I am sitting here sipping water at my computer back home in Ohio where it’s 100 degrees outside, wondering why the heck I’m not still sipping wine in 65 degree sunshine. #TAKEMEBACK
Really though, our anniversary trip to California was absolutely perfect! It was our first time to Napa Valley and we could not have had a better time. The weather was perfect, the wine was amazing, the food was unreal, and it was a much needed break. It was a great reminder that it’s so important to schedule time to get away and spend time together without kids and without work every once in a while.
Below is a recap of our trip. I’ve also included everything I wore with direct links to shop!
HOTEL DETAILS:
We stayed at the Meritage Resort and Spa and had a great experience. It’s a super nice 4-star resort with a spa, a vineyard with walking trails, and an entire little village across the street. The village has nine different tasting rooms from craft winemakers and breweries, plus a little market/coffee shop. The sports bar on the property also has a small bowling alley!
Another nice thing about the Meritage is that it’s super close to a lot of common attractions that Napa has to offer: it’s about a 10 minute drive from both the downtown area and the Napa Valley Wine Train!
SATURDAY:
When we first arrived on Saturday, we decided to be lazy bums and not over-schedule our day 🙂 Peter had been sick the evening prior resulting in a late night at the hospital doing testing and getting fluids (thankfully he ended up being fine).
Here’s what I wore to travel in!
I got a massage at the spa at our resort which was REALLY nice. It’s in a cave underneath the vineyard which is super cool! I did the hot stone massage and asked for light pressure. The last time I got a massage when we were on vacation, I did deep tissue and while it felt SO good at the time, I was super sick afterward. I didn’t want to risk that happening again!
Here’s what the outside of the spa looks like! So cool.
Later that evening, we went out to dinner at a place called FARM at Carneros. It was a quick Uber ride and it was soooo good. It’s a farm-to-table inspired restaurant and seems very new– it has a modern farmhouse vibe and is gorgeous. They have patio seating, and a nice bar inside. After dinner, you can hang out at one of the outdoor fireplaces and play corn hole in the grassy courtyard area.
Here’s what I wore to dinner that night!
SUNDAY:
Sunday was the day we did the winery tour on the Napa Valley Wine Train. This was honestly one of the most fun days I’ve had in a REALLY long time! You may hear from the locals that it’s “touristy,” but just because tourists commonly do it doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing!
In my opinion, it’s one of the best ways to do a winery tour because you basically have to do zero work or planning, other than buy a ticket. They offer half day winery tours and full day winery tours (which is what we did). There are tons of different tours to choose from, which all take you to different wineries. You can view all their offerings here!
We did the Collective Tour, and here’s what it included:
- 3-hour rail tour of Napa Valley
- Welcome taste of sparkling wine, plus a full bar.
- 4-Course Napa style meal
- 1-hour each, tour and tasting at St. Supery Estate, Beringer and Raymond Vineyards
Check-in for the tour was at 9:45am, and we were back at the train station around 4pm!
Here’s what I wore for the wine tour:
After the wine tour, we headed back to our hotel to freshen up and grab a drink at the hotel bar, and then we headed to the adorable downtown area for dinner. We went to a place called TORC. They serve SUPER nice food and drinks (think truffle pastas and rare wines that are hard to find), but it doesn’t feel too upscale or stuffy. It’s a small place with a casual/swanky vibe, but nothing too classy! I recommend the truffle pasta and the champagne flight 😉
Here’s what I wore out that night! I didn’t get a picture of me wearing it, but I really love the style of this sweater. It looks super conservative from the front, but it’s actually slightly cropped and has big slits up the side, which makes it a little sexier than it looks from the front! It’s really cute with a high-waisted skirt like the one below.
MONDAY:
We woke up and had a slow start to our morning on Monday. I did some work/reading at the resort coffee shop while Peter slept in, and then once we woke up we headed across the street to the little market for breakfast.
Our flight on Tuesday was out of San Francisco, so we started talking about potentially staying there on Monday night (our flight was at 6am Tuesday morning). We talked to some locals, and they recommended taking the morning ferry over to San Fran to spend the day there!
We spontaneously decided to do it, and were so glad we did! We caught the San Francisco Bay Ferry from the port at Vallejo (just a 15-20 minute drive from Napa). The Ferry was about an hour long, but really pretty…plus they serve bloody marys and mimosas 😉
While we were in San Francisco, we stayed at the Westin St. Francis at Union Square. We wanted to be close to Union Square because there’s lots of good shopping around that area! It was REALLY nice.
We walked around the Union Square area shopping for most of the afternoon, and then decided we were craving sushi for dinner. We ended up down by Fisherman’s Wharf to be close to the water, and had sushi at a little place called Flying Ninja. It’s a tiny little family-owned place and we were the only ones in there (probably because it was a Monday), but the sushi was absolutely delish.
Here’s what I wore that night (apologies for the grainy pic!):
After that we had a night cap at the bar back at our hotel, and then went to bed to catch a super early flight the next morning.
I hope this helps answer any questions you might have had regarding our trip, along with the outfits I wore! As always, if you have any questions, please reach out.
XO
Elizabeth
