smetz

My wife and I are going to visit my son, who's at school in St. Helena, CA, probably in October - he has a long weekend during the weekend of October 13 (some holiday I think). We'll probably fly to SF or Oakland on the Thurs or Fri before, and definitely spend the weekend with him. My thoughts are that we'd either (1) have him join us in San Fran for the weekend, then go up to Napa Valley & Sonoma during the rest of the week. That way we could see the wine country, which we never have seen, and probably get together with Matt some evenings during the week. Or we could (2) skip San Francisco & go up to Napa or Sonoma during the weekend & visit with Matt then, and use the remainder of the week to drive down toward Big Sur & Santa Barbara, then fly home from LA or maybe even San Diego. We've been to both San Diego & San Francisco several times before, but never Big Sur or Santa Barbara.

We're definitely leaning toward option 1, because we'd have more time with the boy, and we'd be in Napa Valley during the week versus the weekend which I've heard can be crowded. Plus we'd have more time in Napa and Sonoma. Maybe go to Mendocino too, though I have no idea what is there. On the other hand, I hear the drive from Monterey to Santa Barbara along Route 1 is stunning, with some very nice places to stop. We've driven Route 1 from San Francisco to Monterey, but never any farther south.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has an opinion on which option would be better, or from anyone who has other suggestions. Thanks!

tracys2cents

Mendocino...Bodega Bay...it's all very lovely up there, so....since you're leaning towards option one anyway, I'd say use this time to explore Northern California. Some day when you get the chance to drive further south, your son may be able to come along as well.

You might also want to venture over to Lake Tahoe, should be quite stunning in October. Then there's also Lassen National Park up north of Sacramento and well worth the drive...Ahhhhh, so much to see so little time!

Supercilious

"My wife and I are going to visit my son, who's at school in St. Helena, CA,"

There's a story here. Are you going to share it?

smetz

tracy, thanks for the advice, we've never been north of San Francisco. Is Lassen the volcanic park? And wouldn't Tahoe be a little chilly that time of year?

Supercilious, it's a fairly average story I guess - he just graduated in May from college and is now going to culinary school. He's wanted to do it for a long time, but I really urged him to get a business or hospitality degree first, then get a culinary certificate if he was still interested. He is more interested than ever, having worked in kitchens most of the time through college. One of the good things is that he can go to Culinary Institute of America's program at Greystone in St. Helena, which is geared toward people who already have business/hospitality degrees, and also have kitchen experience. I guess they don't waste time learning the difference between a chef knife and paring knife, etc.

My wife and I haven't seen the school (or Napa Valley), but from what he tells us, it's fantastic. So we're really looking forward to getting up there and seeing him, the school, and the wineries.

BarbAnn

If you do not spend the time in San Francisco, you might consider flying into Sacramento. Much easier airport to navigate. The drive to Napa Valley is easy and usually quick (about 1 hour 30 mins.)

cabovacation

I think the San Francisco weekend idea is very good. Then stay north of the city. There is so much to see!

Return for a wonderful trip to Big Sur and Santa Barbara some other time, if you can!

smetz

BarbAnn & cabo, thanks for the tips.

chewy1

The drive down to Big Sur from SF is awesome.....my wife and I stayed at The Tickled Pink Inn on a bluff just south of Carmel, and the view of the promontory points, rocks, and Cypress trees sticking out into the blue Pacific, etc....just amazing...and Carmel is a very cool little town to dine and shop. We stopped on the way down at some little inn right on the ocean (Arthurs?)by itself, and had an eggs benedict and bloody that coupled with the view, was unreal.

Supercilious

OK. Now I've got the skinny. Your son may want to get out of the Valley for the weekend. It's Columbus Day weekend and that is a very busy time in Napa when there's a 3 day weekend. You all might be better off in SF. See the wine country during the week when it's not quite so crowded. October is crush and that's a very popular time to tour the wineries.

