Getaway in Napa Valley

Highlights of any visit to the Napa Valley include wine tasting at a sampling of over 100 wineries. Also, many fine restaurants serve delicious meals with special presentations and unique cuisine. In addition, scenic drives through the vineyards are very peaceful and romantic. The town of Calistoga in the north part of the valley is famous for its mineral water and spa treatments.

Quick Tips:

Take your time and enjoy this leisurely respite from the daily life. Wine tasting is a favorite pastime here. There are brochures and flyers found in all hotels and motels, some of which offer discounts and/or complimentary wine tasting. Most wineries do charge -10 per person for wine tasting but will waive the charge if you purchase a bottle of wine. In Calistoga, consider a mud bath treatment with a massage. You will feel like a different person afterwards. Also, do investigate the many bed-and-breakfast establishments in Napa Valley. This is a very personal and romantic way to enjoy the valley.

Best Way To Get Around:

Best way around here is by car. There are organized tours by limousine to the various wineries, but you will be limited in time, and the tours are expensive. Rent a car and make your own leisurely tour using the various guidebooks available at your hotel.

This is a modern motel built in the 1980s but recently renovated. The motel has a pool and whirlpool with natural mineral water. It also has a sauna and a steamroom. Complimentary continental breakfast is served each morning including freshly made waffles. The staff is very friendly and the rooms are large and very comfortable. The motel is about a 5-minute walk from the center of town. As this is a popular resort area, prices are higher on weekends. The motel has an arrangement with a spa across the street and offers a 10% discount on all spa services to its guests. Room telephones have a direct extension to the spa reservation desk.

This is a favorite restaurant in Calistoga. The food is superb, and the service is attentive. In the summer months, service is outdoors on a beautiful patio with a fountain and much greenery. It sits alongside a creek. The cuisine includes meat items, as well as fish and seafood, with very attractive, different and delicious presentations. There is a pub at the Inn, which has live music every evening. On weekends, there is a cover charge of $3-5 per person. The Inn also has its own microbrewery and makes its own beers. There are rooms on the second floor (no elevator) which only have shared bathrooms but are clean and economical. The Inn is a certified historic building.

This is one of the most popular restaurants in Napa Valley, and advance reservations are recommended. For last-minute reservations, either early or late dining is possible, or there are some tables in the bar area that are available on a walk-in basis. The restaurant is beautiful, with a large, open kitchen. The service is very attentive, and the cuisine and presentations are very unique. There is a large selection of appetizers and pasta courses, as well as main courses. We shared an appetizer of whole calamari, which was broiled in a wood oven with a delicious sauce. We also shared a pasta dish of artichoke and riccota raviolis in a sauce that contained pine nuts. The main course was a whole red snapper, which was prepared in the wood oven and boned at the table and topped with lemon oil. This too was enough for two to share. We were too full to consider the wonderful dessert selection, but we did end the meal with expresso and caffe latte and biscotti.

As should be expected, the wine list was extensive. I was offered tastes of three different white wines so that I could make up my mind as to which wine I liked the best. This is a fine restaurant, well worth the effort to make advance plans.

This restaurant has many culinary awards and is rated 4-star by Zagat, Travel and Leisure, Food and Wine, etc. It is so popular that advance reservations as far in advance as possible are highly recommended. It is possible to get last-minute reservations, but they will undoubtedly be very early or very late. It is a small restaurant on a side street in St. Helena in a historic building. There are no signs outside the restaurant. People seem to find it by word of mouth.

The cuisine is unique, with a fusion of Asian and French cuisines. Preparations are all very unique. The restaurant features a cookbook with its recipes. We started our meal with an appetizer of tuna and salmon tartar with sesame crackers. The taste was magnificent. My main course was a sirloin of lamb, thinly sliced, on top of a bouquet of fresh vegetables and fingerling potatoes and a most delicious sauce. My wife had a filet of black cod, which was marinated in a miso broth, served with baby bok choy and jasmine rice. The wine selection was extensive, and I was offered a sampling of two different white wines so that I could choose my favorite. The dessert choices were amazing. I sampled a buttermilk panna cotta, which is like a flan or creme brulee, which was surrounded by a bouquet of fresh orange, grapefruit, and thinly sliced apple. I highly recommend this restaurant for a special treat. It was a highlight of our Napa Valley visit.

Calistoga is famous for its hot springs and mineral water and has many day spas with a variety of treatments. A unique experience is a Calistoga Mud Bath treatment. The treatment consists of a 10-minute stay in a tub of warm mud, which consists of a mixture of volcanic ash, peat, and hot mineral water. The mud is comfortably warm, at about 101 degrees, and an attendant will assist you into and out of the tub and will cover you with the mud. You will have a cold towel on your head and will be given water to drink. The purpose of the mud bath is to open all pores and allow all toxins in your body to be drawn out. Afterwards, you shower off the mud and have a 10-minute mineral bath with Jacuzzi jets and up to 10 minutes in a steamroom, if you desire. This may be followed by a massage and then a wrap and a nap. You feel like a different person afterwards--mellow and relaxed--and your skin feels very soft and clean. Just think, all of this pampering for about $100!

After you experience this once, you'll surely want to do it again. There are about six day spas in Calistoga. I used the Spa at Dr. Wilkinson's Resort, which also has a motel, a whirlpool spa, and indoor and outdoor pools. I was impressed by the professionalism of the spa staff and the cleanliness. Men's and women's facilities are separated.