Anything cool to do in the Napa area, besides the obvious?

[stknrdr]

In Napa for a week next month. Anything worth seeing or doing there besides stumbling from one vineyard to the next?

 

[devine9driver]

You can run over to Fairfield and tour Travis Air Force base home of the C-5's. Also in Fairfield is a Budweiser brewery you can tour. And if this doesn't do it for you there's also the Jelly Belly Candy company that you can tour (It was actually very interesting). Make sure you head up the main drag in Napa and hit the restaurant Mustards, very good eats.

 

[LR25]

If you have time, and a car, go to highway 1 I believe, it runs north/south down to San Fran area. Twisty road that follows the coast. Its winds its way down to just north of the Golden Gate, you will see red wood trees, cliffs on the beach, its a fantastic drive. Plan to spend at least all afternoon to get yourself down to San Fran, then go accross the Golden Gate to the Prisideo, then onto food and drink towards down town, the wharf.

It beats the hotel and the obvious.

 

[Tgaug6300]

One thing nice about the FBO there is you get I think two free bottles of wine with X amount of Fuel purchase. Not bad either, I got a nice Red and White.

 

[MoralDK]

Drive down River Road along the Russian River and when you hit the coast, turn south. Its a great drive. There are some great beaches and a cool town called Bodega Bay.

 

[SansPlane]

Point Reyes National Seashore
http://www.nps.gov/pore
http://www.pointreyes.net/

I ate @ Molly's Angel's Cafe in Napa a few years back. Great service & fun staff. Profits go to local charities. Not always open but food may be better than your mothers. Call ahead for hours. 707.224.8971. This is all I could find with a quick Yahoo search. http://www.ascendcapitalgroup.com/charity.htm

 

[Otter]

Mustards is a must, and the Rutheford Grill is another.

 

[Raskal]

Have to agree with MoralDK (of course, I was with him on that trip ) but honestly, the "obvious" as you call it is a great time. Cheap, fun and all of the people there are cool as hell. Have a great time.

 

[CalifDan]

Some good recommendations so far. If you are here for a week there are many things to explore.

The Russian River to the coast and down highway 1 would be a good day trip, but a long day so start early. You could easily make it two days.

Spend a day in the Napa Valley. Mustards is great. Order the pork chop for lunch and you will come back at some point. Go to Rutherford Grill and have the Ribs for dinner (on a different day). Sit on their patio for an hour or two and just watch the world go by.

Go to Jonesy's Steak House about 200 feet from where you park the airplane. Order the Sirloin and special potatoes (my wife calls them a heart attack on a plate). People fly to Napa just for lunch or dinner. I once parked next to a guy in Southern California who was loading a 172 for an afternoon flight up just for dinner and then return.

Pick a few lesser known wineries and do a tour. Private tours are available at some where public tours are not. Call a day ahead. In those tours, plan on buying a bottle or two. Not necessary on any public tours. Visit Prager Port Works....hard to find but an interesting little place, and good port.

I have friends and family that visit here and they all ask what wine is good. It's simple...whatever you like. What is fun about wine is opening a bottle with friends where you have a story about the wine, winery, vineyard it came from, winemaker you met etc. I have many of those stories.

To many good restaurants in the Valley for you to come close to in a week. Slip over to Sonoma Square for a few hours, a very short ride. Take an overnight and go up to Tahoe or Monterey. If Monterey, go the long way and cross the Golden Gate and take highway 1 all the way down. You could do the same thing northbound and see the Redwoods.

If you like to golf, there is plenty. If you like to bike ride, one of the best places to do it. Have Mexican food at Compadres in Yountville, nice bar too. If it is warm in October, it can be, eat outside.

Finally, PM me. Depending on my schedule, I might even join you for a lunch or dinner, and if I really like you, I'll fly you up to Willow's and we can do dinner at Nancy's ($10 for a dinner that requires a nap), or lunch in Auburn (pretty wait staff there). I'm always looking for an excuse to fly somewhere.

Have a great time here.

 

[ultrarunner]

Lake Berryessa

 

[IFLYHI]

If you like looking at tall trees, Muir Woods, just north of SFO on route 1.
http://www.visitmuirwoods.com/