We really enjoy going to Napa Valley now that we’ve been there a few times with Rubi, the RV. This time though Barclay had points to use at Marriott hotels from when he traveled for work( those were the days).

The weather was perfect and there was light traffic going down. It’s only about an hour and a half from here to Napa( closer to 2 if driving slower). We planned on getting there around 10:30am and we did. The first stop is the famous Model Bakery. It was busy as usual but we got coffees and I had one of their famous English muffins toasted. After we regrouped, we decided the one thing we wanted to do was drive up to Calistoga. Years ago, Calistoga was one of our go-to places at the Golden Haven Hot Springs. This was when S was a toddler and maybe up until she was 6 or 7.

The drive up was beautiful with spring flowers and everything emerald green just like Oz. St. Helena was as I remembered it too with lots of old historic buildings. When we got to Calistoga we parked and walked up and down the streets. It was not busy and I certainly would not want to be there during a holiday or summer season. We popped into a great bookstore ad a few other shops.

Every winery you can think of is on this main road( 128). We stopped at Mondavi to check out buying some wine but the cheapest bottle was $35 so, out of our price range. After returning to Napa we went to Safeway and bought 6 bottles of local wines. Chaulk Hill is a favorite that they serve at the pizzeria, so we got that and I think that was the most expensive at $15? If you buy 6 you get 30% off so we got some good deals. And we did pick up a Mondavi private reserve but it was only $8.09 after the 30%.

From there we parked by Oxbow and had our favorite pizza at Live Fire. Oxbow is fantastic when not busy. When it’s busy/packed with people, I get claustrophobic. Fortunately, this was a non-busy day. I also went to the spice shop and got some Tellecherry peppercorns I’ve been wanting.

From there we checked into the fancy Westin Hotel. Very nice but not too pretentious. We were treated very nicely and even got an upgraded room which was lovely. If you’re going to Napa this is a great spot to stay because you can walk everywhere from the hotel. We walked over 5 miles that day and boy, could I feel it.

We rested and were still too full from pizza so we decided to just go back down to Oxbow Market and find a glass of wine at C Casa and have some chips and guacamole. It was perfect and their house wine was delicious. It didn’t say what it was but it was nice. We walked around some and then headed back to the hotel.

We listened to music in the room( Jazz) our favorite and then fell asleep being pretty tired from the day. We’re not spring chickens anymore that’s for sure.

The next morning we were back at Models for delicious breakfast sandwiches and coffee.

This was the upgraded room with a really nice kitchen. If we had known that we would have gone to Trader Joe’s for some food. But all in all, it was fine what we did. Next time we’ll ask for a room like this.