Napa Valley Aug. 29, 2008

Day 5: Napa We Love Ya
Here we are. Our last day in Napa. We are done arguing with the hotel staff over their choice of music. We are done with the tired buffet breakfast. The bathroom is nice, but the room overall was so-so. I would not stay here again unless the rate was phenomenal. We were penny-pinching, so it worked for us, but if I had the money, I'd stay anywhere in Yountville. It is just the cutest little town and the restaurant availability is amazing. I'd rename the place Kellerville. That Yount guy is dead. Thomas Keller is King.

Since our trunk is now filled with suitcases, we can't put the top down. Just as well. The Volvo turned out to be the perfect car for the trip and Frank is very happy. Up the road one last time to visit the St. Supery winery. Another self-guided tour that's free. You can go out into the vineyard to see a display of different types of pruning and pick some grapes. We skipped the tasting. They do have a gallery where you get to smell different wine odors, which was educational.

Our last stop of the trip is the Robert Mondavi winery. Another hotel guest told Frank that the tour was amazing and we arrived just in time to take it. The tour turned out to be the best tour of the trip. I wish we had done it first. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable about the area and wines. We just learned so much. We now understand how to read a wine label. We got to pick grapes off the vine and taste each varietal. All in a beautiful setting. We didn't like the wines, but the experience was well worth the price.

Last stop in Yountville for lunch at the Pacific Blues Cafe. No time for lunch at Bouchon. I had a turkey burger with blue cheese and the most remarkable jalapeno jam.

Our flight was the 5:00 Friday night computer geek express from San Jose to Austin. Everybody at the gate was staring into a laptop or Blackberry. We made it home in one piece. Overall a great vacation. Not a cheap place to go, so a few days is fine. I did wonder what it is like for those who do the tastings to select wines for their own cellars. Turns out all the stuff you buy in the store is virtually crap. Who knew? I do vow to return and go to the French Laundry some day. Highlights overall were the Mondavi tour, the Sterling tour, and dinner at Bouchon.

Napa Valley Aug. 28, 2008

Day 4: Napa We're Sicka Ya
OK, enough wine tasting. It's stinkin' hot. Frank loves to drive. We've got a convertible. Let's head for the coast. After breakfast at the hotel, we put the top down, program the GPS for Bodega Bay, and head East. The drive from Napa to Sonoma goes through some amazing land. Rolling hills of grapevines - the Carneros region. The rest of the drive through Petaluma is unremarkable. Pretty soon, I spy the sign for Highway 1. We are almost there.

We drove up the coast a little ways and then it was time for lunch. Back in Bodega Bay, we dined at the Tides Restaurant. There isn't much around. We were hoping for a Captain Kidd's experience (our favorite fish place when we lived in Redondo Beach), but it was trying to be too fancy. We both had fried sole sandwiches and fries. There is a gift shop and a fish market, which we browsed briefly. Out on the deck, you can watch boats unloading fish and the birds who wait patiently for some scraps. There was a partially sunken sailboat in the harbor. When we asked the waiter about it he mumbled something about the owner being "behind in his rent".

We decided to drive up the coast and take the scenic route along the Russian River and down through Sonoma. The drive through the giant redwoods was nice, but wouldn't do it again. Sonoma isn't all that. We didn't stop at any wineries. Napa just is so much more lush and beautiful. Sonoma looks too new.

We do make one stop at the Domaine Carneros, which is an absolutely beautiful setting in the Carneros region. We didn't do a tasting. After climbing the stairs in the brutal heat, we were spent. Need to go back to the hotel for a nap.

The hotel has a lap top that you can borrow for an hour, so I looked up the menu for our dinner. The restaurant has a fixed menu that changes every day. Pork chops. Frank had pork chops last night, but he still wants to go. (you can't have too much pork!)

For our last dinner, we are going to Ad Hoc, which is another Thomas Keller restaurant in Yountville. I just realized that we have no pictures of us all cleaned up for our nights out. Sigh. Ad Hoc is a fun place. Great music. Our waiter was knowledgeable about the food and wine. Our appetizer was Spanish meatballs with fresh tomatoes picked that morning from the French Laundry's garden, just down the road. Our main course were giant pork chops over smashed Chick Peas and fresh squash from the French Laundry garden. A cheese course was next, followed by a berry cobbler over homemade vanilla ice cream. Except for the tough pork chops, the dinner was wonderful.

Top down again. After seeing Sonoma today, we are no longer sicka Napa. Back to the hotel, but we skip our nightly Beringer Port. Too pooped for Port.

Napa Valley Aug. 27, 2008

Day 3: Napa Redeem-a
Wednesday we woke to a fresh start. All the bad things are behind us. Today will be fabulous. I had a bit of a red-meat-red-wine wooziness, but it soon lifted. We put the top down and drove up to Calistoga to start the day at Sterling. We got there a little too early, so we went around the corner to check out the Old Faithful geyser. True DeMar luck -- we get there right after it went off, so we would have to wait 40 minutes for the next show. No way. One winery I flagged in the book was right around the corner.

