Napa: Day Two

Morning
We woke up in our hotel room and were quite surprised to see the fog rolling around the field just outside our hotel.  Made us feel a little like we were in a mythical land.  It was a gorgeous way to start the day. We checked out the continental breakfast... which was Sara Lee bagels, some hot coffee and really cold "hot" water for tea.

Instead of driving, we decided to walk into town... mostly because I forgot there was a parking garage right next to the place we needed to go.  Colin wouldn't let me live it down.  "All that walking - just to walk more on the tour!"

We had signed up for the Napa Walking Tour, but got there a bit early.  So we grabbed a nice breakfast at...

Sweetie Pies:  Website
Colin had a breakfast sandwich on a croissant, which I don't think he was a huge fan of.  I had a croissant.  My only complaint was that they didn't initially bring it to me at the table.  I told them that I had never received it, and they said that they had brought it.  I pointed to the table - clearly, no croissant.  They did apologize and give it to me - and I thought it was a nice treat for the morning.  Freshly warmed too.  And their OJ was freshly squeezed.

Napa Valley Walking Tour:  Website

A gorgeous mural in Downtown that George explains

George Webber was a whole bunch of fun.  For only $20 a person (you should probably add a tip in there), it was lovely.  He brings you around, shows you the Napa jail (right in the middle of the city), tells funny stories, shows the old Captain's houses from when Napa used to be a major importer/exporter.  He makes recommendations for wineries to go to and restaurants.  I learned so much on that tour in only two hours - and oh, beer tasting included!  What fun!  He also told us a little known secret about Napa:  Only buy exclusive wines - because wineries will jack up their prices when you buy them directly from them (as an industry, wine is unfortunately not doing so well right now).  Colin and I took that information and only bought winery exclusive wines.  Luckily, the Malbec we had gotten at Rutherford hadn't been distributed either - so we lucked out!

Downtown Joe's Brewery and Restaurant:  Website
Friendly staff, decent food, and really good beer that they will let you taste before you buy - it's a really nice place to grab a quick bite to eat.  This is more of a bar than a high-class place, mind you, so don't expect people to be wearing suits or ties.  Most of Napa is actually laid back with dress code, which is really nice.  Colin didn't like the reuben sandwich he got - it had cabbage instead of the traditional sauerkraut, which he says made it pretty tasteless.  I had the margherita pizza, which was served on a sort of flat bread - and I actually liked it.  For a quick bite in downtown with tons of beer choices, it's a good choice for the beer lover (or just a different taste of Napa Valley).

Castillo di Amorosa: Website
This place is beautiful - and I will talk about it in more depth, because we actually traveled there on Platypus Wine Tours.  But every single staff member was extremely helpful.  We told them we had a time limit of 15 minutes to taste - and Gary S. actually was able to get us in, convince us to buy two delicious reds, and get us out within our time limit.  We made it to our next tour just in time (and they have sheep!)

Beringer Vineyards:  The Taste of Beringer Tour
The hour-long tour options.  We were lucky enough to be on a tour with just two other people!  We had a very informed tour guide.  I forget her name (will post if I remember) - but she pretty much just gives tours for a living.  As she put it, she "moved up to Napa and this is what she wanted to do."  People there are very passionate about their job and their love for wine.  We had a delicious tasting of three wines - reserves and some exclusive - and our guide was very up front as to whether you could buy them outside of their winery.  I think only one was distributed.  They were also paired with delightful food - to demonstrate how the taste of wine changes depending on what you pair it with.  It's a beautiful place, their wine caves are enormous, and it's the only winery that worked all the way through prohibition.  Definitely a "must tour" vineyard!

Skies on the way back to Napa after wine tours

Ubuntu:  Website

We made reservations at Ubuntu, and since it's also a "yoga" studio, we weren't sure exactly what to expect.  Being (mostly) vegan at this point in my life, I wanted to include some crunchy, healthy restaurant.  And this place had great reviews.  We looked at the menu and Colin looks at me, "Where the HECK did you take me to?!"  The menu, as we've discovered, is written in some kind of English-food language we didn't study in school.  I tell our waitress, who is more than understanding, that we're completely overwhelmed by their menu.  We kind of have a laugh - I say that we're in the mood for a semi-light and semi-heavy dish.  She describes some of them and we order.  Let me tell you, the food was absolutely exquisite.  Their staff is friendly and great, and though their menu is some up-scale thing that we couldn't decipher, we enjoyed everything once we got our food.  This place fills up fast - so definitely make reservations!

On day three, we took the tour on the wine train and restaurant hopped.  Look for that in the upcoming week or so.  Hopefully photos to be added to this entry soon!