Girls Getaway - Napa

The Beautiful Napa Valley!

For the past few years, a small group of my girlfriends have all gotten together for a weekend trip somewhere.  Because of weddings, showers, etc it has typically been somewhere one of us actually lives.  This year, we decided to all fly out to San Francisco and stay in Napa!  Being the party planner that I am, I put together a 4 day, 4 night schedule of fun and feasting for our long awaited trip.

Thurs Night - Friday

The first night we all flew in to SFO on different flights from around the US.  My flight got in first so I picked up the rental car and checked us in at the Hojo Express near the airport for easy access back and forth as everyone else flew in.

Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point

The hotel was fine for a night and considering we were up and at 'em pretty early the next morning (west coast time change was to our advantage!), I'm glad we saved our more luxe accommodations for the remainder of the trip.  After checking out of the hotel, we sat in commuter traffic before eventually making our way over the Golden Gate Bridge.  Two of my friends on this trip have never been to the Bay area before.  Fortunately, they were welcomed with clear skies and a fog-free view of the bridge from the several vista points we stopped at along the way.  It was a beautiful sight, though after seeing the movie San Andreas, I kept picturing a different scene in front of me. (Ahh!!)

After an hour or so of photographs, we made our way to Sausalito.  It was easy to find parking at 10 AM in a lot along Bridgeway and the town was very quiet.  Most of the shops weren't open, so we walked along a trail near the water for an hour or so until people starting to arrive on the ferry and the stores opened up.  I hadn't been here before and expected a more lively vibe.  I was feeling a bit down until we made our way back to The Barrel House for lunch and drinks on the back deck.  A bloody mary turned my frown upside down.  From there we drove out to Muir Woods for a self-guided walk through the park.  The windy roads up the mountains made for an interesting adventure... I definitely wouldn't want to go up there after dark!  I went to Muir woods on my last trip and really enjoyed it, so I was happy to be back with my friends.

Muir Woods

The last stop on our itinerary before getting to our hotel in Napa was the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield.  The traffic out there was horrendous.  As the minutes ticked by, we were closer and closer to missing the last tour of the factory at 4pm.  Fortunately, luck was on our side and we squealed into the parking lot at 3:58, just in time to hear how Ronald Reagan's favorite candy is made.  I expected to learn more about the specific ingredients that go into jelly beans, but perhaps if I knew, I wouldn't eat them anymore?  In the end, we only had a handful of samples along the way as well as a small bag to take home and eat.  I would have preferred to pay $10 for the tour and eat unlimited jelly beans! Yumm...  I should mention that they have a chocolate & wine pairing room on site.  If we would have arrived earlier, I definitely would have stopped in there.

We finally made it to the Napa River Inn in the early evening.  We were greeted upon arrival with a wine tasting in the lobby and our tasting cards that were included in the package.  The staff was very friendly and we were able to park in the lot right outside the hotel. After freshening up at the hotel, we spent our first evening on the town at Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin' BBQ.  I didn't make reservations in advance, but we were eventually seated after having a drink at the bar. The benefit of sitting at the bar before ordering dinner is that we could watch every plate of food come out and decide what we wanted in advance.  The four of us shared the meat platter as well as several side dishes.  The food was good and the wine flights complimented our meal.

Saturday

Filling the balloons

The next morning, half of our party went on a hot air balloon tour while the other staff explored downtown and Oxbow market. Napa Valley Balloons, Inc. had arranged for a van to come pick us up at the hotel at 6:15am.  They were right on time and after a short ride, we were checking in at Domaine Chandon.  Coffee and pastries were provided while they gave us a brief overview for the day.  Because of the fog in the valley, we went to an alternate launch site in Winters and flew over different sorts of farms and vineyards.  The entire experience was incredible.

Climbing into the 20 person basket was entertaining and once we were floating in the air, everything was quiet and peaceful.  I didn't feel one sway in the wind.  When it was time to land, the ground crew drove ahead to find a farmer who would let us land on their property.  I learned that because you can't really steer a hot air balloon, you never really know where you'll end up.  The pilot finds a good spot and hopes the farmer will say yes, you may land on my property.  If they say no, they keep floating along for a better spot. We landed with a light touch and two small bounces before crawling back out of the basket and heading back to Domaine Chandon for our gourmet brunch and endless mimosas (I think we had at least 6 a piece).   The entire experience was so much fun and one of the highlights of my trip!

