Weekend in Napa for Jessie’s birthday
April 25th, 2011
My sister Jess celebrated her birthday in style in Napa and I was lucky enough to be the one she invited to tag along! 🙂 This was my first trip to Napa (Kevin and I visited Sonoma last year) so I was excited to see what the fuss was all about!
We made our first stop to Chappelet Winery which her friend Daniel works at. We spent a few wonderful hours there, sipping on some super yummy wines, taking in the amazing scenery, and enjoying each other’s company! My favorite wine we tasted was the Chenin Blanc and Jessie was in love with the Signature Cabernet.
The entrance to Chappelet
Jess sipping on the first of many wines we tasted
I love being in the dark, cool wineries surrounded by barrels and barrels of wine!
Our private tasting area!
Me and the barrels
We eventually joined in with a group that was tasting and touring the facility (Jessie’s friend Daniel is the one in the middle pouring)
Wine from the 1970’s
Jess on the tour
What a view!
Sister, sister!
After a few hours at Chappelet we were starving so made our way to Rutherford Grill. The food was super tasty but the company was even greater! 🙂
After stuffing ourselves silly we made our way to the hotel (which Jessie had won through a contest at work)–the Silverado Country Club. It was so fancy, we had to follow a guy in a golf cart to get to our room, ha!
That night we got out and explored downtown Napa at the Oxbow Public Market. It reminded us a lot of the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco with a lot of similar stores. Jess enjoyed a cup of joe from Ritual Coffee and we shared a super yummy tiramisu.
The next morning I woke up bright and early and am happy to report that I went for a 3 mile run while on vacation! You sure can’t beat the terrain–it was so gorgeous at 8 in the morning and it was such a treat being able to enjoy the views on foot instead of zooming down the road by car.
On the way back home we had some breakfast at Gillwoods Cafe which just hit the spot (yummy granola pancakes!)
Thank you Jessie for inviting me along to enjoy your birthday weekend with you! We’ve never taken a sisters trip before and we know we have to make this a regular thing!
