A lovely Saturday in Calistoga and St. Helena

Well, I suppose 6:00 am isn’t too early, only two days out from the time zone. Still, it felt awfully early. Pre-dawnish, even. But Sofia and Micah were up, which means so was I. Got Sofia set up with her grits and Micah with a snack. Settled in to read and work on Sam’s Bar Mitzvah photo album on my laptop. We just saw Agnes, leaving for the Farmer’s Market - she owns Napa Valley Tea Company, and sells awesome fresh teas. But she has to be up and out early to set up for the market.

Adam finally got up so I could get some coffee (couldn’t find it!), and eventually my sleeping beauties, David and Sam, moseyed into the kitchen. By 8:15, David was stressing about being in the house and not “doing” something. I reminded him, oh so gently, about the time change.

But we did get dressed and get going by around 10:15. Went over to Calistoga to see Agnes at the Farmer’s Market. Then the 4 boys went for a hike, and I took Sofia to a local playground for a while. She had a great time, and I actually found it somewhat relaxing; I was able to read on my Nook while she played. Eventually we took a walk through downtown Calistoga, and got her some ice cream (of course!), and then went back to the Market.


The boys showed up just as the vendors were packing up. Once Agnes and her employee were packed, we were off, to V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena for a picnic. The place was packed with people, and the lines were very long for food and bathroom. Agnes and I went across the street to Dean & Deluca for food (which we weren’t supposed to do, since the winery sells their own foods).

I love Dean & Deluca. $98 later, we had a lovely picnic: olives, cheeses, bread, crackers, hummus, Italian tuna salad, beans, chocolate... YUM! Meanwhile, the guys bought wine at the vineyard, and we settled in to a lovely picnic (along with two other friends of theirs, Anthony and Leni, who have the booth next to Agnes at the Market and sell very fancy Sea Salt).

The combination of wine, food, and sun made Mama a very tired girl! I fell asleep in the car, and transferred quite quickly to bed when we got home. Managed to get about an hour’s nap before Sofia jumped on me.

It’s about 6:30 pm now and David is still napping. I think all the grownups napped, but not the kids. Adam just went to town to buy fish for grilling. We will continue our lazy and wonderful visit this evening.