Napa Valley Wine Country
The Napa Valley is filled with gorgeous and tasty wineries from below the city of Napa, Domaine Caneros with champagne, up to Chateau Montelena famous as the location in the movie “Bottle Shock”, at the top of the valley. In that movie tastings were free and now tastings range from $25 – $75 and some by appointment only. The price of tastings and cost of wines has gone up considerably over the past twenty years. There are 450 wineries in the valley some of good quality and some questionable. It is, however, a beautiful valley and worth visiting. It is sensible to look on-line for discounts and two for one options, yes it is a little pricey but an experience that will remain with you. The city of Napa was refurbished following an earthquake in 2014, magnitude 6.0. The Napa Valley is very accessible with some excellent restaurants in town and up and down the valley. Napa City is situated on the Napa River and it is at the south end of the Napa Valley. If you were to take a driving loop of the valley I would go north from the city and follow the Silverado Trail up to Calistoga which is a quieter way to go and it is more nestled into the hillsides and come back down HWY 29, at first it is 2 lane then becomes 4 lane as you progress south.
Vina Bello / Meritage Hotel
When we visit Napa we stay at the Vino Bello adjacent to Meritage Hotel just south of the city of Napa. An amazing thing to do when in Napa is to take the ferry from Vallejo, approximately 10 miles south of the city of Napa to the wharf district of San Francisco. We have done this on a number of occasions and if the weather is permitting it proves to be an incredible day. In this area of San Francisco there are art and food markets, possible cruise ships docked, piers to walk out on, many restaurants, a great view of Coit Tower, Alcatraz, and other city landmarks, along with San Francisco Bay. There are a number of destinations in the wharf district that the ferry goes to and when we take this excursion we get off at the Ferry Plaza and walk approximately a mile to Pier 41 and the ferry back to Vallejo. The ferry cost for an adult is $15 and for the disabled 80 cents. The ferry is quick and gives outstanding views of the Bay, the Napa River and of San Francisco as you come in to port.
Walking the Embarcadero, San Francisco
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