As a Christmas gift this year, since Ry is away, my parents and I decided to take a trip to San Francisco and Napa. My parents had never been to Napa so I wanted to show them what a beautiful place it is!
We flew separately into San Francisco airport and from there we rented a car and drove to the Harbour Court Hotel in San Francisco. I love the location of this hotel, right across the street from the Ferry Building, my favorite! After we checked in, we headed straight to the Ferry Building for some Peet's and pastries.
We walked around all the amazing purveyors and then stopped at the wine store to have a glass of wine... Ry called from Okinawa, the best part of my day! I miss him so much and wish he could be with us.
We explored the city during the day and then went back to our Hotel to get ready for dinner. We went to Jardinere and had an amazing feast of gourmet food, it was perfection and I'm so glad my parents like it.
The following morning before checking out, we hopped over to the Ferry Building one more time for Peet's and bread from the Acme Bread Company, there couldn't be a better breakfast!
From Harbour Court, we drove an hour and half out to Napa and checked into our adorable hotel, The Villagio Inn & Spa in Yountville (where French Laundry is located). We loved everything about our hotel, it was so charming and cozy!
After checking in, we headed further north up to St. Helena to have lunch at the acclaimed Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen. Robert, my boss, had highly recommended we go here and boy we were glad to have made the trek out! There was a bottle of wine waiting for us, compliments of my nice boss, and we enjoyed the best lunch ever! We savored every bite and then had the best dessert I've ever had... S'mores with a toasted meringue on top... heavenly!
After lunch, we went to Sterling Winery where we took a gondola up to the tasting room... one of the most breath-taking ways of getting to a winery! We tasted a flight of wines and enjoyed the stunning views from atop.
After Sterling, we headed back towards Yountville and had to stop at Rombauer, our families favorite. We can't get enough of their wine, there is nothing else like it.
After a full day of eating and wine tasting, we picked up a light dinner at a deli to have back at our room. We got to our room, put on our robes and used their spa for a bit. We relaxed and lounged and used their hot tub- the perfect way to unwind! We then had our picnic dinner in our room and watched TV before calling it a night, we had one more fun day ahead of us!
Sunday morning before checking out, we had a delicious breakfast at our hotel. We really enjoyed our stay at The Villagio and hope to go back again soon, it was wonderful all around. We explored Yountville and had to see The French Laundry before we headed back towards San Francisco... we had lunch reservations at Chez Panisse in Berkley! We had a delicious farm-fresh lunch at Chez Panisse and enjoyed every bite of it... talk about an extraordinary culinary weekend!
After lunch, we headed into the city to walk around before we had to go back to the airport. We explored a couple shops on Filmore Street and walked to Pacific Heights to get our last views of the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge and bay. What an amazing weekend, I'm so glad my parents had a blast and I think we did just about all there was to do in San Francisco and Napa!
