calistoga, ca

my boo paul & i had planned a romatic getaway trip to napa valley, cali and for the past five months we've been counting the days till we had to finally leave for our trip. this past weekend, was indeed the very days that we had left town and since our return, it has been still 'bout relishing in our "home away from home" retreat, a town called 'calistoga, cali'.
calistoga is almost 30 miles outside of napa valley. it is a very small town, in which many of the local residents have either been living there for years or have migrated there due to work or other reasons.
many of the townspeople were very considerate and extremely nice, yet we didn't spend too much roaming the streets of calistoga. instead, we decided to lounge at the resort and enjoy the perks of what vacationing in napa is all 'bout. . .

so our itinerary was planned to leave san-D, cali at 7AM on fri morn 5/30, and i was able to arrange for a ride to the airport from one of my home girl, to drop us off at least a few hours prior to our flight departure.
of course, i had the impression that we were leaving out of us airways and by the time i had tried to check in, i realized that we were in the wrong terminal hence the wrong airlines altogether, when really it was united we were leaving out of it. so the two of us flagged one of the commuter buses to take us to terminal 1, and we were able to get our boarding passes & zipped thru TSA check point without any hassle.

so it was a lil' over an hour time to kill before our flight's departure, and i kept thinkin' 'bout paul and the fact that he felt a lil' on-nerve 'bout flyin'. fyi, paul hasn't flew since he was 'bout 10 y/o so luckily, there happened to be a pub at the gates, so to help take the edge & nerves off, we sat at the pub that actually opened at 6AM, and ordered sum on-point drinks. paul ordered a triple shot of crown royal & a draft of sam adams, while i wasn't in the bit to drink that early in the morn so instead i ordered a glass of club soda. it was endearing that my honey was a bit disturbed at the thought of flying -- but once we were airborne, it seemed that the drinks definitely put him at ease and i was even happier at the fact that it was a very short flight to san francisco. *winks*

after we gotten our car rental from budget, an olive green hyndai sante fe, we followed the directions that i happened to print out to the resort. our drive out to napa was very carthartic, had a calmness to it. i encourage any and all to visit napa valley at least once in their lifetime.

when we finally arrived to our destination, the time was 1PM and we were able to check in early. the name of the resort in which we stayed at in calistoga is called 'solage'. a very contemporary and illustrious resort, unlike anything i have stayed at before. and that goes double for paul as well. on a side note, i wouldn't have gone to a place like this ever, if it had not been for the promotional package by AMEX. since i am a card member for almost 11 years, i was able to get the accomodations at discount, so it was a 3-day, 2-nite stay in a king-size studio, bungalow-style suite. Also with the suite, came complimentary beach cruisers to utilize while our stay at solage.

so after we had unwinded in the suite, we both showered and took a very needed nap b-4 our dinner reservations at the 'solbar'. the package included a complimentary mud massage and/or dinner for two, so i knew already paul wouldn't be down for the mud massage, so opted for dinner. i tell ya, the food was simply divine. both he and i ordered the most expensive item on the menu -- steak w/ risotto and asparagus. . .we weren't much apt on the wine so we opted for some water and iced tea. after dinner, we went straight back to the room to sleep in. . .we had a long day of travelin'. . .

we awoke feelin' very relaxed the next day and it was probaby early morn 5AM or so. after we gotten ready, we took the cruisers for a morn ride and it was a sheer delight. and then we cruised in our rental around the town area. we drove out to where the walmart supercenter is at which a good 45-min drive from the resort. we were able to get some necessities and then stopped by at a local diner to have some delicious breakfast.

we were originally signed on for a wine tour, but cancelled an hour prior to the time designated and stayed in and lounged at the poolside. we ended up drinking parrot bay rum drinks and eating snacks, plus we a cold cut sandwich that we had purchased from walmart earlier and turned in after our time at the pool. later, we got all dolled up to walk around the resort even more and took fotos to finish the evening. the only thing i wished they had was a place for dancing.
on our drive back to the resort, we noticed how plentiful the wineries were all around the 29 hwy of napa. such beautiful landscapes and especially the homes themselves. here's a shot of one of the winery that we thought was spectacular. opus 1 . . .

this foto doesn't do it justice but as you drive into the premises, there are these metal-gates that welcome you with open-arms, and then you continue to drive thru this very straight drive way which seems to be almost a mile long, in which both sides of the road contains acres of grape vines. it was clearly ingenius on how each vineyard was constructed from start to finish.
once you arrive at the very edge of the drive way, you walk out to the sidewalks that seem to curve in a round 'bout way onto the grounds which eventually leads up to the main entrance of the doors to opus1. and as you can see the architecture of this building in itself, it is rather of an awesome site. there are however plenty of other estates in which i found fascinating as well, but because we were pressed for time, and i didn't really have enough storage capacity on my digital's memory stick, only 'bout 60 fotos made the cut.

in essence, our time spent at the solage resort definitely gave us a very relaxed and refreshing feeling. even after days passed, i still feel well rested, and it is trip like these that you want to take hold of and remember it always, especially if you are with someone that you love and care 'bout. so in short, take the necessary steps to travel w/ the ppl that you hold dear to because life is about having adventure and feeling a sense of freedom. not only that, but the memories that you make on these trips are priceless so remember to chronicle as many trips as you can.