Visit to Napa and San Francisco--Update #17--Still Need Advice!

[ducklite]

Some of you might have seen the thread I had on the Community Board. I've "abandoned" it as our plans have changed pretty significantly, so I'm starting over here.

We're flying into Oakland on February 2, we arrive around 11:15 am. We will have only carry-on luggage. We will rent a car and drive north to Calistoga and visit Sterling Vineyards, then south to Rutherford where we will stop at Mumm Napa for a tasting.

We're going to stay at the Embassy Suites in Napa. We'll need someplace to eat that night, we think we'll be pretty beat from getting up before 4:00 am to catch our flight, so something casual would be best.

Sunday we've got reservations for the Wine Train with a tour of Domaine Chandon. That's pretty much an all day thing. Because the lunch on the train is a full meal, we don't think we'll need much for dinner this night, we'll probably just split a couple of appetizers at the hotel bar.

Monday we're thinking about hiring a car service and taking a wine tour. We want to visit Opus, Caymus, Cakebread, Jarvis, and Domaine Carneros. (We know that we need to make prior reservations at most of those.) We'd like to plan a really nice dinner this night. DH won't have a suit, but will have a jacket and tie if needed.

Tuesday we're looking for a "must see" someplace between Napa and San Francisco. We want to drive down 101 through Marin County and enter of the Golden Gate, probably stopping in the park before we turn in the car. We'll be checking into the Hilton Fishermans Wharf. We'll explore the Fishermans Wharf area and have dinner someplace casual that night.

Wednesday we want to take the night time Alcatraz tour. During the day we're thinking Coit Tower, Lombard Street, and beyond that we'd like suggestions.

Thursday we'll change hotels to the Fairmont. We need some ideas for things to do that day. We also need dining ideas. We looked at Gary danko, but we don't think that we'll have "fancy" enough clthes with us.

Friday,

Saturday again we're wide open. We will be taking the BART to Oakland airport arounf 9:00 pm Saturday night to catch a red-eye back to Orlando.

Sooo.... help us fill in the empty spaces. What should we do? We enjoy culture, architecture, history, good food, walking, people watching.

Thanks!

 

[debabe723]

Sounds like a great trip, Anne. I lived in the Bay Area for 9 years so hope I can come up with a few things.

I don't have any ideas for the drive from Napa to SF. I know there are lots of options...I'll try to think of some later.

Be warned that in February it is going to be cold, windy and possibly rainy in the City. The night trip to Alcatraz is great but Alcatraz is cold and windy during the day and will be twice as much during the night (but still worth it). The tour really gives you an idea of how it must have been for the prisoners to be on that cold rock, seeing the beautiful city lights...so close, yet so far. If the wind is just right, you can even hear the cable car bells from the rock. The boat ride over will be choppy and rough too so if you have any type of seasickness, take some medication before hand.

As far as places to eat, there are tons in the Fisherman's Wharf area. You are close to North Beach too, which has great, authentic Italian. Fun to walk to this area in the daytime to watch the older gentlemen play Bocci (sp?). Also in North Beach is the show Beach Blanket Babylon. Its a San Francisco tradition and a great evening out. Tickets can be hard to come by so check out their website and see what you can get while you are there.

Not far from the wharf is also the Buena Vista cafe (I think it is still there...I had heard rumors of it closing). Its the home of the original Irish Coffee and nothing is better on a cold night in San Francisco than a hot Irish coffee.

As far as your other days, the Marina is a nice, upscale area with shops and boutiques (they have fought hard to keep the mom and pop flavor of area stores). You can also ride the cable car from Fisherman's Wharf to Union Square, where there is lots of shopping and restaurants. You can also walk the few blocks from Union Square to Chinatown, which has the largest Chinese population outside of China. Lots to see and eat there.