A View from Above

We met up with our friends at Domaine Chandon and tried some of the other sparkling wines available there with a 2-1 tasting from Yelp.  The Yelp deal must be a pretty good one and relatively unused since the woman at the tasting bar didn't seem to want to give it to me initially until she read it through a few times.  Our next stop was Bouchon, a french bakery nearby.  There was a bit of a line
when we arrived, but waiting there was easy compared to the difficulty in making a decision on what to order once we got up to the counter!  My two friends who didn't eat brunch ordered salads and dessert while I opted instead just to split 4 different macaroons the size of my hand in half.  They were so good and while I enjoyed the Pistachio flavor, I was pleasantly surprised by the PB&J as well.

We had a 2:30 tour reservation at Hess Collection, so we did not linger long over the food. One of the things I liked most about driving around the Napa/Sonoma areas is that everything was pretty easy to find.  We got to Hess a few minutes early and walked around the inside lobby while the other people who would be touring with us showed up.  Our tour guide, Sam, met us in the lobby and took us out to the vineyard to see some of the vines.   We were able to eat a few grapes right off the plants that hadn't been harvested yet.  From there we went inside to see where they hold some of the barrels and learn about their property and different wines.

Champagne Brunch

We were escorted out to a little garden area to do a tasting.  After we finished our tour, some of the girls explored the art museum portion of the building (I opted out since I don't like modern art).  After Hess, we went back to our hotel to freshen up and decide on dinner.  My wine class instructor from back home suggested we try Morimoto.  We were able to get seated right away on their back patio and placed our orders.   Sadly, everything was just OK.  We all ordered different things (sushi, dumplings, soup, etc) and nothing really stood out.

Sunday

Domaine Carneros

Our last full day in Napa started with a fabulous breakfast in bed. One of the things I didn't mention before is that the Napa River Inn also provides breakfast each morning from the restaurant downstairs as part of their package.  I don't know if I liked the breakfast sandwich or fruit & yogurt parfait better. Either way, everything was so good and it saved us from trying to find somewhere to eat each morning when everything outside was closed!  I did manage to take a little stroll to the Napa General Store that morning and pickup a few souvenirs.  If you are a wine lover, definitely make a point to stop in that store.

We arrived at Domaine Carneros at 11:00 AM for our tour/tasting.  I hadn't been to this vineyard before and it was incredibly beautiful and scenic.  The main building was an old mansion sitting up on a hill.  There were already a lot of people tasting on the veranda with beautiful cheese platters.  Our tour guide this time was a little bit bigger than the last one (maybe 10-12 people?), but still manageable.  We started the tour tasting some of their sparkling wines.  Our guide, Al, was very enthusiastic and walked us through the property stopping to let us taste more wine along the way.  At the end we tried a few more bottles with a cheese pairing and I purchased a bottle of their Pinot Noir to bring home.  It was a great tour and a good way to start the day.

Castello Di Amorosa

We lingered a little longer than I had planned for so we had to cut out a few stops at this point to make sure we had plenty of time at the next vineyard before our spa appointments that night.  We went straight to the Castello di Amorosa for our next tasting.  I had heard wonderful things from people back home and on site about this vineyard, so I was very excited to visit.  The beautiful castle replica was built from a lot of material imported from Europe and took many years to build.  There are barnyard animals, a moat, and a drawbridge.  I knew in advance that I wanted to do their reserve tasting, but my only complaint is that the tasting room is kind of far from everything else so you don't get to soak in the atmosphere.  We didn't really get a chance to walk around and see the property very well.  The tasting was wonderful and the cheese and charcuterie pairings were perfect.  I am enjoying a bottle of their Sangiovese as I write this post... yum!

Our last scheduled stop for the day was to the Indian Springs Spa in Callistoga for a mud bath and massage.  Before our appointment times, we went to check out the mineral pool.  The water seemed nice, but the pool was pretty crowded.  I only stayed up there for 15 minutes or so until I had to head back for my mud bath.  The entire mud bath experience was very cool and relaxing.  I would like to sleep in a mud bath every night if I could.  The mud molded to your body and made it seem like a very dirty tempurpedic mattress.  After 12 minutes in the bath, I rinsed off in the shower and went in the steam room to unclog my pores.  After that was finished, I was escorted to the massage room for 60 minutes of bliss.  I'm surprised I didn't fall asleep at the bar when we stopped for dinner at Rutherford Grille.  The Spa was a great way to end our stay in Napa.

