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Old Aug 1st, 2006 | 04:45 PM
  #1  
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Napa / Sonoma Itinerary - R5???

Well, we leave in less than 2 weeks.... cannot wait! I am in need of a little (more) assistance with our itinerary, and also just to let you know, we are travelling with myself and my husband, our two small children, our babysitter, and my husband's parents. We have all (with exception of children and babysitter) been to SF and Carmel/Marin area multiple times so that won't be part of this trip.

here goes:

Day 1 - Saturday
Arrive from Boston into SFO at 2:22. Drive to Calistoga. Staying at a house for the week. Here is a link to the place, looks so nice, can't wait to see it in person:
http://great-places.smugmug.com/gallery/257858
That evening lay low, go to bed early (will be on east coast time), with exception of buying food for a couple of days worth of snacks/meals.

Day 2 - Sunday
No plans for this day, exploration of the area. My husband and I have been out there, in-laws have not. Possibly visit farmer's market in Windsor (for more provisioning - is Windsor a cute town?? it was the only place that had a Sunday farmer's market, at least that I could find on google), and possbibly visit sonoma. Possibly visit a winery or two?? not sure which ones. Enjoyed the lavender gardens at Matanzas Creek, also enjoyed Gary Farrell wines, and Sonoma Cutrer but open to new possibilities if anyone can recommend smaller, interesting wineries/wines. Would love to know of a nice picnicing area for lunch and will then cook dinner at the house that evening.

Day 3 - Monday

Kids will stay behind, adults will go to Copia for looking around at exhibits and for lunch at Julia's Kitchen (apparently a birthday celebration luncheon in honor of Julia - a five course lunch with wine pairings... sounds pretty nice). While down in Napa, would be nice to tour a winery or two... razzledazzle, you mentioned in another post that Robert Sinskey was a nice spot, do you think this would work going from Copia? any others down that way that would be worthwhile?

Back late afternoon. swim and hang out with kids. cook dinner at home.

Day 4 - Tuesday

Wine touring with Eclectic Tours (read someone's post here on fodors that they were good). Haven't heard from him yet where we will be going, but asked to go to smaller wineries, with good wine at moderate prices that can not be found in stores on the east coast - we'll see what this results in. Not sure how long touring will last, will likely involve lunch in a restaurant or else a picnic (kids will be left behind again, but not to worry, they LOVE our babysitter, and also love to swim, so it won't be a problem at all).

Lay low at home that evening.

Day 5 - Wednesday

Golf in the morning at Napa Valley CC. I will stay behind with the kids. Will likely meet up for a group lunch / picnic somewhere.

Will go out for dinner this evening, but haven't made any reservations yet. Any suggestions? maybe something closer to Calistoga?

Day 6 - Thursday

Heading over to Healdsburg for the day. Poke around shops. Due at a family friends house for swimming and lunch at 11 am.

Afterwards would like to go to the Sonoma County Museum for the Artistry in Wood exhibition (which we saw last time we were in Santa Rosa and loved)... could also go to the museum on Sunday, but it is closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Back to the house - dinner at home.

Day 7 - Friday

Day trip to the coast... here is where I am SO lost. Reviewed other itineraries and saw recommendations of various routes, but as I don't know the area, it is so confusing. When we were on the west coast for our honeymoon, I remember walking along a beach where the mountains met the ocean, and there were all sorts of little caves formed out of the rock... it was absolutely breathtaking... am hoping to find this sort of thing, but not sure where to go for that or if it would take too long to drive this far in a day, as we are due back in the evening for a dinner reservation at Auberge du Soleil (last evening of the trip). Any suggestions of towns / points of interest to visit for coastal trips? Would there be a winery or two we might pass along the way that would be worthwhile to stop into?

Day 8 - Saturday

Return to Boston on a 1:15 pm flight.


---------
the wineries we visited last time we were there that we really enjoyed were:
plumpjack,
rombauer,
sonoma cutrer
matanzas creek,
pine ridge,
darioush,
gary farrell

we'd go back to any of these, but if anyone is like minded and has some suggestions, fire away!!!

thanks!
mamadadapaige is offline  
Old Aug 1st, 2006 | 05:12 PM
  #2  
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one other question: has anyone ever been to Hanzell? We had their wine recently at a restaurant in NYC... wow!! I went on their website and their tours are quite pricey -just curious if anyone knows if it is worth it. thanks!
mamadadapaige is offline  
Old Aug 1st, 2006 | 06:07 PM
  #3  
 
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Hello, mdp ! My comments are in
blue


Day 1 - Saturday
Arrive from Boston into SFO at 2:22. Drive to Calistoga. Staying at a house for the week. Here is a link to the place, looks so nice, can't wait to see it in person:
http://great-places.smugmug.com/gallery/257858
That evening lay low, go to bed early (will be on east coast time), with exception of buying food for a couple of days worth of snacks/meals.

