SF to Seattle Trip Report (installment plan)

[Clarkmeister]

Another early riser, we had to leave by 9:45 to comfortably allow us to make our scheduled 2-hour barrel tasting at Del Dotto . Breakfast in bed hit the spot, though not as good as the Penninsula wheat French toast with berries. Shower and checkout and we were on our way, minus a minor Hertz neverlost navigation screwup.

The view of the back bay heading north is way different than what you see in San Francisco. Shipyards and ports abound. Very industrial, but not at all dirty. Kind of odd actually. Our first view of Napa was a Home Depot, McDonalds and a Wal-Mart. Not what I had expected. Of course, all the wineries were up the road and it was very scenic, but I expected a quaint little downtown, not a sprawling strip mall.

We made it to the Del Dotto tasting room a little ahead of time and quickly found out why this particular tour is nicknamed "Del Blotto". They give us a full glass of cab as soon as we check in. While the tour is obviously trying to get you wasted so you buy a bunch of stuff at the end, I didn’t mind. It was refreshing to have the winery encouraging you to drink more instead of having to ask for it, or in some cases getting refused. Plus, you don’t have to feel guilty about spitting or dumping since you can just do so right on the cave floor in between the barrels, something I did a decent amount of since I was driving.

The tour itself was neat. In a 150 year old hand-carved cave full with muck on the walls and spiders.






The tour guide echoed what I had read elsewhere that they were excited about how the 05 Cabs were shaping up. In all we sampled 8 barrels, including a bonus barrel when I asked to sample some Cab Franc before they ended the tour. Good times and highly recommended, even at the $40 admission price.

From Del Dotto we made a quick pit stop at Darioush , but a $15 tasting fee for two whites and one cab caused us to pass. Instead we decided to hit our scheduled appointment at Joseph Phelps a little early.

The Phelps winery is gorgeous. Totally set up for corporate functions and private events, the view is simply breathtaking. The ladies up front were also very nice and helpful, giving us recommendations that we would eventually follow for both lunch and dinner.




We split the tasting, which was $10. Decent enough stuff. The good news was that they had Insignia available for tasting, of which we went back for thirds. A well known wine that retails for like $135 a bottle and won Wine Spectator’s Wine of the Year in 2002, it was very good. Not really $135 good, but I liked it. Clarkmistress didn’t particularly care for it however. Ultimately, it was one of the top 3 wines I would drink on the trip. We also saw this really cool lizard thingy hanging out on the patio overlooking the vineyard.




By now we were really hungry for lunch, and took the recommendation of hitting the Wappo Bar Bistro , very close to our hotel in downtown (ha!) Calistoga, about 20 minutes from Phelps. More of a Mediterranean than a French menu, the Cuban sandwich special was delicious. The outdoor dining area was also really a great way to enjoy the beautiful 75 and sunny weather.






It was the first restaurant I’ve been to in a long time that had no soda products other than bottled root beer and bottled cream soda. We’d eat there again.

We arrived at Indian Springs Hotel and Spa with enough time for a quick nap prior to our mudbath and massage treatments. We really, really liked this place. Private bungalows just off a main central lawn area that had bocce ball and croquet, with a barbeque pit and ping pong tables in the backyard. The place also had a giant pool that was fed with cooled mineral spring water and was a tasty 94 degrees.








I know everyone is dying to know about the mud bath. It went like this. I go to the back locker room where the (male) attendant gives me a quick overview. The whole process is also spelled out on a chart on the wall, along with a newspaper article about the experience. I strip, throw on the walking around towel, and in a few minutes Jose comes back and walks me to the mud bath area.

I shower while he literally rakes the mud in this giant 9 foot by 5 foot tub, of which there are 4. Apparently in between, they boil the mud (oops, I mean volcanic ash. Whatever.) to sterilize it. Anyways, I get into the tub with a board behind my head for support and slowly sink into the mud while Jose starts burying me like we are old buddies out on the beach.

The mud is about 100 degrees. Warm but not uncomfortably so. Jose leaves and I’m like floating in this mud sandwich. Incredibly soothing, the weight and temperature of the mud kind of press the stress out of your extremities. 5 minutes in, I’m starting to get hotter, it’s kind of like being in an oven. Jose arrives around this time with a cool towel on my forehead. I love Jose. 5 minutes after that he asks if I’m done or if I want a minute or two more. I take two, and eventually he returns to help me out. I shower again, while he rakes and boils behind me.

From there I soak for 15 in a tub at about 90 degrees. Nice and floaty. Good contrast to the mud. Jose with another towel across my brow as my head reclines on my tub pillow. Nice. From there it’s another quick shower and 5 minutes in the steam room. The contrast from each of these treatments works very well. One final shower and it’s off to the final stage. I walk down to a private room with a nice cushy bed to lay in. Jose wraps me in dry towels from neck to toe and throws a moist towel and cucumbers over my eyes and face. I borderline pass out I’m so relaxed. 15 minutes of that and I conclude it’s maybe the best $65 I’ve ever spent.