The Chateau Montelena is absolutely beautiful. You don't have to purchase a tasting to see the grounds, but we did anyway. The host tried to sell us futures in wine that will ship in 2010. Uh. No thanks. Don't know where I'll be thank you very much. There were bread scraps out by the pond for feeding the ducks. The bread looked better than what I can get at the bakery at the local grocery store.

Our next stop was at Sterling, which turned out to be absolutely spectacular. To get to the winery, you take a tram up the hill. Upon exiting, you are greeted with a glass of cool Reisling. While the hostess poured our wine, she said a truckload of grapes just arrived and if we hurry we can catch them dumping the load. OK. We took off and around the corner was a viewing deck.

We were told at the Beringer tour that machines pick the grapes off the vines and I was astonished to see so few leaves in the dump. Next we went onto more viewing areas on our self-guided tour. The views from the deck were fantastic. Too bad it was so hot as we could have sat there drinking wine for a bit. Inside the winery, we had two more wines to taste as part of the tour.

Well, two tastings under our belts before noon. We are starving. Head north to downtown Calistoga where we had burgers at the Hydro Grill. Typical small town bar with live Blues on the weekends. Calistoga looks like a fun place to hang out. Reminded me of Hermosa Beach only without the beach.

It's pretty hot by now and we are beat. Got up the strength to visit Rubicon Estate just to see the place. We didn't do a tasting, but instead look around the museum and gift shop there. It's pretty grand. Got to see an Oscar and Emmy, and the Tucker automobile from the movie. Oh, the winery is owned by Francis Ford Coppola. We were hoping to see some Godfather memorabilia, but all they had were soundtrack score sheets.

Our last stop of the day is Mumm's. We sped past it the day before during my intestinal meltdown and I just love their sparkling wine. It's brutally hot so we don't plan on doing any tours. Instead, we sit in the viewing area drinking the wonderful sparkling wine and then take our last two glasses over to their art gallery. In the gift shop I bought a leash for Shane and the clerk told me to bring him along next time. Very dog friendly area.

Well, now we are spent. Back to the hotel for a nap and off to dinner at 25 degrees Brix, which is some wine term. Dinner was OK. We ate on the patio and it was so hot I chose a cold watermelon soup and a nicoise salad. The soup was fantastic, but the salad was a little too healthy for me. No flavor at all and the tuna was a little too rare. Frank had a better meal, but not by much. He can't even remember what he ate except that the pork chops were not so good. For dessert, we had pot de creme with fresh peaches, which was just pudding over peaches. Very unremarkable meal, except for the ambiance. Gorgeous place, but I wouldn't recommend it.

We put the top down and drove back to the hotel for our usual Beringer port by the fire. Tipped the bell hop to turn the channel on the music from nursing home elevator-style show tunes to some modern jazz. I think the vacation is redeemed. Except for Frank having a meltdown when he momentarily forgot where he left his cell phone and the Renault Formula 1 cap that I had shipped from France, the day went off without a hitch. Knock on wood.

Napa Valley Aug. 26, 2008

Day 2: Napa Disasta... Almost
Our room rate includes a buffet breakfast, which wasn't all that bad. We dined on the patio and two geese stood on the other side of the fence waiting for a morsel. After breakfast we hopped in the car and headed up the road to the Beringer vineyard where we had an 11:00 tour. On the way, we popped off the road in Yountville to see where we were eating that night. What an adorable little town. Can't wait to go back for dinner. On to St. Helena, where we stop at Dean and Deluca and marvel at all the tidbits. We had thought about having a picnic, but didn't want to go to all the bother. I swooned at the salt display when Frank took the lid off the Black Truffle salt. I bought a jar. (Hopefully the TSA dogs at the airport won't think it's drugs or explosives)

Our tour at the Beringer vineyard was wonderful. We started with a wine tasting in the garden behind one of the Beringer brothers homes. We took our wine with us out into the vineyard where we got to taste the grapes that were used in the wine. We then moved inside the cellar for a tasting. The wines were pretty good. I've mostly had their low-end offerings at the grocery, but their high-end wines are very good, especially the port. We sampled the port with chocolate, which enhanced the flavor tremendously. Unfortunately, during one of the pours of red wine, the tour guide pulled the bottle away too soon and dumped red wine all down the arm of my white tunic. I was pretty upset as I didn't want to look or smell like a derelict for the rest of the day. They gave me a bottle of wine-away, which did me no good for that day. I just rolled up my sleeves. More wine please. The poor girl sitting next to me got a splash of red wine on her lovely white dress as well.

New Rule: Do not wear white or anything expensive to a wine tasting.

After the tour, we headed to Go Fish for lunch. I guess it was the heat of the day that caused us to chose sushi for lunch. Frank had edamame and I chose a cucumber salad as starters. We dined on the patio. I showed the waiter my red wine stains and asked for an iced tea. I've had enough wine today thank you very much.

