** Warning; this is a LONG post. I went a little overboard! :) #sorrynotsorry
A few weeks ago we flew to Napa Valley for a getaway to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. It was such an amazing, relaxing and fun trip, I thought I'd share a few photos and our itinerary. I LOVE to research things to do and places to go, so it's fun for me to share with you, dear reader. :)
I'll start by saying we've only been to Napa once before. However, our first trip was a great intro to northern Cali - a few days in wine country followed by a trip the Redwoods, a drive down the Pacific Coast Highway, and a long afternoon in San Francisco doing the necessary tourist stops. It was wonderful and I recommend doing it that way first. But this time, since we had some of that stuff off the list already, we focused on wine and food and relaxation.
We flew in early Tuesday morning and drove immediately to
The Carneros Inn. I honestly don't have enough praise for this resort, its staff, the amenities, the decor, the lodging (our private cottage with a fireplace, outdoor shower, patio, etc...!!) and more. It was all we could hope for and more! We arrived at our resort around lunch and sat by the pool all afternoon drinking cocktails and soaking up some much needed sun.
On day 1, we had dinner at Micheal Chiarello's Bottega in downtown Yountville. Here's a little selfie from our cottage's patio.
We arrived a few minutes early to dinner at Bottega so we could walk around Thomas Keller's garden outside his famed French Laundry. It's enormous and is beautiful at sunset!
Day 2 - we woke up early and drove to grab breakfast at Bouchon Bakery. Yum!!!!!
From there, we drove North to our tour and tasting at Schramsberg for a sparkling wine tasting (nothing like a 10:00 am start to drinking)! The history and tradition is what it's all about. Loved it!!!
From there, we went for lunch at Gott's Roadside. I first heard about this place after watching one of Ina Garten's shows when she and Jeffrey were in Napa. So fun!!
The rest of the day was spent driving around and wine hopping - we stopped at Silver Oak, Plumpjack, Stags Leap and Domaine Carneros. Hint - always be sure to share tastings when you just stop in places. It takes less time (in case you don't like the wine or vibe) and requires less drinking (remember we were driving)! :) It was crush/harvest when were there and was soo cool to see grapes on the vines.
On Day 2, we had dinner at our resort at it's amazing restaurant FARM. So delish and a perfect end to our busy day on the road. :)
On Day 3, Mr. Evans woke up early for a sunrise swim in the pool. He snapped the photo below - you can still see the fog rising! We went for breakfast at Boon Fly Cafe at our resort - yum! Can you tell we like to eat and drink yet?
Our first stop on Day 3 was a seated tasting at Frog's Leap. We loved it here! The wine, grounds and overall vibe were right up our alley. We joined their wine club and even took home a few jars of their peach preserves (handmade right on site) for our wine/cheese tastings at home!
That day for lunch, we headed to Ad Hoc Addendum for its famous fried chicken lunch! Mr. Evans was in heaven. Since I don't eat or cook chicken, I had BBQ ribs. Just as delish though!
After lunch, we made a quick stop at Artesa and then headed up to meet up with the lovely girl below at Scribe Winery. We LOVED it here too (joined their wine club as well). Megan and Dan were on their honeymoon and we all met up for a seated tasting (I was a bridesmaid in her wedding just a few weeks ago and ironically our trips just matched up)! So fun seeing them!
After meeting up with the Brandel's and sharing an extra bottle of red, Mr. Evans and I went to dinner at Redd. We sat outside by the fireplace and honestly couldn't have had a better time!
Day 4 - breakfast at Boon Fly (again)!! We then said goodbye to the incredibly wonderful Carneros Inn and headed down to Berkeley where we met up with Dermot, our good friend from Ireland who is a Post-Doc at the UC Berkeley. We had lunch "on campus" (man alive I felt old... haha) and then walked around a while, caught up, and went up in Sather Tower.
From there, we intended to head to the airport to catch a flight home. However........ our flight was cancelled after a fire/issues at an FAA facility near O'Hare (which caused crazy headaches for travellers across the country). Since we knew our flight was cancelled, rebooked, rescheduled, and then delayed a subsequent 5 more times over the next 24 hours, we made the most of our time in San Francisco. Luckily, the amazing concierge at gave us some cool recommendations to check out. First, we drove by the painted ladies (aka the "Full House" houses) on our way to the Mission/Valencia district. It fun to walk around and we even stopped in at Dandelion Chocolate (so interesting)!
For dinner that night we went to the Soma Streat Food Park where different food trucks park every night. So awesome! I had watermelon sangria and we split snap pea fries, pork carnita, and an amazing pizza with pear, gorgonzola and arugula. Such a cool place!
From there, it's all blah blah. More airport headaches and delays and more. However... it was ALL worth it! Such a great trip and so fun to come home to our little girls!! We sure missed them and couldn't wait to get home to smooch them to pieces! :)
If you made it this far... phew! Crazy long post!! But, it's fun to document for my own reference so thanks for bearing with me!
