Tuesday April 24, 2012, 28 miles (45 km)
Total so far: 418 miles (673 km)
The Shady Oaks Bed and Breakfast sure knows how to make breakfast. We gorged ourselves on waffles, fruit and sausage, before heading out to explore the local area by trike. We settled into the seats and cruised on quiet streets to the Silverado Trail. “The Trail” is a relatively major thoroughfare, but it has a really wide bike lane. We didn’t find the traffic disturbing, although it was steady.
Gently rolling hills led us past acres of vineyards, wineries, farms and a few homes. The recent rains left everything very green and lush. Nancy spent a week up here a year ago taking a wine survey course at the CIA. As we passed the vineyards, she had fun remembering her class, and pointing out the wide variety of ways that farmers use to stake the vines. Fascinating stuff.
Before too long, we succumbed to our powerful thirst and stopped in at one of our favorite wineries to revive ourselves. We have been enjoying the Duckhorn Merlot for years and years, but it has been a while since we visited the winery. The last time we were here they had not yet built the beautiful tasting room they have now. We sat on the patio, gazed at the fabulous English garden and shared a glass or three of their current vintage.
Sufficiently revived, we continued our ride into the little town of Calistoga. This is a quaint village – basically a single street lined with a few shops and markets. We poked around in town and then set out to find a place for lunch. On out way into town we had passed the Solage Resort, which had looked kind of interesting. We cruised into on the way out-of-town and discovered the SolBar Restaurant. It was perfect. They have a wonderful menu, and know how to mix a mean mojito!
Right across the street from SolBar is B Cellars. This is a wine maker we have noticed on a number of restaurant wine lists recently, so we thought this would be a good opportunity to try them out. Outstanding! We ended up buying a half a case and having it shipped home.
Time to head for home. We loved gazing at the vineyards as we rolled by. The trip home seemed to fly by. I’ve decided that we ought to drink several glasses of wine during every ride, because I am absolutely certain that there are several sections of the Silverado Trail that are downhill in both directions. Also, when we turned around in Calistoga, my odometer was at 15+ miles, but when I got home it was at 28. So apparently The Trail is shorter in one direction than the other. Viva la grape!
Time for dinner. Tomorrow takes us to Sonoma for a little more wine and great food with some old friends we have not seen since our last trip to Napa a year ago.