That's all I can think of for now. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions and I'll try to think of more. HTH

Debbie

 

[barkley]

foothill cafe is excellent food but your dh would have no problem sans a jacket. it's close to embassy-go over the freeway overpass adjacent to the hotel, make a left onto the surface road and then a right on old sonoma road. it's in a funky little tiny strip mall (grocery store, laundry mat). a quick drive or taxi ride away. it's very nice inside and it gets raves from the restaurant critics.

as for your first night-rings, the restaurant inside embassy suites is very good. you could eat in the restaurant or just order from room service (if you want more than the room service menu lists you can go downstairs take a gander at the menu and the specials and still call it in-they only list the standards but will provide whatever the restaurant is offering that night). if they still do their 'killer bread' def. order it, it's a garlic lovers delight and was a closely guarded secret recipie for years (till bon appetite got they to release it for publication ).

how are you doing the tour of domain and the wine train? there's no stops (except when they turn around in st. helena for the return trip and you can't get off) so keep in mind if it's before, to time it right for the drive from yountville back to the station in napa (highway 29 won't be an issue, but depending on traffic it can take longer than you expect getting from the freeway to the station. lincoln avenue to soscol might be the most direct route).

if you like people watching and walking around a pretty, picturesque town a stop in tiburon might be nice. the shops by the water are not as junky touristy as those at fisherman's wharf or pier 39 and the area is realy nice.

the embassy suites in napa is quite nice, and if you are into swimming or a soak in the hot tub it's inside so even in nasty weather it's plesant. the appetizers are realy good, and depending on the time of day they have some great specials. it can get kind of loud in the bar at times, it's adjacent to the area that is rented out for weddings and other events-and sometimes just the music in the bar itself can get overbearing for my taste. there is some seating in the area that they do the breakfast and manager's 'cocktail' reception in so that's an option if you want to sit elsewhere (in the atrium).

just a suggestion-on tuesday when you head towards san francisco, don't leave too early. the traffic can be a dog with all the commuters heading both out of napa and from elsewhere into san francisco. delaying a couple of hours can save you that couple of hours just sitting in bumper to bumper.

 

[ducklite]

Sounds like a great trip, Anne. I lived in the Bay Area for 9 years so hope I can come up with a few things.

I don't have any ideas for the drive from Napa to SF. I know there are lots of options...I'll try to think of some later.

Be warned that in February it is going to be cold, windy and possibly rainy in the City. The night trip to Alcatraz is great but Alcatraz is cold and windy during the day and will be twice as much during the night (but still worth it). The tour really gives you an idea of how it must have been for the prisoners to be on that cold rock, seeing the beautiful city lights...so close, yet so far. If the wind is just right, you can even hear the cable car bells from the rock. The boat ride over will be choppy and rough too so if you have any type of seasickness, take some medication before hand.

Yeah, we realize it's going to be on the way chilly side, but it was the only time frame we could find that we were both available and we could get the frequent flyer seats. We're planning on bringing a lot of stuff we can layer, plus hats, scarves, and gloves. Good to know about the ferry ride. I get a little green, so I'll bring my sea bands.

I think we're going to leave Napa and swing over to 101 and stop at Muir Woods, then proceed down through Marin County and cross teh Golden Gate into SF. We've decided to not rush to get the car back by noon, and just take our time and pay the extra day's rental and turn it in whenever we are ready to. We're propbably going to rent from Budget, as they have a drop off point right at Fisherman's Wharf, and we can either walk or catch a cab to the Hilton from there.

As far as places to eat, there are tons in the Fisherman's Wharf area. You are close to North Beach too, which has great, authentic Italian. Fun to walk to this area in the daytime to watch the older gentlemen play Bocci (sp?).

We found a walking tour of North Beach/Little Italy that we're going to book, they take you to a bunch of places to sample various foods.

Also in North Beach is the show Beach Blanket Babylon. Its a San Francisco tradition and a great evening out. Tickets can be hard to come by so check out their website and see what you can get while you are there.

I'll look into that, thanks! It's going to be cold at night and get dark early, so we were looking for some evening things to do, this might be perfect.

Not far from the wharf is also the Buena Vista cafe (I think it is still there...I had heard rumors of it closing). Its the home of the original Irish Coffee and nothing is better on a cold night in San Francisco than a hot Irish coffee.

One of the things we were thinking about doing when we're at the Fairmont was going lobby bar hopping to a few of the grand old hotels in the area one evening.

