us admitted without charge. Of course, we frequently were just compelled to purchase something. We didn’t have to, but some items were irresistible. One day we were only able to visit two wineries;
White Crane which claims to be Northern California's best kept secret and
Steven Kent Winery, an artisanal producer of world class Cabernet from the
Livermore Valley. We enjoyed the wines very much. Some were truly outstanding. The wines are generally available locally and via wine clubs and sadly, not in the Chicagoland area.
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Tasting at LaRochelle
Winery
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We were really thrilled that the pass was good for a week because we had activities on several days following the play. However, just before leaving the area it was possible to visit one more winery-
La Rochelle. This winery is named for the town in France where the vineyard owners originated. We were so glad we could do this because it was unusual and fun. White tablecloths, plates and substantial nibbles characterized this experience. It was lovely and crowded and we were so pleased to include this before heading home.
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Taking a bow at the Concannon stage
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This package is just a terrific offering and we hope it continues and also that it continues to support the
Livermore Shakespeare Festival.
Hawthorn Suites Livermore Wine Country
1700 N, Livermore Avenue, Livermore
925.606.6060
www.hotellivermore.com
Concannon- www.ConcannonVineyard.com
White Crane Winery-925.455.8085, www.whitecranewinery.com
Steven Kent Winery-925.243.6440, stevenkent.com
La Rochelle-925.243.6442.www.LRwine.com
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