Travel: Napa || What We Did, Where We Stayed, And What We Wore For 4 Days In Napa

July 20, 2021

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Travel: Napa || What We Did, Where We Stayed, And What We Wore For 4 Days In Napa

When it came time for TJ and I to make a decision on what we wanted to do about our anniversary trip to Italy, we ultimately ended up deciding to cancel it (again) for this year (it was supposed to be our 10 year anniversary trip from last year that we postponed until this year). We figured that so much was still up in the air with international travel and decided to push it back until next summer and split the time we had planned into an adults only trip and a kiddo trip, and we landed on Napa for our couple’s trip.

Initially the getaway was planned for three nights and days, but five days before we were supposed to leave my parents came over in the early evening. As we started talking about the trip, my mom asked us a question about “Tuesday in Napa…” and I said, confused, “Well, we’re leaving Wednesday…” It turns out for the past several months my parents thought our trip was for four nights and we had it booked for three. We immediately got the go ahead from them to add another evening, added a night to our hotel stay, changed our flight reservations, and got ourselves and extra 24 hours, kiddo free (talk about a really nice surprise!).

The trip was amazing (despite the fact that TJ got food poisoning the last night we were there). We decided that we wanted to stick to only sparkling wines and keep our tasting limited to three places, split across two days (I always find that the more tastes you do the more hectic the day feels as opposed to actually relaxing). We figured we’d eat out every night, but with the labor shortage in Napa Valley it was almost impossible to come by reservations if they weren’t booked weeks in advance (I started looking about 1.5 weeks ahead and thought I was ahead of the game… not so). So we ate out a couple of nights and the other evenings we just relaxed in the room with pizza, champagne, and a good movie.

Napa has something for everyone…. you can go and just relax by the pool and get some spa treatments, you can spend the day wine tasting, or you can be adventurous and rent bikes for the day (there are lots of beautiful trails). Today I’m highlighting what we did with out four days kiddo free! Hope it helps if you’re considering a trip to CA wine country….

WHERE WE STAYED

Carneros Resort + Spa: TJ + I stayed here several winters ago, before we had kids, and always said that we wanted to come back during the summertime to take advantage of all their outdoor amenities. And I’m so happy we did. Each room is basically a separate little cottage with a front porch, backyard (fire-pit and dining table included), outdoor shower (indoor included has well, haha), and a spa tub. Honestly, we loved just relaxing in our little backyard at the end of the day!

They have wonderful restaurants on property (Boon Fly Cafe + FARM) as well as a quick marketplace where you can get everything you need for an afternoon picnic, a quick breakfast (we did breakfast there 2 mornings), and an outdoor pavilion where you can listen to live music, have a libation, and play corn hole or a round of bocce ball. You can also rent bikes, but be advised that these are more road/mountain biker versus cute little beach cruisers (I made that mistake haha). Staff is friendly, and you could literally never leave the property and be perfectly fine!

WHERE WE ATE

FARM: Excellent farm to table options for both happy hour and a full dinner. We didn’t get to have brunch there, but I’ve heard it’s delicious.
Oxbow Public Market: Loved this spot for a super casual lunch. It’s basically a bunch of amazing restaurants in one big hall… I don’t think you can go wrong with anything there.
Boon Fly Cafe: We always love coming here for a delicious breakfast… the donuts are amazing!
RH Yountville: Our first time here and it didn’t disappoint… from the food to the decor this is for sure a great spot. We only had lunch there (the Caesar salad was amazing) but at night it’s supposed to be spectacular with all the twinkly lights.
Celadon (previous trip): Another delicious farm to table spot… great cocktails, food, and decor.
Farmstead (previous trip): Farm to table and has a beautiful outdoor space…

OTHER PLACES THAT WERE RECOMMENDED

Mustard’s
Gott’s Roadside Diner
R+D Kitchen
Angele
Brix Napa Valley
Ad Hoc

WHAT TO WEAR

I included a quick packing collage below of what I ended up packing… you obviously don’t need these exact items, but anything similar will work perfectly. I also included all outfits styled below with snaps from our trip.

(Annnnd, we’re off! jumpsuit (tank version), slides, tote, cosmetics case (more great travel accessories including the packing cubes I use))

(Headed out for some live music at the hotel and came back to enjoy the comforts of our room… jeans, top)

(Breakfast at Boon Fly… great breakfast, good bloody mary’s….)

(Temps were warm so I wore this ruffle blouse and these sweater shorts….)

(Our first stop was Schramsburg sparkling wine. It’s out in Calistoga, so a poke from where we were staying, but a good spot if you like bubbly….)

(Headed to the pool and took a nice nap in the late afternoon….)

(Pizza in the room with The Hangover….)

(For the second day, we headed to Mumm Napa + Domaine Carneros, and did RH Yountville for a delicious lunch… you can’t go wrong with either spot…. dress, TJ’s shorts, TJ’s shirt, TJ’s shoes)