As far as your other days, the Marina is a nice, upscale area with shops and boutiques (they have fought hard to keep the mom and pop flavor of area stores). You can also ride the cable car from Fisherman's Wharf to Union Square, where there is lots of shopping and restaurants. You can also walk the few blocks from Union Square to Chinatown, which has the largest Chinese population outside of China. Lots to see and eat there.

I'm pretty sure I ate at a place in Chinatown that was supposed to be a landmark back in 1989 or so, but so much of those years is just a blur...

That's all I can think of for now. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions and I'll try to think of more. HTH

Debbie

Thanks for your help!

 

[ducklite]

foothill cafe is excellent food but your dh would have no problem sans a jacket. it's close to embassy-go over the freeway overpass adjacent to the hotel, make a left onto the surface road and then a right on old sonoma road. it's in a funky little tiny strip mall (grocery store, laundry mat). a quick drive or taxi ride away. it's very nice inside and it gets raves from the restaurant critics.

Great info, thanks! We love "funky" hidden gems. If you're ever in Philly, try Serrano, it's a great dinner option in a funky old building with great food and a fairly casual atmosphere.

as for your first night-rings, the restaurant inside embassy suites is very good. you could eat in the restaurant or just order from room service (if you want more than the room service menu lists you can go downstairs take a gander at the menu and the specials and still call it in-they only list the standards but will provide whatever the restaurant is offering that night). if they still do their 'killer bread' def. order it, it's a garlic lovers delight and was a closely guarded secret recipie for years (till bon appetite got they to release it for publication ).

Oh yum! We're now staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Napa for the first night (Hilton Honors Points situation) and then moving the next morning to the ES. So if you know of a place near the HGI, we'd love to hear about it.

how are you doing the tour of domain and the wine train? there's no stops (except when they turn around in st. helena for the return trip and you can't get off) so keep in mind if it's before, to time it right for the drive from yountville back to the station in napa (highway 29 won't be an issue, but depending on traffic it can take longer than you expect getting from the freeway to the station. lincoln avenue to soscol might be the most direct route).

They offer it as an add-on. I have no idea how it works, but it's on their web site and we signed up for it.

if you like people watching and walking around a pretty, picturesque town a stop in tiburon might be nice. the shops by the water are not as junky touristy as those at fisherman's wharf or pier 39 and the area is realy nice.

Noted! We're not into "junky touristy" for sure, and prefer to find the out of the way gems. We figure after about half a day at Fishermans Wharf we will ahve had enough of it.

the embassy suites in napa is quite nice, and if you are into swimming or a soak in the hot tub it's inside so even in nasty weather it's plesant.

We'll bring our bathing suits.

the appetizers are realy good, and depending on the time of day they have some great specials. it can get kind of loud in the bar at times, it's adjacent to the area that is rented out for weddings and other events-and sometimes just the music in the bar itself can get overbearing for my taste.

Eh, that doesn't really bother me. Heaven & Hell, 123 Db at the soundboard, that bothered me. But 80 Db is a normal working day for me.

there is some seating in the area that they do the breakfast and manager's 'cocktail' reception in so that's an option if you want to sit elsewhere (in the atrium).

It sounds like a pretty typical ES, that would be a good option for us. It's not the noise but the crowds that aren't our cup of tea.

just a suggestion-on tuesday when you head towards san francisco, don't leave too early. the traffic can be a dog with all the commuters heading both out of napa and from elsewhere into san francisco. delaying a couple of hours can save you that couple of hours just sitting in bumper to bumper.

I think that we're going to go visit the CakeBread Winery on Tuesday at take the tour at 10 or 10:30 in the morning. Leave there around noon and head south, then stop at Muir Woods. We'll arrive in SF in the late afternoon, so I would assume we'll be going against the bulk of the traffic.

 

[barkley]

Great info, thanks! We love "funky" hidden gems. If you're ever in Philly, try Serrano, it's a great dinner option in a funky old building with great food and a fairly casual atmosphere.



