Celebrating Retirement Tour October 2019 - Days 13/14 - 15/16 Oct - Calistoga, Napa Valley

[Fireworks]

Tuesday 15 October

Yes, we did have Bob the Builder next door again, goodness only know what on earth he was doing. Checked out of Yosemite View Lodge and to be honest even though it was by far the worst hotel of our stay up to now, even with a riverside view room upgrade, its closeness to Yosemite made up for it. What really annoyed us though was that the hotel wasn't cheap but they still charged $10 per night per 2 devices for wifi

Grabbed a couple of pastries from the grocery store just down the road from the hotel (wish we had known about this grocery store yesterday!) and set off for another very long drive to Calistoga.

It took about 5 hours in total and there were several times on the freeway when I was very scared and convinced we were going to end up in a smash, crazy crazy drivers, it was like Wacky Races at times 😔

Checked into Best Western Plus Stevenson Manor and first impressions of the hotel and Calistoga were good. We had a lovely corner room, and it was extremely clean and quiet, no Bob the Builders here 👍

Strolled the 10 minutes to all the shops and restaurants on the main road.

Had a couple of drinks at The Calistoga Inn and Brewery which had a lovely outside seating area.

Decided on a Mexican meal tonight at a lovely restaurant called Pacifico Mexicano. Both had crispy chicken tacos and cocktails and they were delicious. Bill was $55 including tip.

Wednesday 16 October

Breakfast in the hotel was good and then we had a stroll into town and had a wander round the galleries and gift shops. Saw this car on our travels parked outside the owner's antique shop and got chatting to him. He had spent many many years restoring the car and he said there were only 10 left in the world. Looked a bit like a hearse to me but each to their own

There is a free shuttle bus that takes visitors anywhere in Calistoga that they want to go, so we booked a pick up to take us to Sterling Winery and it arrived at the hotel 15 minutes later, great service.

Sterling Winery cost $35 each for entry to the vineyard, a ride on the cable car and 4 wine tastings each. It was a nice couple of hours but if I'm honest quite poor value for money, as I expect most of the wine tastings are.

Rang the shuttle to pick us up again and 15 minutes later we were back at the hotel. Spent a couple of hours chilling by the pool as we both needed a bit of down time after a very full on couple of weeks and we had the pool area to ourselves which was lovely.

Tonight's meal was in Hydro Bar and Grill where we both had burgers. Again another delicious meal, $55 again including tip.

We really liked Calistoga, very chilled out and quaint. On the road again to Santa Cruz tomorrow.

Link to previous days - https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1150994