Amyblog

NAPA VALLEY

July flew by so fast but at the very end of the month we managed to squeeze in a quick trip up to Napa to see our wonderful friends, TNK and her family! Although it was a short trip, I ended up with tons of pictures to share. Our drive up to Napa was about 7 and a half hours without any major traffic and a stop for lunch. We listened to The Three Body Problem and was captivated throughout most of the book. However, even by the time we got back to LA, we were only 3/4 of the way through the book! So I never finished it and Mr. BAW is still listening to the rest of the book and he'll give me the Cliff Notes version when he gets done.

Let's get back to beautiful Napa! I share pictures from our amazing private wine tasting experience set up by our friend who is on the board of directors at Chateau Montelena. Wow, did he take care of us, we got a private tasting room with five wines (2 white and 3 reds), along with an accompaniment of cheeses, dried fruits, and nuts. And while our wine guide was telling us about the history of the winery, he brought out two other reds for us to try. Overall, it was a unique experience I'll never forget.

One of my favorite part of the trip also includes just walking around the beautiful town of Yountville and Downtown Napa. Yountville is gorgeous, definitely a very poshy resort town full of fancy restaurants and Spas. The famous restaurant, The French Laundry by Thomas Keller, is in the heart of Yountville and we walked by it but did not dine there, maybe next time. We had a wonderful lunch at Addendum (another Thomas Keller establishment) and enjoyed this amazing fried chicken in a beautiful garden setting. The outdoor garden was so adorable that Ahgoo and I both thought that it would make a great venue for an outdoor wedding. Downtown Napa is just as adorable, with more gift shops and a less poshy, more approachable feel. We loved all the fun elements sprinkled througout downtown like Cha-Cha step, a large squirrel with large acorns, and a giant frog. The river walk is also very charming. We also love the eateries and restaurants in Downtown Napa including breakfast at The Model Bakery and lunch at Oxbow Public Market. There are so many eating options and not enough stomach room. I definitely want to go back to Napa and try more restaurants.

Lastly, we definitely wanted to check out the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Copia. We had an early 50th birthday celebration dinner for Mr. BAW there. They happended to be doing a pizza tour and Mr. BAW loves to make pizza. The dinner itself was good but not amazing. However, the gardens at the CIA was amazing and they even had a little seed exchange (like those little free book exchange boxes) boxes where I got some free corn and kale seeds. Also their cooking museum was fun and definitely worth seeing, I loved the wall of jello molds! Napa, we had a great time and definitely want to be back!!!