Oh yum! We're now staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Napa for the first night (Hilton Honors Points situation) and then moving the next morning to the ES. So if you know of a place near the HGI, we'd love to hear about it.


the hilton is right off of highway 29 and just a few miles further away from foothill-so it's still a great option. right around the hilton there's not allot except a marie callendars you will be close to town still (embassy is close to) so you could check out some of the places there. there's lots of high end fancy schmancy places, but some places that offer good food in a much more relaxed atmosphere. the napa convention and visitor's bureau website gives some good info. on all the different offerings.

now-since you are going to be up-valley hitting the wineries anyway...the absolute top place i would reccommend for AWSOME food, but in an atmosphere where dh would def. not feel uncomfortable sans a suit is 'ALL SEASONS CAFE AND WINE SHOP' in calistoga. there food is incredible and beautifully prepared. an added advantage is the wine shop in the restaurant-you can buy wines from all over the valley, and if you want pay a minimal corkage fee and enjoy it for much less than you would pay for wine at any other eaterie in the area. in napa proper (downtown near wine train depot) is 'chanterelle'-french menu (but not strictly limited to french foods), VERY romantic, a jacket and tie would be fine, but it's def. a nice place.

for casual, relaxed dining-'downtown joes' (in downtown napa). diverse menu ranging from very good burgars to pasta, fish, steaks...best mexican in town-'red hen cantina' (downtown napa), best ribs in town-red rock (downtown napa).

 

[SanFranciscan]

I have lived in San Francisco since 1987, not counting a brief period in 1985. That probably means I know less than the average tourist, just like the Orlando locals I was asking for information three weeks ago. How much time does anybody spend touring their own city; right? Maybe I can still help.

If you like museums, we have quite a few that attract crowds. I remember really liking the Legion of Honor, even though I am more of a science person than an art person. My friend lived near there in the Sea Clift area, and there are some beautiful ocean views and lovely old houses in the area. The Academy of Sciences is due to reopen next year, but I don't think that is until June. In the meantime they have a small, temporary place down south of Market Street.

Without skiing, beach resorts, theme parks, or even camp grounds in this city, in which the leading industry is tourism, it is easy to see that San Francisco's leading industry is shopping. If you have an interest in that, the stores on Chestnut Street in the Marina and Fillmore Street in the Pacific Heights area have a certain small-town-Main Street charm in this age of urban sprawl and shoppng malls.

The Fisherman's Wharf area, as someone else here has already said, is a T-shirt and postcard kind of area. However, there are some nice views to be seen from there; and some of the street performers are pretty entertaining.

 

[ducklite]

the hilton is right off of highway 29 and just a few miles further away from foothill-so it's still a great option. right around the hilton there's not allot except a marie callendars you will be close to town still (embassy is close to) so you could check out some of the places there. there's lots of high end fancy schmancy places, but some places that offer good food in a much more relaxed atmosphere. the napa convention and visitor's bureau website gives some good info. on all the different offerings.

I'll take a look at the site and see what looks good.

now-since you are going to be up-valley hitting the wineries anyway...the absolute top place i would reccommend for AWSOME food, but in an atmosphere where dh would def. not feel uncomfortable sans a suit is 'ALL SEASONS CAFE AND WINE SHOP' in calistoga. there food is incredible and beautifully prepared. an added advantage is the wine shop in the restaurant-you can buy wines from all over the valley, and if you want pay a minimal corkage fee and enjoy it for much less than you would pay for wine at any other eaterie in the area.

Hmmm, maybe that might work for our first night there. Would it make sense to stop in Rutherford at Mumm, then north to Sterling in Calistoga? We'd like to see the gyeser and fainting goats up there as well, then we could go for an early dinner, then head down to Napa and check-in. Thoughts?

in napa proper (downtown near wine train depot) is 'chanterelle'-french menu (but not strictly limited to french foods), VERY romantic, a jacket and tie would be fine, but it's def. a nice place.

That might work well for our last night in Napa, although...

for casual, relaxed dining-'downtown joes' (in downtown napa). diverse menu ranging from very good burgars to pasta, fish, steaks...best mexican in town-'red hen cantina' (downtown napa), best ribs in town-red rock (downtown napa).

Red Hen Cantina sounds yummy--we love Mexican food!

Are cabs readily available in the area? We'll be doing a fair amount of imbibing, and would rather spring $10 for a cab. How is the parking on Napa near these restaurants? Is it free or pay, and if pay is it feed the meter a few quarters, or $20 for three hours in a lot?

