Well folks, it’s been an exciting couple of weeks since I’ve blogged.

After spending the 4^th of July in San Diego (our wonderful off-season home), my wife and I headed up to Napa Valley for a great weekend. Not only did we have a friend get married up there but we also celebrated our 5^th wedding anniversary. If you ever make the trip to Napa, there are some amazing wineries that you have to visit. Without question, my two favorites were Duckhorn Vineyards and Miner Family Vineyards. The wine at Duckhorn is amazing and the people there treated us so kindly. Dave Miner at the Miner Family Vineyards taught us so much about wine and also made sure we had a great time. I highly recommend visiting these two places on your next trip to Napa.

After Napa, my wife and I headed to Lake Tahoe, CA for the annual American Century Celebrity Golf tournament. Basically, it’s a three day tournament with about 60 celebrities and it’s an absolute blast. Every year I play in it and my younger brother comes as my caddy to help me adjust my game throughout the day. We played at Edgewood and the weather was perfect golf weather – sunny with a nice breeze coming in off the lake.

On the first day, I golfed with Dale Jarrett and Emmitt Smith. It was a fun group to start the tournament as they both had valuable advice that can help me down the road. A couple years ago, I was the starter for the Meijer 300 race at the Kentucky Speedway and I made it known to Dale just how much I respected what he did. Those NASCAR guys drive so fast and I give them all the credit that they get. Emmitt shared some great stories about his time in the NFL and his life now as a commentator. Despite not playing the best golf of my life, I had a great time.

After I golfed, I went to dinner at a restaurant called 19 on the 19^th floor of Harvey’s. Unexpectedly, the food was amazing. I think everyone at our table was satisfied. If you get the chance to eat there you’ll be pleased with the dinner menu but you have to save room for dessert and you have to get the doughnuts. They were remarkable. Regardless, they bring you cotton candy with your check which I thought was pretty cool.

The second day, I golfed with Joe Buck and Dan Quayle. Joe Buck is perhaps one of my favorite people. He had so many great stories about his life in sports and was just a great, great guy to get to know. He also made the prediction that Josh Hamilton was going to “go off” in the homerun derby and, in case you didn’t see it, he absolutely did. I also thought it was cool that I got to play with a former Vice President of the United States. It’s not everyday that you get to say that.

My final day, I golfed with Ben Roethelisberger and Aaron Rodgers. As you can imagine, there was a lot of friendly competition between the three of us. I’m proud to report that, even though I didn’t beat them for the overall tournament, I did beat them when we were all in the same group. We had a blast and I’m looking forward to catching back up with those guys this season.

That’s it for now. We’re about to wrap up our off-season and I’ll be reporting to camp soon. It seems like just yesterday we were finishing the season. It’s been great to have some time off but I’m ready to get back with my teammates and start preparing for the season. I hope all is well wherever you are and, until next time, take care.

Let me know - what are your favorite places to visit in Napa?

Carson Palmer

Carson Palmer is the Quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals.