California Road Trip Day 5 - Napa

Awhile ago, I posted here about the planning ofour California road trip. You can read more out this trip by clicking on the follwowing posts: Day 1(San Diego) , Day 2 (LA),  Day 3 Part 1 (LA), Day 3 Part 2 (Yosemite) and Day 4 (Yosemite)

California Road Trip Day Five Itinerary

In preparation for day five, I had the following in a folder: an itinerary for the day, printed driving directions, and menus of our restaurants.

7:30 a.m. - wake up and get ready

8:30. - breakfast in yurt

9:30. - check out of yurt and drive to Napa

12:00 p.m. - arrive at Napa General Store for lunch
1:00 p.m. - walk around Napa

3:00 p.m. - check into Old World Inn

6:00 p.m - enjoy Napa cousine at the Oxbow Market

7:00 p.m. - enjoy the a  relaxing evening at the bed and breakfast

A few pics of our day…..

On day five of our trip, we packed up our SUV, checked out of yurt….

….and said goodbye to Yosemite.

Two hours later I spotted a Starbucks and had to stop after being in such a remote place for two days…..

….Matt, on the other hand, had stop at produce stand on the side of the road for fresh California pistachios.  I have to say that they were the best pistachios I’ve ever had.  Oh the joys of a road trip:)

We arrived in Napa around lunch time….

…and ate at the Napa General Store.

I ordered the tomato bisque soup …..

…while Matt ordered the chopped chicken salad .

Overall, the food was delish, the light lunch was the perfect start to our stay in Napa Valley.

After lunch we drove around the town to see what it had to offer, which I have to say wasn’t much.  We checked into Old World Inn at 3:00, and it too was a little disappointing.  The pictures on line were much better than the actual inn.  My overall impression of Napa was not at all what I thought it was going to be.  It reminded me very much of the small towns we have here in Indiana (which isn’t saying much), but with MUCH better food of course.  In fact, if it wasn’t for the food and wine, I don’t think that Napa would be a destination for travelers at all. 

Upon checking in, chocolate chip cookies….

….and infused watermelon water were offered to guest.

The inn was lovely, but a tad on the small side.

We’ve stayed at a lot of B&B’s.  I have to say that this inn was a bit overpriced, but really everything in Napa is overpriced.

The outdoor space was nice but needed some up keeping.

Our room, the Starry Night room, was super small as the advertisement said.  The size didn’t bother me, but the overall maintenance of the room was a little disappointing for a detailed person like me.  It certainly needed a new paint job.  The décor was so-so, and it had that old smell that some historic inns have.  I have a sensitive nose, so maybe not everyone will notice that.  All I can is that some renovated inns smell new while still having old world charm, and others just smell old.  The sky light was lovely though.  It made the room nice and bright.

The bed was VERY comfortable, and the bathroom had the original claw foot tub….

….which certainly added to the charm.

The real reason why I chose this room is for the outdoor tub on the private balcony just outside of the room.  It was a lovely touch, but again, it probably wasn’t worth the money.  The tub had really loud jets, so we didn’t end up using them.  Although the deck was private, as in no one could see us, people could still hear if they were walking by, which gave the allusion of it not being as private as it seems.  Overall it was still nice to soak in a tub underneath a summer night’s sky.

After checking out all the inn had to offer, we made our way to Oxbow Market for an early dinner.  Napa has so many great restaurants….but for the most part, they are also really expensive.  We decided to grab a more affordable dinner at the market, and I am so glad that we did. 

Oxbow market is unlike any market that I have ever been to. It’s a must if you are going to Napa. The market is full of fresh produce stands, organic food stands, and some fabulous restaurants. All of the food in the market is organic and locally grown, and they use only the freshest ingredients. 

There was so much great food to choose from in the market that we had a hard time picking one place to eat dinner.  In the end, we were drawn to Ca’Momi.

  It’s the only market restaurant I’ve been too with tables for two, white cloth napkins, and glasses of wine.  It must be a Napa thing;)

The pizza was phenomenal!  I’ve never tasted such fresh, sweet tomatoes that melted in my mouth.  I’m drooling just thinking about it:) 

We couldn’t decide on a dessert, so shared a red velvet cupcake from Kara’s…..

….and then we left the market, walked downtown Napa….

…..and grabbed homemade ice cream from Annett’s before heading back to our inn.

When we were walking to our room for the night, we passed the chocolate buffet in the dining room and well, we just couldn’t resist….as if we didn’t already have enough sweets for the night!  All I can say is that we certainly ate well in Napa:-) It’s a food lover’s paradise!