Monday

We left for San Fran early Monday morning.  The plan was to sit in traffic and drop off 2 of my friends before spending the day in the city.  Fortunately we made good timing and we able to see some sights together (full house landmarks, lombard street, etc) before they had to leave. After dropping them off, I parked near Ghiradelli square and enjoyed some Irish Coffees at Buena Vista Cafe.  While walking toward Pier 39, we came across a sign for GoCars.  These little yellow go carts drive on the street and have a navigation/recorded tour guide that takes you through the city.  There was a 2.5 hour loop that went to a lot of places  I hadn't seen before, so the two of us strapped on our helmets and jumped in!  This was one of the other highlights of my trip as we drove through many beautiful scenic points and the Presidio.  The Cliff side neighborhoods were breathtaking... and while my hands were not happy about the handbrakes as I drove down Lombard Street in my GoCar, it was such a fun experience.

Napa River Inn Hotel

After we turned our GoCar back in, we met up with another friend for a drink before heading back home to Boston. All in all, it was a great trip! 

2011 Recap: San Diego Zoo and Safari Park



Koalas love Eucalyptus leaves :)

Since I have no travel plans for this April, I have decided to resurrect some of my old journal entries from trips I took in 2011.  Though these are a few years old, they are still pretty accurate as far as resources/tours/etc. and I hope they prove useful to anyone planning a trip to these destinations.  My first flash back entry is from Columbus Day weekend (Oct 7-9) in 2011 when I visited San Diego for the first time.

In case you haven't picked this up from my previous posts, there are two main ways to describe my travel style.  The first is that it is carefully planned, even moments of spontaneity are planned into my itineraries.  The second is that I am a bit of a nerd; I make sure to make the most out of every trip including many learning moments.  So how nerdy can a trip to San Diego be?  I started planning for this October trip in July and let me start off by saying that I was highly disappointed to find out that a girl scout troop had completely booked the Roar and Snore Safari at Safari Park, so I would not be sleeping in the zoo itself. 

Since I was flying in on the 7th, I had two full days in San Diego to explore.  Looking back, this was not nearly enough time to become aquainted with the city, but it was enough time to know that I would definitely go back.  I have to be honest as to why I wanted to go to San Diego... I really wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park.  I always heard so much about it and needed to see it for myself.  Many hours of research led me to the decision to visit both places, but enhance my experience at the Safari Park with a Deluxe Photo Caravan Safari.  I took a chance and purchased two guest passes to the zoo and 2 passes to safari park on Ebay for $35 each pair, or $70 for two people to attend both parks.  Regular adult admission is $44 pp to each park and would have cost $176 for the weekend in admission alone.  The Deluxe Photo Caravan Safari was $150 pp with a prepaid admission ticket (eBay pass), but it was a 3.5 hour tour with both giraffe and rhino feeding opportunities!


Me and a Panda

My traveling companion and I decided to take advantage of our SPG points and stay at the nearby Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina.  We also rented a car for the weekend because both the zoo and animal park are far away from downtown San Diego and would be very expensive in a taxi.  Because of certain Yelp reviews I was scared out of my mind to stay at the hotel, though they have increased considerably since I went.  If your plans keep you within the city, don't bother renting a car. There is a very good shuttle service from the airport, and you are a short cab ride away from most attractions. If you decide you want to drive, be prepared to pay for parking. I used the valet service @ $28/day and was very happy with it.

Check-in was smooth and there is a genuine Starbucks in the lobby (not a fake we brew Starbucks coffee thing). I stayed in the Marina tower on the 9th floor SPG level. My room was really nice and very nautical. I have no complaints at all. If you decide you can go without new sheets every day, they actually give you back $5 to spend at Starbucks (hooray!). I was overlooking the marina and a bit of the bay and had a lovely balcony to sit out on. I could hear a bit of noise from the pool, even though it wasn't in sight, but it was not bad. With the doors shut, I couldn't hear anything! I tried the breakfast buffet one morning and was satisfied with the selection.

Seals in La Jolla

My first full day was dedicated to the zoo.  My first thought when entering was that there was no way one person could see everything there in one day.  Not only is it huge, but walking all day in the sun is exhausting.  I didn't have any behind the scenes events planned for that day, but I did make sure to walk around a lot and see as much as I could.  Two of my favorite exhibits were the koalas and the pandas.  I especially love red pandas, they are so cute! Every exhibit is well thought out and has lots of good look out points.  Unfortunately, the only downside to the day was the awful food!  Not only was it overpriced (as expected), it was really bad.  Overall, this is an incredible zoo and much larger than I could have ever expected.  I think it would be best to visit on a cool day as you will be doing a lot of walking.

Gorilla mom and baby

We left the park late in the afternoon and got ready for dinner. After walking around a bit downtown, we arrived at University Club Atop Symphony Towers.  (My old Yelp review is helping me here...) I checked in to the University Club for dinner as a visitor from out of town and a member of a club corps affiliate. I had a reservation for 2 people at 8 PM and actually called earlier that day to see if the reservation could be moved to 7. I was told there was no availability, but decided to come in a little early anyways and grab a drink before dinner. When we arrived, we were told they actually had a table available and we were seated in the dining room. Sadly, we were not seated near a window and sulked in silence for about 10 minutes before deciding to say something to the incredibly nice Maitre'D, Darwin. Considering we were from out of town and only in San Diego for the weekend, we really wanted an opportunity to view the skyline from a window seat. He quickly arranged for us to move to a better seat.

The service was impeccable. Our server was always around when we needed him and all of our delicious food came out quickly. I especially enjoyed listening to the very talented pianist during my meal. I'm not sure what the ideal crowd is for this place, but it seems that the lounge and bar are suited for young professionals where as the formal dining room might attract a more "sophisticated" crowd. Either way, I absolutely love being treated to an excellent meal every now and again and don't mind dining with an older crowd if it means delicious food.



Giraffe Feeding

The next morning, prior to going to Safari Park, I took a drive to La Jolla to see the seals in the water.  I also did a quick walk around a nearby park to take in the views.  I arrived at the Safari Park about a half and hour before my scheduled 1pm safari tour.  Since the tour lasted for 3.5 hours, that did not leave me a lot of time to explore the park on my own.  Fortunately, I saw a lot on the safari and didn't feel like I missed out on much.  I did make it a point to visit the gorilla exhibit because they had a new baby on display!  In fact, this entire park was full of baby animals and they were sooo cute!  Safari Park is actually a breeding facility for many animals that get shipped off to other zoos all over the world. Breeding animals in captivity may not be your cup of tea, but in comparison to stealing them from the wild, this seems much more humane to me.

So to skip to the real reason why I came to Safari Park... The Deluxe Photo Caravan Safari.  We were given a rendez-vous point to meet the rest of our party and get ready for our tour.  After a moment of "Omg, I'm lost", I found it okay.  Our guide gave us some background information and warnings.  From there, we were corralled into an open air safari truck and taken into 3 out of the 5 exhibits. 2 were African exhibits, and the last one was Asian plains. Our guide, Shani, was so knowledgeable and very entertaining! She gave us lots of interesting tid bits of information and answered all of our questions. 

After only 10 minutes into my 3.5 hour tour, I immediately knew it was worth the price.  We actually got to feed two different types of giraffes and a rhino! Every single person had at least 1 turn to feed, and then we went back for group photos/feedings and just kept taking turns until all the food was gone. I'm pretty sure I fed at least 5 different giraffes, since some of the members in our party were afraid.  The experience was so memorable and I have some great pictures ! I absolutely recommend this experience to anyone who loves animals!  It's not quite roar and snore, but it was awesome!

Feeding a Rhino an Apple

That night was pretty low key as I prepared for my night flight back to Boston.  These quick weekend trips are so much fun and I can't wait to go back!

*Quick Note - Stay tuned for more recap posts from 2011 including an extensive review from my 10 days in Egypt!

Happy Travels!

2012 Recap: 3 Days in San Francisco!

Pier 39 Sea Lions

At the end of May/beginning of June, I spent 3 full days in the Bay area being a tourist and attending a friend's wedding in Pleasanton.  Traveling from the east coast to San Fran isn’t so bad, as long as you don’t have any layovers and don’t mind being in a plane for 6 hours and can bounce back pretty quickly from jet lag.  Fortunately, I am ok with long flights.  I have plenty of books downloaded on my Kindle to keep me entertained.

Now, if you know me, you know that I am not the type of person who will just show up somewhere new and see what’s going on.  I have a planned itinerary that has been revised over and over again until it is perfectly coordinated with geographic and personal preferences.  Some people may think I have a bit of OCD, but when you take as many short trips as I do, you learn that a lack of planning usually means missing out on seeing something exciting! This trip was no exception.

Thursday morning started at Fisherman’s Wharf.  Parking was much easier to find that I anticipated.  There were street meters that were good to several hours very close to the area.   Early in the day, Pier 39 was pretty quiet.  Not too many people are out and about looking for the sea lions at that time.  I got some great pictures without having to fight for a spot to sit and watch the marine life.

