Tulip trees are in full bloom in Napa Valley…and it’s only February. How nice.
Flowers are everywhere at the wineries. Hard to believe it’s only February.
Somebody is still looking for his Valentine.
Category: Uncategorized
Wineries, Gardens and ??
rain drops on ornamental kale
fountains and lily pads
And these are what?
Wineries aren’t just for swirling, sipping, and tasting. Many have outdoor flower gardens or sculpture gardens. Keep your eyes open and your camera ready to capture anything and everything from flowers and birds to lily pads and toadstools. At least I think these are supposed to be toadstools. What do you think?
Time Zones
Decorative cabbage at Sterling Winery in Napa
Along the walkways at Sterling Winery in Napa
Girard Winery tasting room in Yountville
Ever wonder how to calculate a time zone? Is Pacific time ahead or behind East Coast time? How about Singapore? Is it day or night there? Take a look at http://www.time.gov/. You can pick an area of the US or check the world. It’s pretty handy.
Wine Can Stain
Spill wine on your carpet and you try…really try…to get it out.
On the other hand some people use wine to stain things on purpose. Take Ryan Hill of the Hill Family Estate, for example. Located in Yountville, California, this winery is one of over 400 wineries in the Napa Valley.
How do you make your winery different…march to a different drum…or guitar? You team up with Fender Guitars and stain some wood for them. And you use wine. Red wine. In fact Ryan and winemaker Doran used a special blend of red grapes to stain the wood samples. Fender produced 100 “Hill Harvest Red” stained limited edition 60th Anniversary Stratocasater Guitars.
This is one of them. And it is beautiful.
Exquisite Glassware
Over the weekend we had an opportunity to view some amazing Champagne flutes. Delicate wisps of glass so intricate they look as if they could break if you set them down too hard.
These flutes were found in a warehouse in East Germany, near the West German border in the 1980’s. What makes the find even more remarkable is that the warehouse was in operation only from 1890 to 1920. This means they survived two world wars and the Communist takeover of East Germany…all in a box.
European antique glass experts have verified their authenticity, confirming they were stone cut. To accomplish this type of special glass fabrication you would need two highly skilled people working simultaneously on each one.
Think of the stories they could tell.
Napa Valley Mustard Festival
Sixteen years ago some brilliant, or possibly bored, wine makers were sitting around and
decided Napa Valley needed some livening up during the “slow” season. From the end of January through the month of March vines almost look dead, it is usually the rainy season, and tourists aren’t here in bunches. But the ground is carpeted with enough greens and golds of the mustard plant to make every painter and photographer drool.
“Let’s have a Mustard Festival”…
And what festival would be complete without bottles, lots of them, of wine…food, bring in the great culinary artists, glorious food…entertainment, jazz and more jazz…contests and culture? Your palette will be full.
Take a weekend or a week and visit Napa during this “slow” season. While you’re at it…thank the mustard plant for bringing on the Festival.
Happy Valentine’s Day
What to do with dirty laundry…
Dirty laundry happens.
You can put it in a separate bag so it won’t smell up your clean clothes. If you don’t have a bag just for dirty laundry, put it in a separate laundry bag inside your suitcase. Then toss in a small unwrapped bar of soap from the hotel (2 if necessary). They won’t hurt or stain your clothes and they certainly help with the smell. And you will be able to find them when you get home.
If you aren’t staying at hotels, pack a couple of dryer sheets in your laundry bag before you leave home. They will help keep the odor at bay. Just remove before you do your laundry.
Dryer sheets come in handy if you are going to do laundry at a hotel or laundromat. Typically the water is fairly hard. The dryer sheets will help with static and help soften your clothes in the dryer.
GPS and Rental Cars
Many rental car agencies are upgrading to the latest GPS technology. Budget Travel rated several and this is what they found.
Enterprise rents the Garmin nuvi 265W for $10 a day.
Hertz uses their own brand for $13 a day. This one is fixed below the dashboard so be careful when parking as it cannot be removed and placed out of sight.
Avis/Budget has the Garmin nuvi 780 for $14 a day. Budget Travel really likes this one as it is a newer model and will even give you real time traffic updates.
Dollar/Thrifty rents the Garmin nA1/4vi 660 for $12 a day.
Alamo/National has the Garmin StreetPilot c330 for $12 a day.
Each have pros and cons so do some checking if having a GPS is the reason you are renting from a particular company. Happy navigating.
Chinese New Year in San Francisco
Plan to visit San Francisco next February for the Chinese New Year parade. It is rated one of the world’s top 5 parades celebrating Chinese New Year. We spent a glorious sunny day in San Francisco but did not know about the parade until too late.
Next year, we will buy tickets to ensure a seat on the bleachers. For $30 US you get to view this glorious parade up close.
What better way to ring in the Chinese New Year?