re: Wine Trip

I like Napa/Sonoma. Been a few times, usually tied to a work meeting with time extended before or after.

One area I liked was Calistoga where they had pools heated by underground springs. There were 3 pools at our area at 3 different temps. The hotel itself wasn't great, basically just a room. But it was nice to go to dinner and go back and chill in the pool with some wine. One pool was over 100 degrees so it was basically a giant hot tub.

I believe it's on the very north end of Napa so it's definitely not central. Nice enough little town where you could walk to many restaurants. I will say if it's your first trip and you want to hit more "famous" restaurants it's probably not the area to stay.

Our first trip there was a B&B in downtown Napa. Very easy walk to some good restaurants. On that trip we hired a driver to takes us around for two days. Nice way to spend the time with no worries about planning or drinking and driving. Told the guide what we liked and were looking for and she planned everything, including lunches.