Locked up in Alcatraz

Around 11 am, I got in line for the Alcatraz Ferry.  I bought my tickets way far in advance and had my printed voucher with me.  It was a good thing too because the tour was completed sold out until the following Sunday.   The ferry ride only lasted about 10 minutes and was pretty calm considering it was so windy on the bay.  Jackets or wind breakers are a must in San Francisco, even in the summer!  I am very glad the audio tour was included in the price of my ticket, but to be honest I did fast forward through it a bit.  There were way too many people staring at one cell, I just couldn’t stand behind them for such an extended period of time.  I mostly walked around on my own while listening to the man speaking in my ears.  I am glad that I went, but I was hoping for something a little creepier… is that weird?  I wanted a genuine spooky experience.  Maybe I should have gone at night.  Hmm, next time!

I went back to the hotel near the airport for the remainder of the afternoon.  Weirdly enough, I found an incredible, but totally random/ seafood distributor/lobster roll vendor on the side of the road where I had lunch.  I know that sounds odd, but my bf had been staying in the area for a few days prior to my arrival and swore that he had eaten there several times without getting sick.  We went back into the city for my birthday dinner at Gary Danko.  Holy deliciousness!  All I have to say is make your reservation months in advance, and prepare to be treated like royalty! I wrote an extensive review here on Yelp if you are interested:  http://www.yelp.com/biz/gary-danko-san-francisco#hrid:rmSksSbQAwI1U2oa6BRgcw

 

Friday morning, I made my way across the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods.  This is where I made my first mistake in planning.  I scheduled in time to stop at Vista Point on my way to Muir Woods for some awesome photo ops, but unbeknownst to me, there is a very dense fog that completely covers the city (including the bridge) in the morning and there is no possible way to get a good photo until the fog burns off.  So, no nice photo on Tina standing by the bridge…sadness L  Ah well, that just meant I got to Muir Woods a little earlier. 

Muir Woods National Park

If you get car sick, or motion sickness, or anything even remotely like it, DO NOT drive to Muir Woods from SF.  It is a beautiful national park with huge redwoods, but you are seriously driving like a crazy person around sharp curves and possible falls to your death up sides of hills.   By around 10 AM, the park was already packed and there was no parking anywhere.  I lucked out and found a spot just as someone else was leaving, but if I didn’t, I’d be walking for at least a mile to get from my car to the park.  The walking paths were incredibly well maintained and the enormous trees provided much needed shade.  There are three paths varying in length, but I only had time to do the short one because I wanted to make sure I had all afternoon to get my wine on in Napa.  I wish I would have had more time there to do the longer trails.

The drive through Sonoma to Napa was really breathtaking.  There are vineyards everywhere you look and wonderful photo ops of the famous wine country.

• Our first stop was for some food at Rutherford Grille.  Conveniently, it is located in the parking lot of Beaulieu Vineyards - our first wine trail stop!  While the food at the restaurant was delicious, BV really let me down.  There were 3 people working behind the tasting bar and they all barely paid any attention to me.  For such a high tasting cost, this is not worth it. 
• Stop 2 was at Robert Mondavi. I love their wine, even back home, so visiting the vineyard was a treat!  There was a pretty long line in the tasting room, so I decided to go into the reserve tasting room to try some of their more exclusive wines.  The man working that room was so personable and willing to give great recommendations.  I ended up buying two bottles of the reserve fume blanc to take home with me.  Also, if you do a tasting, you can purchase a ridel wine glass for $5.



Tasting at Beaulieu Vineyards

• Last stop was at Domaine Chandon for a sparkling wine experience.  Of all the vineyards, this tasting room most closely resembled a lounge/bar.  You could order glasses or a tasting menu from the bar or from couches nearby.  We did the premium tasting menu and had a dozen oysters.  Everything was delicious and I highly recommend making this one of your stops.  The grounds are gorgeous! I purchased a bottle from here for a special occasion back home (still waiting for that to happen).

On the way back, I stopped off to visit some family friends and did not make it back in town that night to do anything exciting.

The next morning, bright and early, I awoke to go explore the Union Square and downtown areas.  My day started with a trip to Starbucks and waiting in line for a solid 20 minutes to ride the cable car.  Was it worth it?  Yes!  This was a totally cool experience, and I bought my round trip ticket right there on the car.  I rode it all the way down to Hyde Street Pier.  From there, I explored the pier and did some shopping in Ghiradelli Square (yum!).  You can get some pretty cool pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge from here.  On the way back on the cable car, I did jump off a few times to explore the cable car museum, lombard street, chinatown, and some other small shops.

Riding on a Historic Cable Car

That was really the end of my day until I needed to get ready for the wedding.  I enjoyed the way the city was completely walkable and I never needed to call a taxi.  I also enjoyed how there were separate neighborhoods, each with a distinct charm.  I imagine I only a portion of the city and would love to go back and see the rest one day!