After lunch, we decided to put the top down on the car and take a drive out to Lake Berryessa. My friend, Heidi, had recommended a few wineries out in that area. The drive was wonderful. Curvy roads so Frank got to practice his race techniques. Here we are on a driving vacation when the price of gas is at an all-time high. (the Volvo's tricked-out dashboard display told me we were averaging 25 mpg, which isn't bad considering my foot was to the floor)

During our drive, I developed intense stomach cramps, probably from the salt at lunch and we had to to back to the hotel... in a hurry. (I was still tailgated by locals in beat up pickup trucks. I guess having a turbo is no substitute for knowing the road.) Just as well because we both needed naps. It's hard to start drinking in the morning. I was in a lot of pain and couldn't think. Poor Frank was just flying down the Sliverado Trail probably thinking I was dying. I barely made it back to the room. That would have been a first in my life. (Reminds me of the scene in Sex and the City, The Movie, where Charlotte barely made it back to her room)

For dinner, we went to Bouchon, which is my absolutely favorite restaurant. We drove past the French Laundry and I sighed heavily. Couldn't get a reservation and Frank is a little leary of paying $250 each for a meal even if it's the best restaurant in the world. I'm a big (chef) Thomas Keller fan. We always eat at Bouchon when we go to Vegas and now we were going to the source. Our dinner was magnificent. I started with a chilled tomato eggplant soup and Frank had a small order of moules and frites (mussels and fries, for those of you who had the good sense to study Spanish instead of French in high school). I then had the short ribs, which Frank usually gets and now I see why. Melt in your mouth goodness. Frank had the veal, and he was a little disappointed, which is how I usually feel when I don't get the short ribs. In short, get the short ribs at Bouchon. We ended with a cheese course that just blew me away. I just love that place.

Put the top down and cruised back to the hotel where we sat by the fireplace and had a glass of Beringer Port, which we had sampled at the winery. The day could have been a disaster, but the good far outweighed the morning's wine dump down my arm and the afternoon's intestinal emergency. The good news is that the intense orange smell of the Wine-away completely freshened up our room.

Napa Valley Aug. 25, 2008

Day 1: Napa Mis-hapa
The day started innocently enough. Drinking coffee, eating cereal, and packing our bags. We like to take midday flights -- which is not an easy task when using frequent flyer miles -- so we don't have to rush around. Around 8:30 am, Frank comes downstairs and announces that part of a bottom tooth has fallen off in his cornflakes. Here we go. Luckily, our dentist squeezed him into her schedule, slapped some bondo on the broken tooth, and Frank was back just in time to throw the dogs in the car and head out. Dropped the boys at the 620 Pet Resort and we are on our way to the airport. (Hi, Frank here. Our original concept was for Sue to write the blog and me to edit, but she did such a nice job that I'll just throw in parenthetical comments here and there.)

We arrived at the airport way too early, so we had time for lunch. BBQ Brisket at the Salt Lick, which was good, but not as good as Rudy's, in my opinion. Although we do put the Salt Lick rub on everything we barbecue. So with our bellies full of meat, we slept through a lot of the flight, which was a non-stop to San Jose -- another great benefit to living in the southern Silicon Valley. Must be a pipeline of geeks to and fro. We had to fly in and out of San Jose to get the fancy car that Frank wanted. He always dreamed of cruising around California in a convertible, so I reserved a Mustang convertible at Hertz.

The San Jose airport is just as run down as ever. They are building a new terminal, so it's even more beat up than we remember. After a long trek to the rental car facility, we find out that there are no Mustang convertibles! That old Seinfeld clip just replays in our minds.


Frank, ever so gracious and persistent, with his 26 years of professional customer service experience, manages to snag a convertible Volvo with unlimited mileage. Not too bad. (The car also has a turbocharger, which means it has some get up and go, and a folding hard top that retracts at the touch of a button.) The car comes with a GPS, so I program in our hotel and we hit the road. The drive to Napa from San Jose takes about 1.5 hours and we just happened to hit rush hour, so our drive took a little longer. (Good thing we had the GPS, we never would have found all the turns during rush hour without it.)

We arrived at the the River Terrace Inn around 7 pm. Our room was a little disappointing as it smelled a bit moldy, the view of the river was obscured by the awnings over the cafe below, and the room was right next to the elevator. I guess you can't expect too much when you get a free night through their Internet special. The place looked exactly like the pictures on their web site, only a little shabby. We unpacked and then headed to Target to get some scented candles, and then out to dinner. We couldn't find the restaurant, no thanks to the GPS, and ended up at Tuscany, which was mediocre at best. We shared a Caesar salad and a goat cheese pizza. The place was busy considering how bad the food was.

Since Napa has no night life, I had decided to do a daily blog. Back at the hotel, I turned on the laptop and a blue screen appears. Unbootable. Fantastic. I tried everything and surmised the hard drive must be trashed. That's the perfect end to our first day of napa mis-hapa.

Italian Grand Prix 2005

We started in Milan and ended up in Santa Margherita.