West Coast trip to Napa Valley and San Francisco

When did we go….

• Oct 24 – Nov 1, 2018

Why did we go…

• friends of ours from Nova Scotia were driving a van they bought from his dad from Calgary to their place in Phoenix
• they asked us to join them for the drive and the timing allowed us to go as far as Napa and San Francisco before I had to fly to Vancouver for an event

How did we get there…

• we drove to Spokane, WA the first night, on to Eugene OR the second night, into Napa on the third day for three nights, and then into San Francisco for two nights
• the drive was beautiful as the leaves were in full yellow transition mode
• our friends Toyota Sienna was very comfortable for the 25 hours we spent on the road

Where did we stay…

• Hotel Lusso in Spokane (part of the Davenport chain, older property, central location in downtown, large rooms, good gym)
• Hampton Inn in Eugene (part of the Hilton chain, outside the downtown area by five minutes, comfortable property)
• Hilton Garden Inn in Napa (located just off the main drag but still relatively quiet, nicely appointed for a mid-range hotel, enjoyed the hot tub)
• Kensington Park Hotel in San Francisco (boutique hotel located in the Union Square area, a bit noisy with protests going on across the street)

Where did we eat…

• Bonners Ferry – The Rusty Moose (old pub style local hangout)
• Spokane – Europa (a nice Italian restaurant in the downtown area)
• Hood River – Solstice Wood Fire (healthy chow in a bright setting)
• Eugene – Oregon Electric Station (historic building in the downtown area with decent food)
• Napa – Napa Valley Bistro (decent menu in downtown Napa)
• Napa – Torq (well appointed upscale joint in downtown Napa)
• Healdsburg – Healdsburg Bar & Grill (on the main square with a nice outdoor patio)
• Yountville – R + D Kitchen (a funky town just north of Napa, upscale restaurant)
• El Cerrito – Cantina del Sol (quaint place on Solana Avenue with good reasonably priced food)
• San Francisco – Zazie in (Haight Ashbury district, a quaint French restaurant with very good food and service)
• San Francisco – Trattoria Contadina (Russian Hill district, an Italian restaurant in an old building with excellent service)

What did we do…

• wineries visited in Napa (Duckhorn, Hall, Joseph Phelps, Del Dotto, V. Sattui, Orin Swift, Robert Mondavi, Beringer Brothers, Cavebread, and Vine Cliff)
• most of these wineries were just tasting facilities on the main drag although a lot of them have great pumpkin displays as we were there at Halloween
• Beringer has beautiful grounds and two historic buildings
• Duckhorn is a nice country setting
• Joseph Phelps has amazing views of their vineyard and is tucked in a beautiful valley setting
• we also had a private tasting at Behrens which are very informative and where we buy a case of private label vino from each year
• went to the market at V. Sattui and had a nice picnic lunch from their deli
• stopped at Berkley University and enjoyed the views from the top of the hill overlooking the Bay area
• San Fran (Chinatown walk including the Fortune Cookie Factory, drinks at Top of the Mark for great views of the city atop Knob Hill, Alcatraz tour, Sausalito drive over the Golden Gate bridge, trolley car ride, Lombard Street curvy road)

What did we not do that is on the agenda for next time:

• drive the Oregon Coast (it would have added too much time to our tight schedule)
• visit the Calistoga Tank Garage Winery which is housed in a repurposed 1930’s gas station with a speakeasy style back room
• explore Golden Gate Park in San Fran

Final thoughts:

• we had beautiful weather which made for easy driving conditions and spectacular scenic viewing
• in the Napa area we would stay in the town of Yountville or Calistoga as they had nice small town, walkable vibes to them