Thanks for all of your help so far, you've been most informative!

 

[barkley]

I'll take a look at the site and see what looks good.



Hmmm, maybe that might work for our first night there. Would it make sense to stop in Rutherford at Mumm, then north to Sterling in Calistoga? We'd like to see the gyeser and fainting goats up there as well, then we could go for an early dinner, then head down to Napa and check-in. Thoughts?



That might work well for our last night in Napa, although...



Red Hen Cantina sounds yummy--we love Mexican food!

Are cabs readily available in the area? We'll be doing a fair amount of imbibing, and would rather spring $10 for a cab. How is the parking on Napa near these restaurants? Is it free or pay, and if pay is it feed the meter a few quarters, or $20 for three hours in a lot?

Thanks for all of your help so far, you've been most informative!

cabs in napa are easy to come by-you can call the hotel desk and they can get one for you-and the napa police are quick to pull over people (my friends who work in law enforcement there talk about being on 'tourist patrol' on the weekends ). funny thing-the wine train was originaly marketed to the city and investers as a means to cut down drunk driving. the original proposal was to have stations up and down the valley with little shuttle vans to the wineries. that way people could go wine tasting and never have to drive themselves (the area hotels were going to shuttle people to the nearest stations). the creator of the wine train (who just died a week or so ago, and had more world wide fame as the inventor of 'rice a roni') got the project pushed through-and then dropped all the stops, leaving it strictly as a train with meals. there's still allot of people in napa who HATE that train, and i think there are still some snarky signs you can see on the property adjacent to the tracks. one of the biggest sources of anger was the maintainance of the tracks-the contracted people lived down in the bay area, and for a period of time there was a problem with the guard arms lowering for no reason-so the arms would lower in town, blocking traffic, and it would take a couple of hours before someone could come and get them back up

parking by the restaurants is pretty good-i don't think there are any that charge, and the public lots are free (i think the only parking meters stop charging in the evening-and they are'nt in the parking lots).

as for where to go when-check and see what hours the different places operate and then plan it out, it's not a huge distance between rutherford and calistoga, but the geysers are a bit outside calistoga so plan on having to back track a tad.

if you decide to go to all seasons give them a call ahead of time and see if you will need a ressie-sometimes you do, sometimes not.

just as an aside since you will be in the area-if you are at all a fan of 'jelly bellys'-the factory is in fairfield which is'nt a huge drive from napa. it's a great tour, and you can get a great deal on 'belly flops'-they are the jelly beans that don't meet the perfect appearance standards.

 

[ducklite]

cabs in napa are easy to come by-you can call the hotel desk and they can get one for you-and the napa police are quick to pull over people (my friends who work in law enforcement there talk about being on 'tourist patrol' on the weekends ). funny thing-the wine train was originaly marketed to the city and investers as a means to cut down drunk driving. the original proposal was to have stations up and down the valley with little shuttle vans to the wineries. that way people could go wine tasting and never have to drive themselves (the area hotels were going to shuttle people to the nearest stations). the creator of the wine train (who just died a week or so ago, and had more world wide fame as the inventor of 'rice a roni') got the project pushed through-and then dropped all the stops, leaving it strictly as a train with meals. there's still allot of people in napa who HATE that train, and i think there are still some snarky signs you can see on the property adjacent to the tracks. one of the biggest sources of anger was the maintainance of the tracks-the contracted people lived down in the bay area, and for a period of time there was a problem with the guard arms lowering for no reason-so the arms would lower in town, blocking traffic, and it would take a couple of hours before someone could come and get them back up

Interesting history! I can see why locals would be upset about the way the system was managed. I think I would have preferred it if it was more of a "shuttle" to the various wineries, although we're looking forward to it. We'll likely take a cab to and from the station, if our hotel doesn't offer a shuttle.

parking by the restaurants is pretty good-i don't think there are any that charge, and the public lots are free (i think the only parking meters stop charging in the evening-and they are'nt in the parking lots).

OK, good to know.

as for where to go when-check and see what hours the different places operate and then plan it out, it's not a huge distance between rutherford and calistoga, but the geysers are a bit outside calistoga so plan on having to back track a tad.

