St. Helena California
 

Do you know St. Helena? Do you know about the school there? I am looking at it and another one, in Vermont, and wondering if you have a take on it.

I think it is north of the San Francisco Bay area.
What is the name of the college?

Which School? The CIA, Pacific Union, the community college -- what?

What do you want to know? St Helena is in the Napa Valley midway bewteen Yountville and Calistoga. It is in the center of a world renowned wine region. It is a very expensive part of the country.

So what info do you want???

janisj~very helpful. Anything else?
The CIA is there. They have housing @ around $3500 for
7 months. Very reasonable! BUT I want to bring my dog.

Anything else you can suggest or advise or remember? Thanks!

Here's where you can get info on the schools there.

http://www.greatschools.net/search/s...CA&type=school

Oh, I get it. You're talking about the Culinary Institute of America, not the Central Intelligence Agency. I wondered why the latter would have a school in wine country. Maybe a secret project involving wine to attack the enemies IQs.

I just wanted to know more about the area. I have the school in mind already. I may wind up in VT at a different school. We'll see.

My heart feels like cooking/baking....my wallet says don't take out the loan, go buy a cookbook.......who knows?

The area is beautiful, and there are lots of interesting places to explore near St. Helena: Calistoga, Glen Ellen, Guerneville, Sebastopol, and of course, San Francisco.

The CIA also offers weeklong and weekend classes if you want to try a fun vacation first and see if you are drawn to the area.

And while it is an expensive area to buy a home, there are lots of rural areas where you can rent less expensively nearby (not as inexpensively as $3500 for 3 months, though).

I was reading the thread on Vermont, and one difference seems to be the community, which in Northern California is probably more spread out, and it might be harder to meet people except through the school. Of course, the weather is much warmer.

I don't know how to edit... I meant 7 months as you said.

Kailani Thank you so much. Your feedback is exactly what I am looking for. I flip flop. I think, Vermont, small town close to Montreal....then I think SFO, and the beauty of the open space and ......then I think about my dog Jack, who may be better off in Vermont, but think the CIA is the better school but then I can't afford a lot of expensive rent....yadayadayada....you get the idea.....I need to make a list.....additionally, though the rent may be higher in CA, the heating bill will be outrageous in VT.

It's a cute little town N of San Francisco. You will definitely need a car to get around. In California many people have dogs, and some hotels welcome them.

Housing at $500 a month, or is it $3,500 a month with food? If $500 it's not reasonable, it's a steal for that area.

San Francisco has a culinary school too. Sometimes I see their shuttle stops by the library to let the students off.

http://www.chefs.edu/san-francisco/

I think if I am accepted St. Helena it is!

Hmmmmm...... is it $3500 for 7 months
(being $500 a month)or $3500 a month for seven months for housing ?
$500 a month is waaaaayyyyy to cheap for St. Helena-
unless it's a dorm room, or something like that..

R5

Its a dorm but they have comparable lists of room rentals in the area. Neat, eh!!

That's exciting! You'll love the area if you love good food, beautiful scenery, and exploring quirky places. St. Helena itself, at least in the main downtown, is upscale, but still a fantastic place to eat. There's a great deli on the main street that must have the most beautiful and wholesome food on the planet. Also, the wonderful Taylor's Automatic Refresher, beloved, but atypical for the area. http://www.taylorsautomaticrefresher.com/menu/index.htm

Good Luck on your acceptance at CIA in St. Helena-
we'll have to have a toast over at Taylor's when you get here !

R5

My app is in. My letter of recommendation is being sent tomorrow, or so I'm told. Its a hefty loan....I just wonder what my life is for or if I'm doing the right thing. Right now, I don't have to worry yet, because there's no acceptance yet. No worries, right?

Good for you gypsy - getting started on this. I have been in that schoolin St Helena - only as a tourist. It is very nice. The area is fantastic. My nephew lived in Napa and now Santa Rosa so we go there often. The area is really into good restaurants. Hope you have a car cause you will want to visit so many places while you are there. It is not a long drive to the ocean and Bodega Bay.

It is just a great place to be - you will love it. Hope everything works out for you.

Cool razzledazzle~ I'll def letcha know!

bratsandbeer~thanks! I don't know what I'm doing and
sometimes when you don't know what you're doing, doing
something is a good thing. :)

Are you planning to specialize in bread-baking? :-)

haha! I think its culinary/pastry.

sf7307~not sure if you'll see this, but I had a nice slice of the #2 recipe of challah with my steak tonight. Having little or no experience baking outside of the cookie, I am very happy with myself right now. I bet culinary school will kick my tushie. I don't know much, so it will be a big learning experience.

If you do end up in St. Helena, let me know -- I live in the Bay Area.

Waiting on the affirmative from them. I'll holler....I don't know if you saw my other post about not sure what to do with regards to my life, and the decision is a big REAL one. The Vermont school accepted me, but its private FOR PROFIT. The CIA is non profit and is the school the US military uses for training. blah blah..anyway, I'll get back with you. I'm not guaranteed, but basically they still had spots open for class. If I don't get in, I'll be working at McDonalds as a cook. ;) not a bad gig these days.

If you need to rent something consider Napa - 18 miles south. Much less expensive. It is beautiful in Napa Valley - your dog will love it too.

Keep us posted!! Did you say they have apartments or is it dorm rooms? Santa Rosa is less expensive but I checked mapquest and it is 44 miles from St Helena. Didn't think it was that far.

If you go west on Spring Mountain Rd. from St. Helena, it becomes Santa Rosa (and turns into St. Helena Rd.) at the Sonoma/Napa border, which is just 10 miles or so.

Kailani - That sounds a lot shorter. We have always taken the road through Calistoga - maybe because of the location we started from in Santa Rosa.

St. Helena Rd. is a winding mountain road, so the road through Calistoga is probably an easier drive. The mountain area has a Santa Rosa address even though it's quite far from the city.

There are lots of wineries there as well as old rural ranches, community living situations and cabins.

GREAT~ Thank you! I'll be back when I hear either way.

I would never want to drive St. Helena Rd over to Santa Rosa
on a daily basis. Other then being a windy mountain road,
it can get really foggy at night.
It would be sooooo much easier to rent something
in the town of Napa, IMHO.

Good Luck to you GypsyMaiden !

R5