So, I think option #1 is a good one. But, as others have suggested, some time you should do option #2 as well. California has been blessed with many "don't miss" destinations. There's too many to do in just one trip. I've been here 40 years and still haven't seen everything.

sherin

I first visit this site.It is very interesting.We must take care on baby.You don't have to ask option to others.You take decision on the basis of your baby.
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sherin
Addiction Recovery West Virginia

smetz

chewy - yes, that really sounds nice.

super - I think you are right and that's probably the way we'll go.

sherin - but what if the baby is 22 years old and is armed with a complete set of knives?

traveller1122

I live in the Bay area and I'd highly recommend the drive down to Santa Barbara--one of the most beautiful drives in the world. (If you go that far, you should fly out of LA.) Along that route you also get Monterey, Carmel, Hearst Castle and some other incredible spots. The area around Hearst has some good wine country also, but without the frills of Napa. Napa is lovely and an easy day trip and it certainly won't be that crowded. The other alternatives like Mendocino and Lassen are much longer drives.

ncounty

Mendocino is lovely and there is so much to explore up there. I would postpone the long drive south for a future trip. You're in for a treat....my first thought when I read that "the boy" (I love that, that's what we call my son too) was in school in St. Helena was Lucky....!!!! What a gorgeous place to visit. You can explore Sonoma, Healdsburg, Calistoga, then do the drive to Mendocino and spend a night and day there then head south to the Russian River area. I would try to do Napa during the week to avoid the weekend crowd.

jojo46

Agree with ncountry. Recently did the Big Sur drive and love S Barbara but should be done when you have time and can stay and explore enroute. The whole Sonoma Valley, Napa, Mendocino areas so lovely and more compact. I especially enjoy Healdsburg. You could also drive out to nearby coast at Bodega Bay.

Ditto #1 too. You're right to stay in SF initially and avoid weekends in wine country-can be so crowded and tres cher! Chance for your son to have a break in the city and later tell you his special discoveries in wine country when you visit while he's in school. Hope you have a great visit!

smetz

What great information, thanks so much. ncounty, we think it's funny to call him "the boy" too. We usually call our dog "the girl" though we do actually have a daughter.

I think we've pretty much decided to spend the weekend in SF, though there is some chance that on Saturday we might take a short spin down the coast - we could probably go as far as Big Sur and then double back to Carmel or Monterey for the night. But we've been to Monterey a couple of times, and we're leaning toward just staying in SF all three nights, and maybe focusing on some areas of the city we haven't seen before. Our prior trips we've spent the whole time in the downtown/North Beach/Fisherman's Wharf area, with a few short side trips to places like Cow Hollow or Castro.

Starting Monday, we're looking at two nights in Sonoma, one in Healdsburg, one in Calistoga, and the last night in St. Helena. We'll plan on some tastings with Matt on Monday (he has some kind of industry card that gets free tastings) around Rutherford or Yountville, then dinner probably in Yountville and head down to Sonoma.

Maybe we should consider substituting a night in Mendocino for Healdsburg or for the second Sonoma night? Or is Mendocino close enough that we could head up there just for the day?

And any suggestions on wineries, restaurants, or things to see would be greatly appreciated.

Shanti

It's about a 2 hour drive from Healdsburg to Mendocino and about 3 hours from Sonoma, so I wouldn't do it as a day trip.

Another, closer, option would be Jenner and Bodega Bay. You could visit Sonoma Coast State Park which is near Jenner. Armstrong Woods is also close to Healdsburg if you'd like to see redwoods.

I used to live in Santa Rosa and writing about the area makes me miss it. Have a great visit.

ncounty

I don't think you need two nights in Sonoma; I would do the second night in Healdsburg or do it in Mendocino which is farther away. If you want to do Mendocino at all (and you have time on this time), I would overnight there because it is a bit arduous and rushed as a day trip. If you can splurge, consider the Harbor House Inn which is perched right on the ocean south of Mendocino.

Dining in Sonoma, consider The Girl and the Fig.