My honey and I decided to attend our church’s marriage retreat. It did not hurt that is was located in Napa Valley.
DH had a Worship commitment Friday night, so I went to Napa with friends Friday day. We attended the culinary tour, then they dropped me off at the hotel. I had a mani/pedi at the spa, ordered room service, and watched a bunch of TLC shows (we don’t have cable, so this was a treat :)) DH (‘Dear Hubby’) joined late Friday evening and we enjoyed an incredible day listening to speakers.
Saturday evening, I took DH back to the Oxbow Market and we walked the culinary tour route. While walking along the riverfront, we had a celebrity spotting and saw chef Morimoto sitting at a table outside his Napa restaurant. The foodie fan in me was all googly-eyed, but I restrained from asking for an autograph or making silly waving-pointing gestures.
Some friends of our recommended staying at the Avia Hotel in downtown Napa. Even though we already were staying at the Marriott for the retreat, we decided to go into the lobby and check it out. I love boutique hotels and this one definitely fit the bill.
As we were strolling by the restaurant the hostess suggested we check out their second floor deck. We found a row of chair swings, each in its own private setting. It was delightful. DH and I sat gently swinging until we decided to track down dinner.
We went back to the Oxbow Market and had dinner at a place that makes wood-fired pizza. Ca’Momi. We shared a soup and planned on eating one pizza, but ended up ordering a second one, it was that good…
After another great morning of speakers, the retreat ended at noon. They provided us with a box lunch to take for the drive home or to go somewhere for a picnic. I decided to take DH to Sonoma since he has not been. We also decided to try to stick to the back roads as much as possible. We had the roof off the Jeep and it made for an amazing day.
The most northern and last built of the California missions is in Sonoma. DH and I toured it and the soldier’s barracks next to it.
The sanctuary…
Sonoma is a very charming town, with shops, boutique hotels, and restaurants surrounding a town square/park. They had a big community BBQ going on with live music. We planted ourselves under a tree and enjoyed the music and our box lunches.
We decided to try to drive home using back roads the whole way. So glad we did! What an incredible drive!!
Roof down. Music loud. Driving slow…
Lake Berryessa…
Driving near Lake Berryessa, we passed a store/eatery/bar called ‘Turtle Rock’. It’s definitely a local landmark, with a bit of attitude (I had to hard glance one of the servers), but it was a fun discovery. They are ‘famous’ for their egg rolls and make batch after batch that disappear as quickly as they are made. We ordered one to say we did it. Not exactly earth-changing, but a fun novelty.
They apparently have been around forever and have a tradition where people decorate or sign a dollar bill and post it somewhere. They remove the money around every five years. Here is the current decor…
We were able to make it all the way home using back roads (except for one tiny part of on-ramp/off ramp of I-5). I don’t know how long it took, and would definitely take the back roads again. It was a special trip.