Total time of the above is about one hour. From there my masseuse picks me up and we head back for a quality, albeit pretty standard 50 minute massage. Priced at a pretty normal $110, it’s a borderline ripoff compared to the $65 mudbath deal. Still, I end up feeling like a million bucks after it’s over. I head back to the bungalow and Clarkmistress is already there and she says hers was pretty excellent as well. Feeling pretty mellow and relaxed, we chill for a bit and then start walking towards town for dinner at Bar Vino.



Bar Vino is a tappas place that has an extensive wine tasting menu. They not only have wine by the glass, they also have 2oz tasting sizes, half bottles and full bottles, as well as a retail price for any full bottles you want to purchase on your way out.

The décor was really out of place in Calistoga, sort of a neo Asian with deer heads on the wall. Very dysfunctional while trying to be hip and trendy. The food was good, especially their cheese, meat and fruit sampler. We tried the following wines:

05 Tom Eddy Pinot Noir Napa
02 Cornerstone Cellars Cab Napa
04 Terrior Cab Franc Napa
04 Tofanelli Zinfandel Calistoga Napa
02 Atalon Merlot Oakville
03 Jacquelynn Cuvee Cab Napa


Of them them the only real strong memory I have is that the a few were pretty good but none were really noteworthy. I was disappointed with the lack of local wines available (we sampled Napa when they had one), but nothing we had was bad. Just nothing was really outstanding.

Finally we finish dinner, walk back to Indian springs and I lose a quick game of bocce. It’s now like 10:00pm and it feels like 2am. Time for bed and some rest before the first of two back-to-back days with heavy driving. The catch for tomorrow is we have to leave early enough to arrive in Ashland, OR for our 5:30pm dinner reservations prior to the show at the Shakespeare Festival. This time constraint forced us to forego heading west to see the redwoods, but it gives us an excuse to come back.

[ThaSaltCracka]

nice work Clark. I am enjoying this thus far.

[My_Name_Is_Hov]

beat: i tried to make the same drive but totaled my car so i had to fly home.

[Clarkmeister]

[ QUOTE ]
nice work Clark. I am enjoying this thus far.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks. Not your typical ha ha trip report, but hopefully interesting nonetheless.

It's tough balancing the need to keep these summaries complete while still keeping the appropriate wine nerd stuff for the supplemental wine-only post.

[Clarkmeister]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
tug,

The first time you're sitting at a poker table playing cards and some dork walks up and says HEY MAN, ARE YOU EL DIABLO? is pretty much the last time you want your picture posted on 2+2.

[/ QUOTE ]
LOL, OK. Enough said.

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If you think that's bad, imagine if your handle was Clarkmeister. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[ThaSaltCracka]

you are doing a good job man. I liked the mud bath portion.

[Clarkmeister]

Day 5

We wake up earlier than I expected, and decided to head over to the hot spring swimming pool for a quick morning plunge. Really really refreshing, especially after Day 4’s spa treatment and a full nights sleep. I lose another game of bocce and we check out and drive down the block for breakfast at Café Sarafornia.




Café Sarafornia is a nice little joint in downtown (which is really just a quaint little three to four block area with shops and restaurants.) that is known for breakfast. It’s name is related to the name of the city. Apparently Calistoga got it’s name when the founder of the city was having a few drinks, and instead of calling the city the "Saratoga of California", instead slurred out that it was the "Calistoga of Sarafornia". Who knows if it’s true, but the legend impacted both the name of the town and eventually a humorously named café with no website.

After an amicable breakfast, we hit the road north with a deadline. It was about 10:45 when we finished breakfast, and I estimated we’d arrive around 4pm, giving us plenty of cushion.

We first drove through Robert Lewis Stevenson State Park on our way up north to Clearlake. The road was more than a little windy, as evidenced by our trusty Hertz neverlost.



After we came through the forest and headed north, we had our first experience with what would be one of the most pleasant surprises of the trip.

Christian Rock Radio.

Scanning for music can be a pain in the butt. But starting on Day 5 and going through the rest of the trip, we consistently found a Christian rock station somewhere between 89.1FM and like 91.7FM. Now, I’m pretty close to agnostic and certainly don’t like in-your-face messaging, but goddamn, they play some catchy tunes. I honestly can’t recall ever hearing so many quality songs in a row. I only caught the lyrics of some, but as background music it simply couldn’t be beat. I think the master company is called KLove , and the call letters kept changing as we made our way north to Seattle. But they all played the same, hauntingly catchy tunes. Jesus died for youuuuuuu-uuuuuuuu-uuuuuu, for youuuuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuu. Hallelujah!

One of many nature sightings, we caught these elk on film mere miles after a "watch for elk crossing" sign on the highway.



Around an hour into our drive, we hit Clearlake. Now, I’ll be damned (Christian rock or no) if I’m going to go past a town called Clearlake and not check out their dang lake. So we shot off in search of said lake and were disappointed, as it was not particularly clear. I claim false advertising in the city name, unlike Calistoga which clearly delivered.