Not a big deal. I'm definitely going to call every place in advance and get the hours, plus find out if I need a reservation, I know a lot of the wineries we want to visit require one.

if you decide to go to all seasons give them a call ahead of time and see if you will need a ressie-sometimes you do, sometimes not.

Will do!

just as an aside since you will be in the area-if you are at all a fan of 'jelly bellys'-the factory is in fairfield which is'nt a huge drive from napa. it's a great tour, and you can get a great deal on 'belly flops'-they are the jelly beans that don't meet the perfect appearance standards.

I told DH about this, and he definitely wants to stop there. Oh goody, Jelly Beans and wine, what a combo. Seriously, sounds like a nice diversion, and I love the name "Belly FLops" that's too funny!

Again, thanks for your help! I'm sure I'll have more questions soon.

 

[ducklite]

Any suggestions on a car service or limo company? We'll want to hire them for a day of tasting and touring on Monday.

 

[tll]

One of the best dinners I've ever had in San Francisco was at a Chinese Restaurant, I believe the name is Nan Kings (it's been a few years). You need to be a little adventuorus because when we started to order our waiter asked us if we had ever been there before and when we said no he told us he would bring us something good. Everything he brought was great and I would have never thought to order any of it.

It was very busy and they crowded you in so you were sitting next to people you don't know, however, that was fun to we got to visit with people we had never met.

Maybe someone else knows a little more about it, I thought it was great.

 

[nskjerven]

I see you posted plans to be on the Wine Train. I have to tell you last year we made that our dinner out night on a 2 night stay and it was HORRIBLE!!!! The train itself while charming and a fun experience was so not worth what it costs to have a bad dinner. Also there are so many great resturants in the valley that I was disappointed that we wasted a night on this event. Stay far away from the house wine. I see you have some great winneries listed (cakebread my favorite) and the "train" wine I had to send back it was so bad.

just my .02 cents. I know they have some tight reservations, i.e. if you bought your tickets, you might be stuck with them.

 

[ducklite]

I see you posted plans to be on the Wine Train. I have to tell you last year we made that our dinner out night on a 2 night stay and it was HORRIBLE!!!! The train itself while charming and a fun experience was so not worth what it costs to have a bad dinner. Also there are so many great resturants in the valley that I was disappointed that we wasted a night on this event. Stay far away from the house wine. I see you have some great winneries listed (cakebread my favorite) and the "train" wine I had to send back it was so bad.

just my .02 cents. I know they have some tight reservations, i.e. if you bought your tickets, you might be stuck with them.

We were actually planning on doing it as an enjoyable afternoon with lunch. now you've got me nervous. We can cancel up to 24 hours in advance, maybe I need to think about this. It is a lot of money, but we fingured we'd see some scenery and just relax.

Cakebread is one of my favorites--by far my favorite Chardonay.
If you like champagnes, do yourself a favor and try Champagne, Blanc de Blancs, Chartogne-Taillet. With a price point of generally under $30 a bottle, you'll be shocked to find it's almost undistinguishable from Perrier Jouet Fleur Blanc de Blanc, which costs eight times as much!

 

[nskjerven]

I hate to be a buzz kill, but I wish we did not do it. We live in San Jose, just 3 hours south of Napa and I've always thought it sounded fun. I love trains too but frankly the food really made it a bummer. The sad thing was it was for DH bday. If I had it to do over again, I'd have a cab/limo take us on a wine tour or out to dinner and enjoy the spirits.

DH found tonight that our wine rack is empty of whites, so I think we need to do a little shopping this weekend, and I will take you up on the suggestion. I'm a champage snob. Dom is pretty much the only one I like. PJ is the next closest thing, Vive C isn't suited for my pallet.

 

[ducklite]

Another really good champange is NV Paul Goerg Blanc de Blancs, again with under a $30 price point.

 

[ducklite]

The planning is coming along nicely, and so far we're still in our budget--barely.

Here's the latest plan--I'd love to hear comments!

Saturday--Fly into OAK and rent a car. (Got a great deal from Alamo!!) Drive to Calistoga and see the geyser and fainting goats, then tour Sterling Vineyards and do a tasting there. After that we're going to have dinner at Brannan's, the drive to Napa and check-in to the Hilton Garden Inn. We'll need a grocery store someplace between Calistoga and Napa if anyone has any ideas...

