Everything Mother’s Day

Mom is coming for Mother’s Day, so I need to find things we’ll both enjoy.

The Rose Wine Bar and Bottle Shop in South Park (619-281-0718) will be offering a mother-daughter flower-crown workshop on May 7, 10 a.m.–noon. Guests will be provided with flowers and instruction on how to make crowns. They also receive a flower-crown supply kit so they can make crowns at home. Bubbly will be provided, along with treats to eat. Tickets are $105 per person. But if you’d rather arrange flowers than wear them, you can sign up for mother-daughter Wine Tasting and Flower Arranging 101 on May 7, 2–4 p.m. You get flowers, a pair of flower shears, and a vase, plus instructions on arranging, and you get to take your arrangement home. Refreshments include seasonally inspired mimosas, a coffee bar, and treats to eat. Tickets are $150.

Keeping with the art-and-wine theme: Pamo Valley Winery’s tasting room in Ramona (760-271-3090) will be hosting a Create Your Own Bottle Lamp class on May 13 at noon. Bottles will be decorated with fabric designs and rhinestones, and guests will be shown how to apply gold leaf to the corks. The lamps are lit by an LED light and make a nightlight for the bathroom or bedroom. Cost is $40 and includes a glass of proprietor/winemaker Jennifer J. Lane’s wine.

Of course, if Mom feels like she’d rather have a beer, San Diego is more than ready to oblige. We could hit the San Diego Golf and Craft Beer Festival at St. Mark’s Golf Club in San Marcos (760-621-0917) on May 12–13, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. We could stroll the links and sip suds from Stone, Ballast Point, Mother Earth, Karl Strauss, and others. Tickets are $20 for drinkers (eight tasters), $15 for non-drinkers including young (under-age) golfers, and includes a round of golf, a golf clinic, golf ball giveaways, a one-year subscription to Golf Digest, and an opportunity to test high-end golf clubs like Callaway’s new Epic Driver.

I’d make sure we did the beer festival on the 12th so we could have 1–6 p.m. on the 13th for the Paella Wine & Beer Festival at the Embarcadero Marina South Park. Because there will be unlimited tasting of that Spanish riot of saffron-infused rice, meat, shellfish, and vegetables. More than 20 chefs will be in attendance, competing for the title of best paella in the Cali-Baja Region, best-looking paella, and people’s choice paella. Spanish and Mexican music will fill the air as we fill our bellies. Tickets at the door are $90, but if you get them ahead of time, they’re $45, $40 for non-drinkers, and $125 for VIPs who require unlimited tapas and drinks. The rest of us will get three samples of sangria, wine, beer, or spirits from the local producers in attendance.

The morning of the 14th, we can get up late and mosey up the coast to the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort in Carlsbad (760-448-1234) for their Mother’s Day brunch and high tea. The brunch buffet is open 10 a.m.–2:30 p.m. The price is $95 for adults, $35 for kids 6–12. The high tea runs 12:30 p.m.–2 p.m., costs $45, and includes traditional tea service, a variety of mini sandwiches, and dessert. Reservations recommended.

And from there, we could cruise to the Mother’s Day celebration at the Flower Fields in Carlsbad. Antique tractor rides will be available ($5 for adults, $3 for kids 3–10), or we could just stroll the 53 acres of multicolored ranunculus. Rancho Buena Vista High School’s Ballet Folklorico will be performing onstage, and we can make our own mixed bouquet to take home. Tickets are $14, $7 for kids 3–10.

Or we could sweeten the deal by adding chocolate to the garden scene: the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas (760-436-3036) will host their famous Chocolate Festival on May 13th from 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Vendors such as Mother Tucker’s Toffee, Nibble Chocolate, and Yummy Cupcakes will provide a variety of chocolate confections, and there will be tastings, demonstrations, and the obligatory chocolate fountain. Tasting tickets are $1 apiece; vendor items range from $1–$3. Admission for adults is $14; seniors and military, $10; kids 3–12, $8.