It was a long weekend here in North America last weekend and Joep & I had originally planned on doing nothing. Since I finished working and became a lady of leisure we both contracted a good old-fashioned bug and were laid up for a good week so we thought it would be best to lay low. Then we realized … life is too short! We should go on an adventure! It was a good choice. I made a last minute online booking for a hotel in Napa Valley and we decided to head up north for a few days!
There are 2 ways to drive up the Napa from our place. We could’ve taken highway 5, which is inland and faster, OR we could take the 1. It goes all the way along the coast and includes the infamous Big Sur region. We decided that the coastal drive was the way to go on the way up and on the way back we would take the less exciting inland route. And so, at 6:30am on Saturday morning we were up, packed and on the road. Impressive.
So on the drive up we hit a lot of the idyllic towns along the coast. Here’s the thing – This drive is pegged as one of the best in the USA. I believe that to be the case however, I think Joep & I have been ruined. We’re spoiled by some of the other amazing coastal drives we’ve been lucky to do in our time … I’m from Australia for goodness sakes. The coast doesn’t get much more spectacular than that. And 2 years ago we drove along the coast of Montenegro down to the Albanian boarded and that was seriously breathtaking.
Don’t get me wrong, the drive was really pretty and if you haven’t done much coastal driving in your time it is likely breathtaking … for us it was another pretty coastal drive. Don’t judge us. In addition, I have to say that the cloud / smog cover impeded a lot of the view a lot of the way. The air quality is a real issue here especially closer to LA and the smog is awful. You feel like you’re driving into a cloud of poisonous gas (drama anyone?!) … That being said, we had a few big highlights along the road up to Napa!!
The first one would have to be Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park – We stopped here to do a couple of hikes and take in the surrounding. The beautiful forests right on the coast are really lovely. The trails were a bit short and didn’t go too far into the parks but I wonder if that was because of the time of year … it could be. This park also has the claim to fame of being home to the only coastal waterfall in California. We were excited to see it … I don’t know what we had in mind but it was something bigger than the trickle of water we saw. Still, we saw the only coastal waterfall in California! Again though, I think it must be more impressive at a different time of year.
The remainder of the drive after our late lunch ecstasy was uneventful and we arrived in Napa at about 5pm which was pretty good considering we took the scenic route, stopped for hikes and had a lovely long lunch! Napa town is super pretty but it doesn’t hold a candle to the amazing surroundings. On Saturday evening we didn’t really know about the surroundings but we had a lovely chilled out dinner before hitting the sack for the evening.
The following morning, bright and early, we packed ourselves a picnic lunch and headed out to Yountville right in the heart of the Napa region. Our plan was to park the car and spend the day biking around the wineries (we took our bikes with us from Laguna … we love our Dodge).
Within minutes of leaving Yountville we were blown away – The region is just beautiful. It reminds us a lot of Margaret River … almost exactly actually. We were completely content. The weather was phenomenal, the surroundings were out of this world beautiful, we were getting some fresh air and we had great company (each other)!!
After biking for a little over an hour we decided to stop for a break and some refreshments. Our first winery was Mumm – We snagged the last seat on the terrace (lucky!) and settled in for some wine tasting. Delicious, refreshing … exactly what the doctor ordered. Still, we had more places to see so after thoroughly enjoying a few beverages we hopped back on our saddles and went on our way.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent biking around various wineries and stopping for a lovely picnic lunch. We were so content!! Alas, by about 4pm my butt was in total agony - this was yet another example of me going on vacation and suddenly thinking I am fitter than I am … there was a short route of wineries to bike and a long route. In my infinite wisdom I demanded that we do the longer route. I regretted it at the very end of the day but I would do it again … this region is too beautiful not to take in as much of it as possible!! So as we turned the final corner into Yountville I dismounted and Joep happily strolled with me back to the car.
We then settled in for a well-earned cold beverage before heading back to Napa town. Upon arrival back in the town we main an executive decision to have an early dinner. It was a good choice. We managed to nab a table at Celadon and we settled in for a seriously delicious meal. Both of us still salivate at the thought of the pork belly salad we had to start. I have vowed to learn how to cook this for Joep …. I’m not sure I’ll b able to master it but I am going to give it my best shot.
The meal was exactly what the doctor ordered after a day of biking around wineries in the sun and before too long we were contentedly full and ready to recline. Heaven.
Monday morning arrived too soon for our liking but we had a couple more things planned. There were 3 wineries that we had wanted to see the day before but couldn’t because there were no safe biking routes leading to them so we hit the road after breakfast to check out these last few wineries.
Beringer looked amazing but alas it wasn’t open by the time we got to it so we only caught a glimpse of the outside. It didn’t matter too much thought because the next stop was Castello di Amarossa. It’s literally a castle in the middle of a winery. It was pretty fantastic. The views are amazing and the weather was, once again, glorious! We had decided to not do a full tour but rather wander around by ourselves. When we first arrived the place wasn’t too busy so we were content wandering around. While wandering around we inadvertently found ourselves heading down some stairs into a cellar.
This cellar had a number of tunnels leading off it that lead into more cellars and more tunnels and so on and so forth. Well we just kept wandering. At one point however it got pretty dark and the wine bottles surrounding us were covered in a thick layer of dust. And we started to wonder if perhaps we were not supposed to be down there. You’d think we would have then turned back right? Nope. We moved onward! We wanted to see what else we could find. It was a total maze of wine filled dungeons and tunnels. Totally cool.
Eventually the novelty wore off and we got tired of hiding from each other and jumping out yelling ‘Boogy boogy boogy boogy boogy!!’ while the other on screamed and said ‘That’s not funny Joep! I hate when you scare me!’ (Yes, Joep did the hiding, I did the screaming … so predictable) and we decided that it was time to head back. A challenge.
After a good amount of aimless wandering we eventually heard voices in the distance. We followed the noise only to come across an employee of the winery. He was less than impressed to see us in the restricted part of the winery but softened a little when we told him we were totally lost and there had been no signs saying we couldn’t be down there … He then lead us back up to the tasting room where we enjoyed a few tastings before it was time to hit the road.
It was with heavy hearts that we left the Napa region. It is really a beautiful spot and makes us SUPER excited about our wedding!!
As I mentioned earlier, we had decided to go inland home, This also afforded us the opportunity to check out the capital of California, Sacramento! The guidebooks don’t give Sacramento the best wrap. I’m not sure they are being accurate. We thought it was a really beautiful city! It is a lot like Perth actually. It is super clean, really pretty and it seems like a nice quiet city. We checked out the parliament and did a drive by the old town (which houses California’s largest concentration of historic buildings) and then it was time to get serious about getting home at a reasonable hour.
The remainder of the day was spent driving inland through California – We actually LOVED the scenery inland! It was different to other scenery we have seen and the colours were so vivid!
We arrived back in Laguna in time to chill out on the couch with Chinese and reminisce about a seriously wonderful weekend! Napa – It has stolen our hearts!
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