Sunday we're going to take the wine train and as part of that, we'll tour Domaine Chandon. Sunday night for dinner we're going to have dinner at Downtown Joe's.

Monday we're hiring a car service to take us touring and tasting. Our first stop will be Opus One, then on to Cakebread. We'll stop at V. Sattui and have lunch plus do some tasting. Then we're going to Caymus and finishing the day at Mumm Napa. We haven't decided on dinner yet that night.

Tuesday we're checking out, and our first stop is a tour at Jarvis. We'll stop for lunch someplace, then tour Del Dotto. Then it's off to Fairfield to the Jelly Belly factory! After that we'll drive to San Francisco and drop off the car, then take a cab to the Hilton at Fisherman's Wharf. We'll head over to Fisherman's Wahrf and have dinner at one of the restaurants there, and probably book dinner for the next night at a different one while we are there.

Wednesday we've booked a Taste of the City Walking Tour of North Beach/Little Italy. That ends about 12:30, and we don't have plans for the rest of the day. We're going to play it by ear.

Thursday we've got to get up early. We need to check out of the Hilton and take our bags to the Fairmont to check them, then be at the Embarcadero by 8:30 am. We're taking an all day tour of both San Francisco and Muir Woods. The City Tour takes us to half a dozen places we want to visit, but would require a couple of transfers and such on MUNI, so this works out well for us. It returns back to the Embarcadero at 5:30, and we'll get situated in our room at the Fairmont and have dinner at the Laurel Court.

Friday we don't have morning plans yet, maybe Coit Tower, the Fireman's Museum? At some point during the week I want to visit the grave of a former boss of mine, and this might be the time to do it. We're thinking maybe afternoon tea at the Fairmont. We've got the Alcatraz night tour booked that late afternoon.

Saturday we don't have much planned. We're thinking we'll sleep in and take our time in the morning. We need to check out and check our bags with the hotel, and then ?? Around 9:00 pm we need to grab our bags again and get to OAK for our 12:15 am flight home. So maybe a nice dinner someplace that evening?

We can't really change our hotels because they are all free due to Hilton Honors points and a DVC trade for the Fairmont. If you think we are missing something we really should see or do--please speak up!

 

[Topper]

Anne,

There is a Trader Joe's in Napa for your grocery needs...

Trader Joe's
3654 Bel Aire Plaza
Napa, CA 94558
Phone: (707) 256-0806
Trading Hours: 9 am - 9 pm

And 2 Safeway's...

SAFEWAY
3375 Jefferson St
Napa, CA 94558

SAFEWAY
1620 Clay St
Napa, CA 94558

 

[barkley]

Anne,

There is a Trader Joe's in Napa for your grocery needs...

Trader Joe's
3654 Bel Aire Plaza
Napa, CA 94558
Phone: (707) 256-0806
Trading Hours: 9 am - 9 pm

And 2 Safeway's...

SAFEWAY
3375 Jefferson St
Napa, CA 94558

SAFEWAY
1620 Clay St
Napa, CA 94558

both the safeway on jefferson and trader joe's would be close to your hotel. the bel aire plaza is on trancas, and the jefferson street safeway is on the corner of jefferson and trancas-so they're right down the street from one another. you would take the trancas/redwood exit (trancas turns into redwood when it goes over highway 29) and go to the trancas side. trader joes is on the left (you'll see a big target store in the parking lot), up a little bit futher safeway is on the right (it's in another strip mall with a see's candy store and a payless shoe store in the front). if you want to do your grocery shopping in calistoga there's a safeway as well (on lincoln avenue-it's the main street in calistoga, it's down near dr. wilkinson's hot springs).

 

[SanFranciscan]

I have never been on the Wine Train where Nskjerven had such a bad experience. I had a classmate who took her mother for a Mother's Day gift. She didn't think the food was worth the price either, but Sherri did mention that there was an a la carte option she thought was better. You might consider that if you just want a little something to hold you over until you can get to food perhaps more worth the price. I have never heard anything negative about the atmosphere on the Wine Train so that is probably worth its price.