House looks wonderful ! How are you planning to drive up to Calistoga
from SFO ? I will spot you some grocery stores along your chosen route if you like. Calistoga has a decent enough market if you want to wait.


Day 2 - Sunday
No plans for this day, exploration of the area. My husband and I have been out there, in-laws have not. Possibly visit farmer's market in Windsor (for more provisioning - is Windsor a cute town?? it was the only place that had a Sunday farmer's market, at least that I could find on google), and possbibly visit sonoma. Possibly visit a winery or two?? not sure which ones. Enjoyed the lavender gardens at Matanzas Creek, also enjoyed Gary Farrell wines, and Sonoma Cutrer but open to new possibilities if anyone can recommend smaller, interesting wineries/wines. Would love to know of a nice picnicing area for lunch and will then cook dinner at the house that evening.
Windsor's cute-in a new cute
redevelopment of town square kinda way.
You could picnic in Santa Rosa at Spring Lake. Let the kids bring their swimmsuits or continue your trek down Hwy 12 via the Valley of the Moon
& Kenwood and head over to Jack London State Park for a picnic. This would be a good time to visit Benzinger Winery-kids would like tram tour. Then you could prowl around Sonoma plaza.
After Sonoma town, on your way over to Napa county, you might check out
Nicholson Ranch winery and Artesa.

Backing up a bit, as you are making multiple trips over
Petrified Forest/ Mark West Springs Road you will keep passing Safari West
www.safariwest.com
I don't know how you could pass this up-the kids and YOU will enjoy it.


Day 3 - Monday

Kids will stay behind, adults will go to Copia for looking around at exhibits and for lunch at Julia's Kitchen (apparently a birthday celebration luncheon in honor of Julia - a five course lunch with wine pairings... sounds pretty nice). While down in Napa, would be nice to tour a winery or two... razzledazzle, you mentioned in another post that Robert Sinskey was a nice spot, do you think this would work going from Copia? any others down that way that would be worthwhile?

After Copia just get yourselves
on the Silverado Trail and head toward Calistoga. So many, so many....
Cliff Lede
Jarvis (needs appointment, very cool)
Sinskey
Quintessa
Silver Oak
Dutch Henry
Frank Family
Ywomey
Schramsberg (if anyone like bubbly)

Back late afternoon. swim and hang out with kids. cook dinner at home.

Day 4 - Tuesday

Wine touring with Eclectic Tours (read someone's post here on fodors that they were good). Haven't heard from him yet where we will be going, but asked to go to smaller wineries, with good wine at moderate prices that can not be found in stores on the east coast - we'll see what this results in. Not sure how long touring will last, will likely involve lunch in a restaurant or else a picnic (kids will be left behind again, but not to worry, they LOVE our babysitter, and also love to swim, so it won't be a problem at all).

Lay low at home that evening.

Day 5 - Wednesday

Golf in the morning at Napa Valley CC. I will stay behind with the kids. Will likely meet up for a group lunch / picnic somewhere.

Will go out for dinner this evening, but haven't made any reservations yet. Any suggestions? maybe something closer to Calistoga?
Sit outside at the Calistoga Inn
next to the creek if it's warm enough


Day 6 - Thursday

Heading over to Healdsburg for the day. Poke around shops. Due at a family friends house for swimming and lunch at 11 am.

Afterwards would like to go to the Sonoma County Museum for the Artistry in Wood exhibition (which we saw last time we were in Santa Rosa and loved)... could also go to the museum on Sunday, but it is closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Back to the house - dinner at home.

Day 7 - Friday

Day trip to the coast... here is where I am SO lost. Reviewed other itineraries and saw recommendations of various routes, but as I don't know the area, it is so confusing. When we were on the west coast for our honeymoon, I remember walking along a beach where the mountains met the ocean, and there were all sorts of little caves formed out of the rock... it was absolutely breathtaking... am hoping to find this sort of thing, but not sure where to go for that or if it would take too long to drive this far in a day, as we are due back in the evening for a dinner reservation at Auberge du Soleil (last evening of the trip). Any suggestions of towns / points of interest to visit for coastal trips? Would there be a winery or two we might pass along the way that would be worthwhile to stop into?

Hmmmm..maybe you should do your coast trip on Sunday-no need to rush
home for dinner rezzies. Then maybe do Safari West this day ?

It's a pretty straight shot over to coast on Guerneville Road from Hwy 101
-I'm Happy to give you specifics if you give me your start and time.


Day 8 - Saturday

Return to Boston on a 1:15 pm flight.


R5
razzledazzle is offline  
Old Aug 1st, 2006 | 06:10 PM
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In my list that would be Twomey


While you are here, find a decent wine shop and grab some Joel Gott !

R5
razzledazzle is offline  
Old Aug 1st, 2006 | 06:41 PM
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One more thing: there are fabulous restaurants around here, I (and others I'm sure) can give you quite a list!

