At the end of August, we had the privilege to get away for a long weekend, with my dear friend (and college roommate) Kiersten and her husband Brad, to Napa. It was such a GREAT trip; there were so many awesome things about it, I don't even know where to start, to be honest. When we first arrived at the Carneros Inn, we all (even the boys) got massages. Can I just say, I had the best massages of my life there -- and that's a bold statement, because I've had a LOT of massages in my life. Their spa is incredible.
However, not only is the spa great, and their massages one-of-a-kind, but the hotel is fabu. Each room is a cottage; and each cottage is a good sized space, (1200 square feet, for the basic cottage, which incldues the fenced-in backyard for each cottage). The main room has a king-sized feather bed, covered in down comforters, feather pillows, high-thread count linens, which face a wood-burning fireplace, with a plasma TV mounted above it, and a DVD player (with a library of movies in the lobby). There are double-glass doors opening out onto our own private deck, which has a table and chairs, 2 chaise lounges under a heat lamp. The bathroom (which I took photos of, because when we build a house, it's EXACTLY how I want my bathroom to look like, colors and all), has a separate soaking tub, radiant heat floors (the best!), and a separate multi-spray shower, which (my favorite part) opens up onto your own private outdoor shower. I took at LEAST one shower out there every day - it was so fantastic. And they had the most yummy bath products, that we went and bought more from the spa, to bring home (apparently people come from all over just for the bath products) (if you want to check out the products, from red flower, you can see them here, they smell so incredible, I can't even explain it.
The first day there, we just took it easy; we got our massages and then had room service for dinner. The next day we took a limo-wine-tasting tour (which Kiersten had taken the time to research and set up -- thanks Kier, it was so wonderful!). The limo picked us up at the hotel, and took us to three wineries: Kunde Estates, Ledson and St. Francis. (I wrote more in-depth about these with each photo on my flickr photo-tour of our trip,including me falling in love with a cheese so much at a winery that I'm having it shipped from the U.K., all of which you can see and read about by clicking here.
That evening, after we were done with our wine-tasting, we went Auberge Du Soleil for dinner, and all had incredible meals. I'd taken Ross to Auberge on his 23rd birthday, and hadn't been back since. It's such a great restaurant, and if you're ever in Wine Country, I highly recommend you check it out. It's a hotel, that I've ALWAYS wanted to stay at, but I've never felt like the $800/night price tag - for the lowest level of rooms could be justified. But maybe that's just me. Maybe when I'm rich and famous. =)
The Carneros Inn also had one of the most incredible saltwater, infinity pools, that looked out over all of Napa. Ross and I happened to be in for more than an hour, with nobody else anywhere around. It was such a treat, to just get to float (because you seriously float, since it's saltwater), and talk and run back and forth between the hot tub and pool, (like we're 10), getting hot, then cold, then hot, then cold, and getting to talk and float and just be together. Ross and I are so busy, so much lately, that it's rare for us to sit and just look at each other. It was so great, and a moment I really cherish.
Anyhow, I wrote a lot more throughout the photo set on flickr, if you want to hear and see more about it. It was such a great time, and so fun to get to spend it with Brad and Kiersten. I miss Kiersten so much, as we hardn't get to see one another, since she's down in Temecula, and I'm up here in Santa Cruz. So it's always so great, whenever we get to spend any length of time together. We were talking about making this trip a tradition, and looking at these photos again, and remembering how much fun we had, I'm thinking it should DEFENITLY be a tradition! And I didn't tell you all the fun stuff, because I wanted to give you reason to go check out the pictures, and see more of the trip, and read about it there. So check out the Flickr photos.
glad you were able to have a nice relaxing break, sounds and looks like you had a heavenly time!
Posted by: Chloe | Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 08:56 AM
I feel relaxed just LOOKING at that hotel and those photos. Looks like you had a fabulous time - but what's up with the butt crack?
Posted by: LB | Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 04:09 PM
The Carneros Inn is amazing! I stayed there in July and am still using the lotion. What a treat. Glad to hear you are still able to fit in vacation with your busy schedule.
Posted by: Amanda | Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 11:28 PM
That was a fun trip. The pool time was really nice. We definitely need to go again. Awesome pictures by the way. =)
Posted by: Ross | Sunday, October 15, 2006 at 09:57 AM