We passed by a number of huge orchards. Very neat. There were also these weird square, shallow looking water holding pens that I can only assume have something to do with irrigation. As we joined I-5 and headed north, it looked like the Midwest with mountains, lots of cattle and fields. It was difficult to believe we were still in California, and not for the last time. Oceans, mountains, cities, vineyards, quiet spa towns, agriculture and even the "olive capital of California". Amazing to see it all in such a short timeframe.

Soon enough we rolled up to Lake Shasta . We took a short drive to see the damn and some views that we were told were beautiful. We were not disappointed. On our way up the hill we saw several eagles. From the crest, we saw Lake Shasta with Mount Shasta in the background.








Then, a few minutes later, we pulled over at a rest stop and took another snapshot while we scarfed down our Burger King lunch.




Heading north from there was pretty cool, as we got to see what we affectionately called three hundred sixty degrees of Shasta.






Rolling onward the extreme north end of California was pretty beautiful in a weird way. Mountains, plateaus and cattle. Pretty neat. I was also disappointed that California couldn’t find a way to stretch I-5 a few more miles as California ran out of land at mile marker 796.



I wish I had a photo, because the view from the mountain top as you descend into the valley where Ashland resides is one of the more breathtaking things I’ve seen. If you asked me to say what Rivendell looked like, this wouldn’t be too far off. Sadly, I don’t have a photo as I was driving down a steep grade at 60mph, but it was really pretty. All green with scattered houses and fields surrounding a small lake about 2,500 feet beneath us. I did dig up a photo of the valley from another website though.



We arrived at The Peerless Hotel right on time at about 4pm. The place is an old hotel with 7 rooms that was a former inn for Coca Cola employees a long time ago and is in the National Historic Hotel Register or some such. We chose "Guest Bedroom #1" and were very happy with it at a very reasonable $120/night or so. No TV in the rooms, but they did have wireless internet. Nice.







Dinner at The Peerless, the restaurant adjacent to the hotel was almost flawless. We had a bottle of Bethel Heights Seven Springs Vineyard Pinot (02 or 03, not sure) to start off with. Then a cheese, meat and fruit sampler (can you tell we like these?), that had huge quality and portion to price value. They were particularly proud of some award-winning Oregon bleu cheese. I’m no big fan of bleu cheese, but even I liked this one. This was followed by an A+ lump crab cocktail. We ordered our second bottle, a 2002 Domaine Serene Evanstead Reserve that was a harbinger of an eventual love affair with Domaine Serene wines.

The main course arrived and I had a rack of lamb, medium rare, that was perfectly done and absolutely delectable. Clarkmistress had the filet, also medium rare, except that it was medium well. This ended up being frustrating. Rather than just take it back and redo it, they took it back, then brought it back out to us saying that the chef said it was, in fact, medium rare and that the light in the room was tricking us. I quickly put her steak side by side with my lamb and asked how the light could make one dish look medium rare and another look medium well. Eventually they just comped us the steak as we didn’t have time for them to cook another at this point. It left a sour taste on an otherwise excellent experience.

Desert was great, but it took a long time to get out, causing us to have to rush down the block to the Shakespeare Festival. I’d certainly give them a second chance, but I am disappointed with their approach to the situation.




It’s a nice seven block walk from The Peerless to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival . I wasn’t as excited as I wanted to be, however. Of the two shows available on Day 5, I wanted to see Tracy's Tiger , a jazz musical set in 1950's San Francisco about Thomas Tracy and hid imaginary Tiger and how it helps him find a girlfriend who can also see the Tiger. Then, the Tiger runs away. Dramabomb. That one was sold out when we booked a few weeks ago.

Instead, we ended up with The Cherry Orchard . The Cherry Orchard is apparently a well-known play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov about the rise of the middle class and just how much the former bourgeoisie was out of touch with reality as times changed in late 19th century Russia. Sort of a Russian Gone With the Wind. The acting was great, they let us pre-order wine for intermission, but the play wasn’t what I was looking for. Well executed, but I can’t imagine it’s as good as Tracy's Tiger. But, what could be. Next time.

Surprisingly, when we arrived back to the lobby of the B&B for post-play cordials, the group staying there didn’t seem interested in discussing it with the two drunks. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] So, after about 60 seconds of hanging out, we just rolled to bed and called it a night.

[edfurlong]

I miss Ashland. The restaurant scene there is pretty inbred and fubar though.

[adsman]

Simply excellent trip report, Clark. Makes me want to finally get my butt over to the States.

[ReDeYES88]

Keep it up Clark, it's great and much appreciated.

Holy crap I can't remember seeing the water level that high in Lake Shasta in the past 8 or 9 years. It seems that usually the ring around the lake is 3 or 4 times higher than that.

I would guess the bleu cheese they were proud of in Ashland is Rogue River Bleu...awesome stuff (as are the rest of the cheeses from Rogue). I love bleu cheese but R.R.Bleu can be a little challenging to eat when it's not crumbled. Let's just say that it really reminds you of what makes the cheese 'bleu': huge veins of mold....yummy, yummy mold.