R5
razzledazzle is offline  
Old Aug 1st, 2006 | 07:08 PM
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The accomodations look awesome. I'm envious and would like to know more about the home. I'm assuming it's a rental?
cindysue is offline  
Old Aug 1st, 2006 | 08:04 PM
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I second the Schramsberg and Twomey recs. They are right next to each other, Twomey makes really great reds (expensive to buy, only $5 to taste) and Schramsberg has a great tour and tasting for $25. You have to make reservations in advance, but it is fascinating to see the process they put their champagne through and hear about the history of the winery and "American champagne." I wrote a trip report recently about it. Auberge is beautiful, we had a drink out on the bar's patio. Hope you are there during daylight hours to enjoy.

Have fun!
noryglory is offline  
Old Aug 1st, 2006 | 08:50 PM
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You will really like the Copia lunch/wine pairing..one of my visit hightlights....
and the Sommiler can give you great suggestions. Be sure to look around teh grounds..they serve alot of teh garden items they grow...

Also in NApa not far from teh Copia ..if you ever decide to go back or need a night alone..is teh Blackbird Inn part of the Four Sisters Inn group.. a beutifully restored Craftsman house. Arhitechturaly it is lovely to look at... For future reference The Four Sisters also have LAvender Inn (my favorite as the rooms are previous horse stalls and have their own very large ground floor private patio)... and Mille Fluerie in Yountville..

When in Healdsberg go the Oakville Grocery. Great gourmet place..can find a nice hostess gift and buy great gourmet things including all ready prepared dinners, salads sandwiches ..not your ordinary stuff and the cheese and bread are awesome.

For the beach day I would just go to Bodega Bay..don't miss the awesome Redwoods in Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve just outside Guernville. Wonderful mostly flat walking trails (there is a paved service road but I would rather walk on the wide fresh wood bark aromatic trails) see the outdoor amphitheater and stare up at the redwoods and the shaded forest...picnic area
Korbel Champagne Cellars also in this area..nice tour.

JAck London parl has some nice guided horseback rides thru orchards, vineyards...horses know which are teh apple & plum trees..the orchards used to be part of a mental institution taht required the residents raise and care for their own food..part of therapy and keeping state costs down....

1JAR is offline  
Old Aug 2nd, 2006 | 06:31 AM
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I knew you would be SOOO helpful, but you exceeded my expectations! Thanks for all of the help.

I am now putting together a spreadsheet of the wineries suggested, hours, appt. needed, location, etc. - and sending emails to those that require appts.

I have to think about the coast trip on Friday. We had planned it that way, because the babysitter is meeting up with family that day and is therefore unavailable to us, so we wanted to take a long roadtrip where it would be just family and capitalize on the situation. For the coastal trip, I wouldn't need to see every little thing, but would love for my in-laws to see the spectacular mountains coming down to the water as I remember from my honeymoon... this may be south of sonoma county. I am open to many possibilities, just hoping they can experience the feeling I did the first time I saw the beauty of this area.

Thanks also for the suggestion of Safari West... the kids will love it.

Also, you mentioned being able to provide a grocery store location... that would be wonderful. I printed off directions from Mapquest: SFO to Calistoga - they have us taking Route 101 to Route 37 to Route 29 into Calistoga. (maybe we should hop over to the Silverado Trail rather than take Route 29??)

thanks again so much!!!
mamadadapaige is offline  
Old Aug 2nd, 2006 | 11:42 AM
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mdp~your visit is 8/12-20? Just wanted to confirm as there is a major race
event 8/25-27 at Sears Point and you don't want to be near Hwy 37 on a race weekend. Sure, go ahead and hop over to the Silverado Trail-it will be stop and go from Rutherford and particularly St. Helena on 29.

If you go out to the coast on 116 at Jenner you'll have your "mountains meet the sea" (don't bother with Bodega Bay it's out of your way). You can turn left
on Hwy 1 for a few miles and go to Goat Rock State Beach, of for more spectacular vistas turn right on to Hwy 1 and head toward the Sea Ranch.

Here's a a mapquest link to the Safeway in St Helena-would be the closest large chain grocery store to Calistoga. If you are hungry when you get to St. Helena head over to Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen at 1327 Railroad-just behind Safeway-Cindy Pawcyln is the chef, also the star at Mustards.

http://tinyurl.com/qm3py

R5
razzledazzle is offline  
Old Aug 2nd, 2006 | 11:58 AM
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Oops, maybe this link-

http://tinyurl.com/gn76p

R5
razzledazzle is offline  
Old Aug 3rd, 2006 | 04:35 PM
  #12  
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thanks for the url... you have been so helpful.

will be sure to post a trip report when we are back. am so excited for the trip (but just a little anxious about flying which is not my favorite thing).

k
mamadadapaige is offline  
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